room mic

[joeschai]

I'm a guitar player in a Philly band.

Call me crazy, but I'm looking to record my band in our rehearsal space with only ONE microphone. I know how ridiculous this might sound, but the only purpose these recordings would serve is to help me decide on some keyboard parts for our next album.

Any recommendations? Responses on how illogical I'm being are welcome, too. :confused:

[rob2001]

Since your not going for great quality, i'd grab up a cheap LDC. A studio Projects B-1 is an exellent low dollar Large condenser, around $120.00 new. Of coarse you could just hang a 57 too.

[E-Rock]

Go for an omni.
The low end on directional mics drops off with distance. An omni will give you a better picture of what's really happening in the room.
Or better yet, 2 omnis :)

[RustyAxe]

Not crazy, I was just talking to a guy yesterday who does just that. Of course, he's not getting studio quality recordings, but they're good enough for his purpose (similar to yours). His comment was that the only problem was that the kick didn't come through as loud as he'd like. I'm wanting to mic two or three instruments/vocals so I just ordered a Samson C03 ... it allows for an adjustable pattern ... cardioid, omni, and figure eight ... by employing two 19mm diaphrams and a selector switch on the mic. They run about a hundred bucks.

I'm not expecting miracle with a cheap condensor, but we'll see. It will be better than my SM59/SM57 mics I'm using now, for sure.

[nbarts]

You can get pretty good sound if your room sounds good & you sound good in it:D

an omni or 2.

Budget?

[E-Rock]

Not crazy, I was just talking to a guy yesterday who does just that. Of course, he's not getting studio quality recordings, but they're good enough for his purpose (similar to yours). His comment was that the only problem was that the kick didn't come through as loud as he'd like. I'm wanting to mic two or three instruments/vocals so I just ordered a Samson C03 ... it allows for an adjustable pattern ... cardioid, omni, and figure eight ... by employing two 19mm diaphrams and a selector switch on the mic. They run about a hundred bucks.

I'm not expecting miracle with a cheap condensor, but we'll see. It will be better than my SM59/SM57 mics I'm using now, for sure.

Not enough kick can be a real problem with cardioids. I usually get plenty o' kick with omnis.
We record our jams all the time with 2 omnis. Usually just move the mics to get the balance you want. In our room, they sound best away from the drums, closer to the guitar/keyboard amps. About waist high, you get a nice thumping kick, and good balance.
It's not going to sound like a Steely Dan record, but it sound pretty bitchin' for a jam recording. In fact, I've loaded it into Protools, though an API buss compressor (cheating, I know), and givin' it a little squash, it sounds awesome. I usually EQ out a a little low mids, and boost just a hint of the air, and people can't belive it's 2 mics in a jam space.

[E-Rock]

Oh, I usually use a pair of Earthworks, but these mics kick major ass for the price.

http://www.mercenary.com/sto2microphone.html

Or, even cheaper, check out Sound Professionals online, they have a couple of omnis for like 99 bucks that sound great. I have a pair mounted in a 'otter box'. I got the 2 mics, otter box and a tiny little pre-amp for the mics on their website for like 150 buck. (This was a few years ago)

[joeschai]

How much are omni mics, anyway? I suppose my budget is between 100 - 200? These aren't meant to be life-changing recordings or anything; they'll just serve as reference tracks to inform more arrangements for the upcoming studio recording.

[nbarts]

Good ones like EWs are expensive, that said they are probably the best mics I've heard for the price & not just for the price, QTC40s kick some major butt.
On cheap you can get Behringer ECM8000.