Best method of recording spoken word on my computer?
May 4, 2010 7:55 AM   Subscribe

Best method of recording high quality spoken poetry on my Macbook Pro? Not in performance, but with somebody reading, sat down with the mic in front of them.

I have a little experience in audio production but that was years ago. I guess all I really need is a microphone, but which type? Ideally as inexpensive as possible.
posted by humblepigeon to Computers & Internet (13 answers total) 5 users marked this as a favorite
 
You can never do wrong with a Shure SM57. They are cheap, and are practically immortal.
posted by Threeway Handshake at 8:03 AM on May 4, 2010 [1 favorite]


I can't recommend a particular mic, but you should know that the MacBook Pro's audio line-in only accepts powered signals coming from an amp. A lot of headset PC mics won't work at all. Your best bet may be to find a USB mic, which has the added bonus (if you're an audiophile) of creating a purely digital signal.
posted by The Winsome Parker Lewis at 8:06 AM on May 4, 2010


The Macbook Pro has a built-in microphone.
posted by litnerd at 8:14 AM on May 4, 2010


"High quality" sound recording can mean a hell of a lot of different things. For example, I could recommend the Blue Snowball mic and putting up a bunch of styrofoam eggshell sheets on the walls of a closet & recording in there, but then a real sound engineer (or even a non-drunk me) might tell me that I'm an idiot & it is impossible to get professional sound recordings with anything less than an expensive (several hundreds of dollars) microphone + a recording booth.

I'd also say the Shure SM57 is a pretty good option, as stated above. But try to control the environment you're in, too -- echos + background noise can ruin almost any recording, regardless of mic quality.
posted by Damn That Television at 8:20 AM on May 4, 2010


This guide is probably a good place to start. It's intended for would-be podcasters, but the advice should apply just as well to plain old spoken word recording. Don't forget the mic stand---it makes a world of difference.
posted by aparrish at 8:21 AM on May 4, 2010


Blue Yeti? $100-$150. This is not "as inexpensive as possible" but it should give excellent results.
posted by kindall at 8:21 AM on May 4, 2010


For a quiet recording environment I would use a cardioid condenser microphone with usb for simplicity. I agree with Shure SM57 being great but only for live performances and you would need an interface for the xlr or 1/4" input.
posted by bravowhiskey at 8:21 AM on May 4, 2010


"as inexpensive as possible" is the tricky bit here. Can you be more specific about your budget realities?

My short answer is, you're probably going to get the best audio-fidelity bang for your buck by purchasing a USB condenser mic. Condensers have good noise floors (which means recording something quiet and nuanced like unaccompanied poetry will go about as well as it can, without buzz from the mic); as an all-in-one USB device, the mic won't need any additional hardware and will have about as pure a signal chain as you can hope for.

I haven't used many USB condensers myself, so I don't have specific recommendations, but in the $75-$100 range there's a whole bevy of solid mics available at this point. If nothing else, check some reviews online and opt for trustworthy names. I know lots of folks have used Blue mics specifically in this sector; older trustworthy brands include Shure and Audio Technica.
posted by cortex at 8:22 AM on May 4, 2010


An SM57 is a great mic and you won't go wrong with it (they're used, among other places, on the White House podiums) but you'll need a preamp to get its signal into your Macbook. The '57, like most professional mics, uses low-impedance ("Low-Z") balanced connections and produces a weak "microphone level" signal; the Mac's microphone jack expects a high-impedance, unbalanced, "line level" signal.

There are lots of products around designed to solve this problem. I use a small field mixer made by Rolls (MX34B); it's about a hundred bucks. There are other products you can get which also have an analog-to-digital converter built in, so instead of plugging them into the Mac's line-in via 1/8" hi-Z, you use USB or FireWire instead. This is considered advantageous because generally their ADCs are better than the Mac's, plus it cuts out the unbalanced wiring which can be a source of noise/hum. But they're more expensive. (I use the lower-tech version because I also sometimes use the Rolls to attach mics to a camcorder, which doesn't have USB. If you only ever wanted to use it in conjunction with a computer, I'd probably pay the extra $50-100 and get one with a good 24b integrated ADC.)

The alternative route, if you don't want to get a separate mic and preamp (or preamp+ADC), is to get a microphone designed for use with a computer that has either the preamp or the whole ADC assembly built in. This is less flexible, but might be just fine for your purposes. There are quite a few of them out there now. I can't recommend any personally, although I know some people who use the Blue "Snowball" for podcasting and I've never heard them complain about it. (It's an omni, though; if you don't have a quiet place to record you might end up with a lot of room noise.)
posted by Kadin2048 at 8:30 AM on May 4, 2010


I'm no audio expert, but I just got myself a Zoom H2 and am quite happy with it. No fussing around with pre-amps or cables, and you won't be picking up fan noise from your laptop.
posted by ook at 8:50 AM on May 4, 2010


The built-in mic on MacBooks is about on par with USB mics (as far as I can tell) and better at filtering pops. The downside is that it will pick up fan noise, if that kicks in. If you record right after powering up, and your recording environment isn't very hot, you should be able to get by with that.

Naturally, the more complicated/expensive solutions above will yield better results.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 8:51 AM on May 4, 2010


Transom.org is a site for people doing audio work for public radio. Their tools section has a lot of information about microphones, recording techniques, audio editing, and studio set-up. This may help you with the project you're working on.
posted by monkey.pie.baker at 9:43 AM on May 4, 2010


Apogee One. Top-of-the-line audio converters, mic pre-amps for driving any mic you choose to plug into it, plus it has a built-in condenser mic. And interfaces intimately with Garageband and Logic.

I looked at doing this a little while back - for talking books rather than poetry, but spoken word nonetheless - and an audio nut friend of mine recommended going down the condenser mic rather than dynamic mic route. He was an apogee user already and didn't hesitate in recommending the One for this sort of thing.
posted by tim_in_oz at 4:34 PM on May 4, 2010


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