Question for studio geeks
SM58s for studio vocals? What's up with that?
shareIf you are looking for the 'live' sound then they are acceptable. Good isolation without baffles. The entire recording session was done in what was called a 'live' room. Personally I know of no studio that records anything but cheap rate demos this way. No baffles were used, only a dead room for the drums. The vocal mic was a Neumann type like the U87 (the suspension was missing though, a no no for Neumanns) but since it was a demo situation no studio rolls out the $3K+ mics for a $3k session. I use Marshall MXL V69's for lots of recordings and even the cheaper clones for the real budget stuff. I have had them stolen by groupies/roadies/friends etc.
I have used dynamic mics on drums frequently where a sharp 'attack curve' is required. This session was probably only live for the vocals and in the dvd extras we see a pop filter being used on the vocal mic which is standard for expensive mics to keep the screaming singers 'spit' from messing up the mic's electronics. The pop filter probably interfered with the video shot of the singer's face so it was removed (like removing a rear view mirror in driving scenes.) An unsubstantiated rumor has it that Journey singer Steve Perry cost a studio over $25K for mic repairs (spit) before the studio insisted he use a pop filter. The same rumor was attributed to other singers such as the guy from Styx and even Michael Jackson.
Haha, good stuff, I didn't know that about Steve Perry's drool problem.
I agree with dynamics (sm57) for snare, HH and even miking guitar cabs. I just thought it was odd to see him singing into a 58 in a studio. You're right though, other scenes show him singing into a U87 type thing... maybe the 58 was just a scratch track that they would have overdubbed later. Like you said, for the sake of the film they couldn't have a big condenser & shockmount & spit screen or you wouldnt see the guy's face at all (btw I'll be keeping an eye out for missing rear view mirrors from now on)!
Good point about the lack of baffles, traps, soundproofing, etc. If I recall correctly, the walls & ceiling were white brick (and very low ceilings too).
Oh well, at least it wasn't as bad as Eddie & the Cruisers which, despite being an AWESOME film, didn't show any of the instruments plugged in during their live shows!