Hochapeafarm
Well-known member
Hi! Considering an external mic for my uke. Any recommendations out there? Thank you for your help!
is it going to be just one or two and for just instruments and / or vocals?
What's your budget?
How will you use it/connect it? (USB, Audacity, ?)
pretty sure she uses a mac if I remember correctly. Answer depends on budget. I like the blue brand products.
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/BlueBirdScarBun I am hoping this is around when I am ready to buy around xmas next year.
there is also the usb spark and the usb yeti. All different price points.
Is this for live or for recording? Completely different situations.
Hi, katysax ~ I was thinking for live purposes. For recording, I use a Rode mic on a stand that plugs into an iTrack Solo device which then plugs into my Mac laptop. I would imagine that I'd get a better sound if I had a mic directly on the uke, tho? What do you think? Thanks for your help!
For live purposes, the industry standard seems to be the Shure SM57. These are pretty affordable and almost indestructible. If you're a singer, an SM 58 is a good choice for a vocal mic.
I find when the house supplies the sound, these are what I get most often. If we supply the sound, most of the musicians I play with use tese Shure mics too, but some have pretty comparable mics.
I can't help much with recording mics, but many folks like condenser mics for this.
Like Hochapeafarm I am interested in an external mic too. Not so much for the uke but for GP use. I have started making videos recently. The internal mic. in my Logitek c615 webcam is a problem. If I sit still and play and sing there are no problems. If I move around my voice wavers in volume on the recording. Sing and play without moving around? Preposterous!
I am considering an omnidirectional Lavalier style mic. Requirements would be for wifi/hardwiring to computer or patiching into a sound system for stage work. I know next to nothing about mic.s except how to use them on stage with the assistance of a sound person.
It occurs to me that a "lepel mounted, omni-directional mic. might benefit my vocals and my ukulele. True?
I had put a $100 price point on this project but see that the price range quoted for these things ranges between $28 and $250 - my top limit. I would like something that is suitable for outdoor stage work as well.
I would appreciate all input.
Hi, Booli ~
Thank you for all of the great information -- I have read through everything once, but I will read it again to make sure I can digest every kibble of info you've provided. I will definitely follow up with any subsequent questions; I greatly appreciate all of the time you took to post your feedback -- thanks so much, again!
~ Chelle
Thanks Booli. I was thinking about spending a little more on a mic. than the model you suggested but have reconsidered. Your suggestion to experiment and keep one's options open makes a lot of sense.Tommy,
I have read lots of complaints about the audio on the Logitech C615 webcam, and lots of folks are replacing it with either the Logitech C910, C920 or C930 model, all of which have stereo mics, but are three times the price of the C615, but also have better optics and a better image sensor, as well as some processing done WITHIN the camera itself to make a better video get fed into your computer. I myself am in the market for one, and am leaning towards the C920, which I see for ~$80 all over. But I will NOT be using the camera's mic, I will be using the Apogee MIC (which is a $200 mic by itself) and you just tell your (Windows/Mac/Linux video recording program to use the Logitech for video and the Apogee for audio (in the setup), and your program binds them together when it makes the recording.
However, You may be satisfied with a cheaper mic, a lavalier as you said, for minimal cost.
Take a look at the
Audio-Technica ATR3350IS Omni Lavalier Microphone for Smartphones via Amazon
Dont let the 'for smartphones' thing fool you, it comes with a dongle for the headphone port if you want to use it with a smarphone, but otherwise is the SAME mic that sells for $5 MORE, WITHOUT the adapter dongle (Go figure)
I have used this mic (I have 2 of them) for both recording interviews (clipped to the shirt collar) and also for music with my uke and vocals.
The recordings were crisp and clear and the little batteries it uses are like 3/$1. Audio-Technica has been selling this little gem for years and it is well received.
The problem I had with it was that I have lots of background noise that I cannot isolate from my recording environment, so an omnidirectional mic PICKS UP EVERYTHING (360 degrees), but if I had it about 2 ft away, at head height (clip it to the desk lamp or mic stand, aimed at your head) the sound quality is decent, not great, but decent.
If you clip it to your shirt collar and sing with it, you will likely need to adjust the input gain on your recording program to compensate for the added vocal volume and to prevent clipping and distortion, but it will in fact pick up your uke at belly level, and a banjo or banjolele should have no problems at all being heard (they are usually pretty loud any way).
It is a cheap investment to see if the problem is your C615's mic or something else, and at least with a 'detached-from-the-camera' mic, you have options and can experiment with mic placement to get the best sound...
Hope this helps
-Booli
Thanks Booli. I was thinking about spending a little more on a mic. than the model you suggested but have reconsidered. Your suggestion to experiment and keep one's options open makes a lot of sense.
One of the things I've discovered about the C615 and the C900 series is that they autofocus on the center of the screen. I have been recording videos so that my fretting hand, and ultimately my strumming hand are straight on so people including me can see what I'm doing -tutorial usage. This pushes me off center stage and out of focus. There are aesthetic and pyschological reasons for not being center stage as well. My buddy Ray Naylor pointed this out to me.