Microphones and Voice Recording Equipment

ScubaGoomba

ScubaGoomba

Member
I run an a cappella channel with a few friends and we're getting to the point that we should probably look into getting some new recording equipment. Right now, we're broke as heck and using Garage Band + my MacBook's internal microphone for audio and our iPhones for HD video. Do you guys have any suggestions for affordable, good quality (considering the price, of course), microphones that would work well for recording in an a cappella setting?
 
Oh great, thanks! Do you know how well they pick up lower frequencies? The toughest time I've had is in finding mics that pick up our full range! I've wound up using a Rock Band USB mic for some of the songs (for myself, at least; it works well enough for bass, but it's not ideal), but a universal mic that we all can use would be great.
 
Well, I'm looking into buying an AT2020 mic. It's around $54 on amazon and it should fufill my needs as not only a let's player but a musician aswell. I'd definitely check it out!
 
Look at the specs for the Samson Go-Mic - for its size and price it punches extremely above its weight:

  • Portable USB condenser microphone
  • Mac and PC compatible, no drivers required
  • Custom, compact design that clips to a laptop or sits on a desk
  • Perfect for recording music, podcasting and field recording, voice recognition software, iChat, VoIP and web casting
  • Switchable cardiod or omnidirectional pickup patterns
  • 16-bit, 44.1kHz resolution
  • Smooth, flat frequency response of 20Hz–18kHz
  • Stereo 1/8-inch headphone output for no latency monitoring
  • Includes USB cable, cable clip and carry case
  • Bundled with Cakewalk® Music Creator recording software
 
I use a Samson C01uU. I've had it for well over 8 years now and it's held up pretty great for the price. In my opinion, the sound quality is pretty good.
 
Mark down the day folks. This is the first and last time I'll do this.

Normally, I detest the Blue Yeti microphone. However, in your situation it may be the best choice for the circumstances. In order to record Acapella, you generally need either one mic per person, or a decent omni-directional mic. The Yeti falls into the latter catagory and since you said you're all broke, going with multiple mics won't work. It would be best used put up on a platform of some kind with each of you around the outside singing to the center. You could set up the iphones or other video recording to capture various angles and kinda spice up the video a bit swapping between them. It would be ideal to do this in a room without any bare walls as omni-directional recording does suffer significantly from room echo with so many signals bouncing in every direction. So put up some blankets on any bare wall space that you can to try to reduce that. As far as low frequency recording, any standard podcast or vocal mic will pick up more frequencies than you guys can dish out.

Make sure that you find the Yeti on a good sale though. At full price it's far less value but you can often find one for $70-$80. All of the other mics suggested so far are cardioid, hypercardioid or unidirectional, and it's a pain in the a** to record multiple sources crowded together on one narrow side of a single mic.

Now, back to your regular scheduled Blue Yeti hating Tarmack.
 
I've actually heard some good things about the Yeti! A friend of mine back home has one and I've used it with him before. It isn't perfect, but it gets the job done.

I guess it was worth mentioning that we record separately. One of the members of the group lives in a different state, so we do individual tracks layered on top of each other. It's not ideal, but it'll get the job done until he moves up with the rest of us. I'm going to look around some places nearby to see what they have, with an eye out for what you all have suggested. Thanks, again!
 
ScubaGoomba said:
I've actually heard some good things about the Yeti! A friend of mine back home has one and I've used it with him before. It isn't perfect, but it gets the job done.

I guess it was worth mentioning that we record separately. One of the members of the group lives in a different state, so we do individual tracks layered on top of each other. It's not ideal, but it'll get the job done until he moves up with the rest of us. I'm going to look around some places nearby to see what they have, with an eye out for what you all have suggested. Thanks, again!
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Well f**k, in that case ditch the Yeti idea. C01U or AT2020 for single target. Or the Shure SM58 and a proper XLR interface. :P
 
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