Last month we were discussing digital multitracks. Now we'll start on some of the tools that you'll need in order to get your music into an audio format. Depending on the instrument that you play, you may need minimal amounts of gear to do so, eg. any piece of gear that has ¼", RCA or midi outputs will only need cables to connect your recorder and instrument together. But for an acoustic instrument, amps and especially vocals, you should have a decent microphone. That's where we'll begin this month.

There are many different types of mics out there to choose from, each one having a different characteristic and quality to them. Please note, with that being said, a so called bad, cheap mic may sound terrible but used properly in the right place at a point in the recording may give you that sound you're looking for. If you plan on recording vocals and acoustic instruments you should set you sights on a decent condenser microphone (large diaphragm). This mic will serve you well and will possibly be the most important part of your audio chain other than your source. This will capture the sound and emotion of what is sung or played. The prices on these mics can be reasonable from $200 for a decent factory made assembly line to a very expensive $5000 hand crafted one. At this point in time home recording gear and pro gear dollar values are very far apart but the gap is closing in quality.

The second microphone you should be considering would be a dynamic. These are your all around, can be used on anything and cannot do without mics. They are totally reasonably priced. In my opinion, there is only one mic out there that fits this description--the Shure SM-57. I don't think you'll find many people out there that will disagree with me. These mics are used on everything from vocals to amps and drums in the studio and live applications. Dynamic mics are used where there are high sound pressure levels such as drums and amps, which you all know can be generally loud, and have a hard attack. Other mics may not be able to handle these high SPL's such as ribbons or condensers which could possibly destroy the diaphragm in you mic. As I said earlier, prices are very fair for a excellent dynamic mic. For example, a Shure SM-57 will only set you back approx. $250 and you should get a lifetime out of it if you don't abuse it and they are the industry standard.

I've provided you with some links to check out this month for some of the microphone manufacturers.