The sound! It sounds like farting!
April 10, 2007 2:59 PM

Help me find a good microphone for recording LOUD band practices.

I have a sony minidisc recorder and wish to record my band practices. Last time I tried with a small stereo electret type microphone and the sound was horribly distorted. I'm guessing the room volume was way louder than the microphone was rated for. So I'm looking for a mic that will do the job. The smaller the better.

Any ideas what I'm looking for?
posted by gergtreble to Technology (11 answers total)
Never had a problem with these guys. Both for gigs and practice. They can also offer great advice for the less experienced buyer. Testimonials. I don't work for them.
posted by fire&wings at 3:15 PM on April 10, 2007


I think the problem is more likely to be your recorder. It's probably bringing in too loud of a signal and clipping the audio. I'm guessing you may be needing professional gear here, or at least some sort of pre-amp.
posted by rolypolyman at 3:23 PM on April 10, 2007


Can't you record at a lower level? It's doubtful that you're overloading the microphone.

Anyway, an SM57 is rated for something like 174 dB SPL if you're looking to get a new mic.
posted by ludwig_van at 3:36 PM on April 10, 2007


I had surprisingly good results using the built-in recorder on an Apple laptop. It's worth a shot if you have one sitting around before you go and spend a lotof money.
posted by PercussivePaul at 3:37 PM on April 10, 2007


turn down the recording input level..
posted by rhizome at 3:40 PM on April 10, 2007


The minidisc has the option to lower the recording level. I had it down to its lowest level and It was still distorting. Normal sounds were indistinct but as soon as we started playing it was a mass of distortion. Im pretty certain it was the microphone I was using.
posted by gergtreble at 3:41 PM on April 10, 2007


Something I have found that works great for recording loud band practices is just setting the recorder/mic right on the other side of the practice room door. It cuts the decibals down enough that i can do rough demo recordings just using the mic on my powerbook.
posted by miles at 3:47 PM on April 10, 2007


As others have stated, to eliminate the digital clipping you need to reduce the input level which you cannot do with the MiniDisc recorder alone. Smartest solution? Buy a small portable mixer to pass the signal between the mic and MiniDisc. All mixers these days have mic preamps built in that allow you to adjust the input gain as well as monitor the levels so you don't spend your afternoon rockin' out and then realize later it's entirely unlistenable. I bet this one would suit you well.
posted by inoculatedcities at 4:28 PM on April 10, 2007


Shure SM57 and some sort of cheap mixer that lets you control the level.

A mixer like this would be fine, and is only $45. Mic input goes to the microphone, and the tape outputs go to your recorder via an RCA to minijack cable.

Basically you need to set the level so that the signal isn't being clipped. If the MD recorder has any sort of level indicator (even a clip light) that would be helpful, if it doesn't, then you'll have to guess-and-check and see where it starts sounding less crappy.
posted by Kadin2048 at 12:05 AM on April 11, 2007


Recording a band with an SM57, or a pair of SM57s, is going to sound *crappy*.

No crappier than what he's got now. I didn't think he was trying to make a great recording here. The SM57 wasn't made for vocals, and I've never heard of it being a "close proximity mic." It's a microphone - it picks up the sound that hits it. It's also cheap, rugged, and good for many other applications which the OP might use it for.

But sure, the $250 pair of condensers is probably decent, too.
posted by ludwig_van at 10:32 AM on April 11, 2007


You might be able to get a listenable recording by putting a towel over the mic. We've had some success with this using a very old cassette recorder, but it isn't anything you'd want to share outside the band.
posted by InfidelZombie at 10:38 AM on April 11, 2007


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