Accessories Microphones

[PigSquealer]

I know nothing about mics or recording, so please, keep it very simple - no long technical words😛

I use the Shure app. Open , record, pause, save, delete or off switch.
The used $7 mic I stated above as a Snowball was wrong. It’s the MV5 model. New kit is well within your budget @ £90 + VAT.
This is a condenser mic.
Information below is massive.

shure mv5 at DuckDuckGo

DuckDuckGo. Privacy, Simplified.

duckduckgo.com

 

[Pete Thomas]

This is also what a compressor is for. It controls the maximum volume for you so you don't have to back off on your playing.

But do bear in mind this is affecting the already recorded audio, and potentially stopping clipping at the mixdown. It won’t be affecting the level at the analogue to digital stage.

 

[Pete Effamy]

You shouldn't need to record with compression, just turn the gain down. Compression is an effect and is generally used to either push an instrument through a busy mix or to control a signal (player or singer) that can't control themselves.

In the old days, signal to noise ratios were important because of hiss etc Not really these days with digital. You don't need to be anywhere near the clipping point of 0db. Experiment with how far away from the mic you are and how high the mic is in relation to your horn.

There are "best practice" guidelines online from manufacturers such as Shure (and thousands of others of course). The only problems with being further from the mic is getting the sound of the room (your reflections / reverb) and this can be nasty - so adjust accordingly.
If you get right on top of a mic you'll be liable to Proximity Effect - a saturation / overload which makes the sound really big and nasty.

 

[Pete Thomas]

You shouldn't need to record with compression, just turn the gain down.

Completely agree. In the old days it was useful sometimes with over-dynamic performances, but even you really hade to know what you were doing as it there was no going back. But then again, in those days there was no Audacity and nearly all recording was done professionally.

 

[Pete Effamy]

Producer Al Schmidt has said that as a rule he never recorded with compression, and according to interviews (namely Elliott Scheiner) none of the Steely Dan stuff was either. And Gaucho was still analogue - arguably still blows everything out of the water even 47 years later.

 

[Dr G]

This is also what a compressor is for. It controls the maximum volume for you so you don't have to back off on your playing.

Audacity Manual--Compressor

Try something like Threshhold -14, Knee width 4 and start with a 4:1 ratio. Increase the ratio until your maximum practical volume doesn't clip.

A compressor boosts soft passages as well. A limiter will prevent clipping and not mess with the rest of the dynamic range.

Can Audacity be adjusted to minimize the boost?

 

[Tuppertn]

A compressor boosts soft passages as well. A limiter will prevent clipping and not mess with the rest of the dynamic range.

Can Audacity be adjusted to minimize the boost?

A compressor by itself doesn't boost anything, but adding compression allows you to boost the quieter bits if you want. In Audacity that's a separate function called "Make-up gain". You don't have to use it.

 

[Pete Effamy]

Despite tools that prevent clipping, it’s still best to avoid your signal being too high in the first place. A Limiter can be heard doing its job if it kicks in too often or has to curtail the signal by much.

Make-up gain is well-named - if you are compressing a signal constantly so that the signal is lowered in gain, then the make-up gain allows you to add the required db back. This is more for using a compressor as an effect - like on a single line muted guitar part - where it can bring out the “clicky” nature of the picked strings / transients.

For acoustic instruments, the best way to capture them is to get it right at source, not to “fix it later” or bung treatment on it. Just test how loud you are going to play and set the gain accordingly with plenty of headroom just to be sure: -10 to -18db is said to be a sweet spot, but this expects the gain to be boosted by various effects on the channel and on the bus and outputs - so it’s built-in headroom ready for treatment. A signal can be “gain-staged” down too - if higher than -10db it’s usual to go through a whole mix and take all recorded track levels down so that tools / effects in the output stage have enough level available to be able to work properly and show their own sound / effect.

Sorry, too complicated. Just keep the gain down when recording. If it doesn’t clip it can be boosted afterwards - some people “normalise” tracks afterwards if not going through a series of effects.

Normalising takes the whole track into account and moves the whole gain upwards so that the loudest point is maybe -0.1db : don’t go up to zero. Always be below.

 

[thomsax]

I am looking for a mic to record myself on my PC over a backing track using Audacity. I have been recommended the Audio Technica AT2020 and the Rode NT1.

I have also heard that's good stuff. I use to record myself to become a better saxplayer. No ambition to be a top home recording player.

I know nothing about mics or recording, so please, keep it very simple - no long technical words

To pick up the sound my sax + perhaps the sound from a backing track, I use a Zoom hn1 or a Tandberg (reel to reel). Both are good recorders. One digital and the other one is analog. But I need two new and better recording microphones to the reel to reel. Most of the time when I record myself I don't use a microphone. I just blow along with some kind of Hi-Fi or a PA. My own ears decide.

So far I have imported an iReal Pro backing track and recorded over it, using headphones and a regular usb mic but the sound quality is not great on this mic for music

Shure Sm 57 or 58 are good microphones. My favourite microphone is a Sennheiser 421 or 422. I don't use headphones.

What mics would be best? I will be recording soprano and alto sax. I don't want to spend megabucks either

A microphone that pick up the sound from the room where you are playing.