Balls, the one time I don't save the reaper file on something because I figured, "fuck it". I may mess with the positioning of the 990, as I am not as into the sound as I am the KSM. I think there is a sort of awkward bump somewhere in it's EQ, for more dirty guitars it seems a little abrasive or something in the top end, not really high up there like a harsh thing, just kind of honky and awkward. I like it on snare though, works well for that. That plus the 58 I am thinking will be my snare mic options for now.

Definitely gonna have to do a big mic test with all the new incoming shiz to provide a big reference guide to the tones of a decent amount of common, affordable mics. Now that I got the AC15 sounding like I want it, I am pretty motivated to see what I can't get out of it.

As a sidenote:I am maybe thinking about acquiring a couple of the Beta 58s I have seen you mention, Eric. They would be around to always have something for close mic'ing high gain guitar tones (in addition to possible alternate tom mics) that I will be most regularly running into if I get to record as many bands with the frequency with which I would like to. It is kind of silly to be having this many mics, but I think with those, I would be pretty much completely satisfied in terms of mic array/options? If I had just one more decent LDC in addition to that I would 100% completely stoked as fuck, but maybe that would be going a little overboard. I also need to get a 2 channel preamp before I start getting too far ahead of myself. But if that becomes so, 10 mics affords one a damn decent amount to have fun with the room.

Go figure. The AC15 is definitely sounding pretty awesome coming out of the speakers on my end. The more distant micing is totally working for the sounds you're going for.

And I honestly don't see anything excessive in that. You wind up getting serious about recording and have a few bucks kicking around, you wind up with a dozen or two microphones. Plus if you have a band, you want vocal mics- at least for rehearsal- and if you want to record the rehearsals, then... Stuff adds up. And for recording porpoises, they do make the biggest difference after the source itself.

The Beta 58s are fantastic vocal mics- even though I stick them on a bunch of other stuff at random, they're always hanging out on the mic stands. They're nicer on top, IMO, than a regular 58 (YMMV here on that one) and they have significantly superior feedback rejection. Hotter output, too. And if you record bands, invariably someone will want a handheld vocal mic. (And if you have a band, you'll probably want a couple vocal mics too...) I'm sure you can find one to test at yer local GC or equivalent to make sure they don't suck.

And yeah, totally do the shootout thing. They are handy.

Re: another decent LDC: depending on what you think of the CAD M179 when it arrives, you could always do a M179 or KSM27 pair, if you wanted to have a pair of something. Both are fairly neutral-ish though; I wonder how they compare against each other? The M179 does have all those pattern options though, and if they are as good as their rep that would be, I think, the affordable utility pair option, no doubt. Alternately, if you wanted to throw some money at a big LDC there are tube and transformer options that aren't horribly expensive used and will give you a different flavor than anything you have at the moment. (Vocals are the obvious application here, but they'll totally work on other stuff. Probably wind up being the most expensive thing yer collection.)

If the 58 sounds like shitty balls, do consider trying this to get your best from the mic:

http://www.recordingmag.com/resources/r ... l/330.html

Make the cord and use it with your 58. It will make the sound from the mic good enough to use alone as a guitar mic, and as you'd imagine it'll improve most anything else you point it at.

Because i ain't particularly picky, i would use this sound(starting at 0:35 or whatever when you switch to what i suppose is the bridge only) straight up just like this.

From that point on, that is a noise that i could use, sharp, and just yucky enough.

Yeah, shit is pretty awesomely grody/grating, too much for only a few things other than nasty rock riffs, 'tis why I am usually in the middle position (which is it's own sort of odd-ish tone).



I will have to check this out fo sho! That's a cool/simple mod.

http://soundcloud.com/cameron-heck/temp ... nding-demo

A demo of the last section of a three part deal I have written. Guitar is M179, PR40 and RSM-5 as the room mic. Drums are MXL2001s stereo distant OHs, RSM-5 in front of the kit, MK-012 on the snare (which is seems to kick ass at) and Heil PR40 (also ass kickin') in the bass drum.

It is ya know, hella sloppy and shit. I will re-track most of this I think, I'm just trying to see what I can't do with it. Was gonna begin to record the shitfaced Beach Boys vocal parts, but my father heard me begin to practice said vocals and came down stairs and cracked a joke about whether or not the cat was dying. I hate it when he's around. Also, when there's the two drums thing, and the one track is panned to side it is just the snare mic for one take of drums. Would anybody want to add some sort of embellishment to this shiz? I have a one or two keyboard things I want to do, but I would like this thing to be obnoxiously stacked with different melody bits and rhythm bits. Can anyone here whistle like a motherfucker? Or have a kazoo or some similar silly instrument/idea?

Your link, sir, appears to be, shall we say, buggered.

Fix'd. Ah, and a few parts are a little choppy so I could extend certain sections that I wanted to be longer and some other clumsy arrangement fuckery.

Ah, the balls. It seems it was private before, but no longer.

The two drums section is very cool. Your new mic collection is sounding pretty snazzy. Which mic is on which cab for the guitars?

Do you have a preference between the PR40 and the D112 in the kick?

PR40 was on the Greenie, M179 on the 2x10. I feel I could actually get much better guitar tones, I just threw these up real quick with little regard for how they might sound.

I've not a preference between the two, would have to try them out A/B'd, which I will surely do a clip of soon, for both bass and kick.

This shit is pretty sweet my friend. That room is pretty amazing sounding. And this seems like a fine sound/tune carcass to work with.

This needs to be said more often?

Daymn that room. Daymn.

That's a pretty good right foot you have there man. Cool idea with the drum overdub part too.

Yeah, I've definitely begun to get a hang of the room and what it wants me to do to capture it nicely. Funny I didn't mention it earlier when I was praising the Oktava and Heil, but this ribbon is really kick ass for picking up the sound of that room.


Well, here's the final skeleton onto which I will be overdubbing.. Yesterday I was kinda disheartened and was thinking about scrapping this and having Landon play drums, but I've decided fuck it. It needs bass and I will probably re-track the sketchily timed drumsticks on hardwood floor 8th note recorded by MK-012 bit so it's ya know, on time. My left hand was not capable of keeping steady quarter beats or something, quite sad. But atleast it's fucking done and can get all layered up and done'd.

http://soundcloud.com/cameron-heck/wosiml-skeleton

Shit played in time is (wildly) overrated. IMO. [It isn't natural, for one. Nature never repeats itself in quite the same way twice. Just similar cycles. That is a tangent, but also a prime defining quality of how i feel about "precision", metronomic or otherwise. It is also why i am generally unsuited for drumming or manufacturing, but that is a whole other tangent.]

Interested to see where you wind up with this. My initial feel is that the guitars are a bit too roomy, but this really isn't something i could say without hearing what else you plan to put on there. Drums have just the right amount of space, but the guitars are pretty subdued by it to where they are kind of receding. Makes them almost sound like accidental drum mic bleed more than separately tracks guitarsounds. Which of course, could totally do a good thing depending on what else you have planned for this.

I've indeed noticed the amount of room in the guitar sound, it is a fuck ton of the ribbon and the 990 on 2x10. Was not big on what I got out of the M179. I think the Greenback needs to break in, it Is kinda harsh when cranked. I may overdub another track of guitars if it seems like it is too buried with other elements. But it may also work like you said.

It will get interesting from here, I am thinking. Once the bass and vocals are done, I start smoking more drugs than usual and start fucking with controlled feedback, additional weird instrumentation.. May write something with my banjo. I'd love to get someone who can play one or more horn or some other sort of brass instruments for the ending. Fucking with mics, too. I got this staircase that could yield some fun results!

Is the Greenback sounding harsh in the room? Or just on the recordings? Either way, the ribbon would go a long way in smoothing it out. Maybe swap the mics around? And you could still get plenty of room from the M179 set to figure 8 or omni if you wanted.

The speaker in the room doesn't sound as ideal as I'd like but the issues seem to be amplified when I recorded it this time. I put both mics a foot out, just didn't please the Greenback where I put it I guess.

Whilst recording the acoustic/vocals beginning to a song I will finish tracking wiff drums and 'lectric guitar, I got an epic room sound out of the RSM-5 ('bout 8 feet out). I got a shortcut/recipe for big room-y vocals now. It is the second take I did, and I even fucked up one of the lyrics (though it still sort of makes sense) but I am keeping it because ya know, fuck it. Details inside ze link. Everything panned center for now, and the difference in vocal levels due to the loudness of the vocal is going to either be compensated for with a overdubbed shiz, or to be shown no concern at all. It is supposed to be a sort of lo-fi/sloppy deal, so I may just disregard it completely. Someone might not be able to decipher my lyrics. Oh, no!


http://soundcloud.com/cameron-heck/dat- ... verb-tho-1