Lessons learned tonight about recording my D28 Shenandoah:
All of these were done using the RNP. I did try the Behringer ADA8000 and it wasn't too bad, just unremarkable.
The MD441 sounds a LOT better than the SM81, 12th fret, 6" out, new medium strings. I kicked in the presence boost and dialed the bass rolloff to 1 click from M. Nice high end, the harsh overtones are actually gone. It sure is a tight pattern though, like looking at something through a tube from a paper towel roll.
I STILL like the way the SM57 sounds at the 12th fret, although it's not what I was searching for.
Curious to see what 2 57s would sound like, I took the windscreen off of my battle scarred 15 year old SM58 and set it up with the SM57 in an X/Y pattern. The 58 is tired and needs more gain, but it really sounded good to me, in a garage band, home studio kind of way.
I needed an excuse to get another 57 anyway so I have one for snare and one for guitar cab when I am recording our band live.
SM57 haters, make me a deal!!The SM81 captures that harsh ringing bunch of overtones when the guitar is soloed. I don't know why I got this mic for recording my acoustic. It did work pretty well on the Martin live the other night though, way better than the builtin 1st generation Thinline piezo.
When I bring up the vocal, bass and drum tracks, ALL of the acoustic tracks sound okay, just different. So I started listening from the point of view of which one of these is getting in the way of the vocal the least. The answer was the X/Y 57s, because the vocal is centered between them. If I could only afford a pair of MD441s.....
If I shouldn't post what is child's play to everyone else, let me know and I'll stop. I am just trying to start practicing some of what I read in the big mic thread and I appreciate any guidance given.
Maybe some parametric EQ would make all of these experiments sound about the same, but I am trying to go with the best placement and no EQ going in. Somebody else is going to have to help me mix this mess and I don't want them having to undo a bunch of bad EQ applied to the basic tracks.
I will try the idea of playing into a corner tomorrow with a mic over the shoulder. That's gotta be different!
Thanks,
Bill