Re: microphone: a professional percussionist replies

[andy butler <akbutler@tiscali.co.uk>]

Ronan Chris Murphy wrote:
> One more vote for the mighty SM57. To me it is one of the greatest 
> pieces of recording / Sound reinforcement gear ever made. 

It certainly was the "good mic" among my collection of junk shop mics for 
many years
(or rather, the 545, which was the predecessor to the SM57).
Though once I got a 421 I just stopped using it.
( and you can even use the 421 on kick drum)

(was it Kris who wrote?)
>> It irritates 
>> me when the low end manufactures publish a frequency range and call it 
>> a frequency response. It's misleading.

The frequency plot of the SM57 shows it 10dB down at 50z.
So the quoted 40-1500Hz range might be misleading.
I guess the proximity effect makes up for the drop off, as I always found 
sufficient bottom end in that mic.

Ronan again
> There are not a lot situations where flat frequency response is an end 
> goal in microphones. The venerated Neuman U47, or AKG C12 are very far 
> from flat. 

As far as I know, the frequency deviations from flat for a studio 
condenser are in a whole different league to those of a cheap hand held 
dynamic.
The flattering part of a large diaphragm condenser is a subtle presence 
lift.
The Sm57 colors the sound considerably.
It's not just the frequency response here, it's also significant that a 
condenser has a very even phase response, and a dynamic mic doesn't.
 


> There are tons of mics I own and love, but the two affordable "swiss 
> army knife" mics are both by Shure. The SM57 and the KSM32.  Both 
> stunning mics even if they were ten times the price. I could easily 
> record entire albums with just those two mics.

That would be fascinating.
I'm sure I've heard the "whole album with an SM57" claim before.
( I suspect that having every sound colored that much by the same mic would
make very fatiguing listening)  

> Be careful about jumping 
> into ultra low cost condensers. There are very few of them I have found 
> to be usable, especially when you need to EQ them or layer them up (the 
> MXL V67 and V69 are the only super low cost condenser, I have found to 
> be of high enough quality to get used on my productions)

Did you try any of the newer "stage condensers"?

andy butler