TubaForum.net

What microphone should I get? I want to record trombone and tuba ensemble music but my phone microphone makes me sound like a 7th grader so I’d like to know what microphone work for those instruments. I’ll also be playing pedal tones on some of the music so I’ll need a mic that can pickup the pedal tones.

I’d also like to not spend more than 80 bucks.

Not many I would recommend at that price range, but if you want something solid look for a secondhand Shure SM58 or SM57.

As long as you have a decent interface (Focusrite Scarlett works great, Used can be had for around $50-100) those mics would give you great results.

Some will say the SM57 is better for instruments and depending on how you set it that tends to be true, ultimately its up to what you want to work with. I''ve used both in Live and Recording situations and they are about the same, just different designs in my opinion.

Use your damn iPhone and be happy with it! :)

WitchyPsycho2 wrote: ↑Mon Aug 22, 2022 12:45 am Not many I would recommend at that price range, but if you want something solid look for a secondhand Shure SM58 or SM57.

As long as you have a decent interface (Focusrite Scarlett works great, Used can be had for around $50-100) those mics would give you great results.

Some will say the SM57 is better for instruments and depending on how you set it that tends to be true, ultimately its up to what you want to work with. I''ve used both in Live and Recording situations and they are about the same, just different designs in my opinion.

Ok if i were to up my price point what would you reccomend

You could try an inexpensive ($20-$30) electret condenser mike. I investigated this a while ago because I have a very deep bass singing voice in addition to playing tuba. These mikes have an almost flat response down to 20 Hz, which is about the limit of a young normal person's hearing. This is the lowest E on the piano. Below that pitch, the ear hears the overtones and the brain reconstructs the fundamental so that we "hear" the lowest notes. It is said that one feels the lowest notes of a 32 ft organ pipe rather than hearing them (32 ft C=16 Hz). It is unlikely that you will have a stereo system or set of headphones that plays down to 20 Hz, or even much below 50 Hz unless you have an amazing subwoofer. With a recorder or stereo system and good speakers or headphones, you are still going to do a lot better than with a phone or the speakers in a laptop. It will help if you have an equalizer so that you can boost whatever bass you have as much as you want.

You might want to try buying one of these mikes on Amazon or Ebay so that you can try it out and send it back if it isn't to your liking. I got one of these a while back but haven't gotten to try it out with my Zoom recorder yet (which also has a pair of condenser mikes). Be aware that some of these mikes use a battery and some draw power from the miniplug or USB port into which they are plugged, so the device has to have that voltage available. Zoom recorders are also great, but the Zoom H2 has some bass rolloff which apparently the H4 has less of. If you get off into optimizing there is plenty of info available on recording forums and even some on that other tuba forum.
HTH,
royjohn

CooperBayliff wrote: ↑Sun Aug 21, 2022 9:00 pm What microphone should I get? I want to record trombone and tuba ensemble music but my phone microphone makes me sound like a 7th grader so I’d like to know what microphone work for those instruments. I’ll also be playing pedal tones on some of the music so I’ll need a mic that can pickup the pedal tones.

I’d also like to not spend more than 80 bucks.

Scott Sutherland reviewed several USB mics a couple years ago starting at about $50. Might be worth a watch.

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail ... ng-package

Record in a big room.
A Omni mic in the back of the room is nice for color, and a “big” sound.

Mics are a big preference thing. It really depends on what you’re going for.

This. A close mic in a dead room is not an optimal presentation medium for most tuba sounds. That's a problem with a lot of older (60s-70s) tuba recordings.

LargeTuba wrote: ↑Tue Aug 23, 2022 10:29 am https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail ... ng-package

Record in a big room.
A Omni mic in the back of the room is nice for color, and a “big” sound.

Mics are a big preference thing. It really depends on what your going for.

This is a good mic. Also the Rode NT5, especially a matched pair, is great for recording brass quintets.

there is an unpowered rode mic that is meant for use with a phone that is actually very good

The Neumann mics that I sold – after I took a good long look at them, and realized that neither I nor anyone else want to hear recordings of anything that I played - are good recording mics.

CooperBayliff wrote: ↑Mon Aug 22, 2022 12:22 pm

WitchyPsycho2 wrote: ↑Mon Aug 22, 2022 12:45 am Not many I would recommend at that price range, but if you want something solid look for a secondhand Shure SM58 or SM57.

As long as you have a decent interface (Focusrite Scarlett works great, Used can be had for around $50-100) those mics would give you great results.

Some will say the SM57 is better for instruments and depending on how you set it that tends to be true, ultimately its up to what you want to work with. I''ve used both in Live and Recording situations and they are about the same, just different designs in my opinion.

Ok if i were to up my price point what would you reccomend

I would still recommend the Shure mics. New they are about $100. With an interface and a good daw you can get high quality out of them. That and a secondhand interface and you shouldnt be more than $150 all told.

Ive seen live situations where they take one and put it down the bell and adjust for quality from there.

My new mic arrived, here is a sample: https://notabs.org/tubaforum/cheapMic/cheapMic.wav.

The mic cost $1.86: https://www.ebay.com/itm/304579894517