| Re: Microphones [message #64532 is a reply to message #64524] |
Wed, 27 October 2010 23:57   |
Thermionic
Messages: 208
Registered: May 2009
|
Master |
|
|
Hi DJ Dave,
I just checked Musician's Friend to see if a SM58 still costs about $100 these days, and I had to chuckle a bit when I read the product description:
"The Shure SM58 mic is legendary for its uncanny ability to withstand abuse that would destroy any other microphone. The Shure SM58 has not only helped to define the sound of rock vocals on stage, it's also been used as a hammer to build stages and gone on to perform flawlessly later at the gig."
LOL! I guess I'm not the only one who knows that old hammer joke!
As for the price, it was still $100, which is what the SM58 and SM57 have cost for about the past 25 years. FYI, if you're not familiar with it, the SM57 is the instrument mic counterpart of the SM58, and is just as tough. It has the same capsule but a different acoustic labyrinth, which is what sets the mic's polar pickup pattern, and also affects its frequency response to a small degree.
Here's more from the SM58 ad:
"Using a club's house system? You'll be singing through an SM58. And in the studio? Daniel Lanois always uses the SM58 or Beta 58 on Bono's vocals."
I was pretty surprised to read the second half of this statement, about Bono's vocals. I've honestly never listened to U2, but I heard something by them maybe a year ago or so that totally floored me. It wasn't the song or anything about it, it was the absolutely dynamite vocal sound the recording engineer got!
The song started with the words, "Every generation gets a chance to change the world," which was sung acapella, so you could really hear all the recording qualities of the vocal track. It was on one of those advertisements you have to endure before watching a news video on the 'Net, but even on the little computer speakers I could tell the vocal sound was positively knockout. There was something about it that I still can't quite explain, but "it" was incredible, whatever "it" is.
I saw that ad a few more times, and ever since then I've wondered what kind of mic, mic preamp, and board were used to get that sound, and precisely what the engineer did to it afterward in Pro Tools. If it's true that it's a SM58 or Beta 58, I'm blown away, because that particular vocal sound impressed me VERY much and really caught my attention. Granted, it's no doubt ran through a very good tube mic preamp, as doing so really wakes a SM58 up and makes it sound incredible in the studio. But still, I ain't never heard one sound like THAT.
BTW, Sweetwater (my fave) and Musician's Friend are both great places to order from, but if you wanna buy your mic at a brick-and-mortar store it shouldn't be any problem. Most of your better quality music stores have Shure mics, and if you're in a town big enough to have two decent music stores, at least one of them will be a Shure dealer.
Thermionic
|
|
|
|
Posting Rules
Members
Search
Help
Register
Login
Get a T-Shirt!
