Utterly basic microphone question

[mct1]

Do I need a pop filter and a shock mount to record speech voiceovers with a condenser mic - or are they just for singing?

I've seen good reviews of the Marshall MXL Desktop Recording Kit - it would seem to do nicely for my humble speech and accoustic guitar plans.

Thanks

 

[pulsewidth947]

Yup pop sheilds are a must whenever you do anything with vocals. You dont have to buy a pop shield though, you can build one from a pair of tights (pantyhose, er dunno what else people would call em) and a coat hanger. Make a circle out of a coat hanger then wrap the tights over it pulling them taught.

Of course if you WANT to spend £30 quid on something you can if you want..

:EDIT: Yeah that Mic looks ok, but I really recommend trying out different mics and seeing which you prefer, and which suits your vocals best. Theres a thread or two in this forum about Mic choices and where to get decent reviews etc.

 

[mct1]

Great - tights and a coathanger, that sounds easy. Now, where and how exactly does one place this wire circle in relation to the mic - obviously between mouth and mic but do you hold it, prop it up, lean it on the mic? (You might be amused but I've never seen this done).

Sadly, I live in a small town where the music shop doesn't actually have any mics in stock (I asked last week). They took 3 months to get me a hard classical guitar case so I definitely won't be holding my breath. Yes it would be nice to try one first but life's just too short, so I'll just order the MXL on the Net from the UK and I'm sure it'll come in useful for something!

 

[WinterMute]

Great - tights and a coathanger, that sounds easy. Now, where and how exactly does one place this wire circle in relation to the mic - obviously between mouth and mic but do you hold it, prop it up, lean it on the mic? (You might be amused but I've never seen this done).

Sadly, I live in a small town where the music shop doesn't actually have any mics in stock (I asked last week). They took 3 months to get me a hard classical guitar case so I definitely won't be holding my breath. Yes it would be nice to try one first but life's just too short, so I'll just order the MXL on the Net from the UK and I'm sure it'll come in useful for something!

Depends on the type of vocal sound you want, if it's a close, breathy sound you'll need to place the pop-shield directly in front of the mic, but not touching it, for louder vocal styles you can move the vocalist and the pop shield back a little.

If you're still suffering from popping, try approaching the mic from a 30-45 degree angle rather than straight on or getting the singer to hold a finger a couple of inches from the lips.

The pop shield used to be called the ladies-stocking for obvious reasons.

 

[Yebot]

You can buy a pop-filter.

Or you can build one out of ladies hosiery.

Or you can avoid using the letter P.

 

[pulsewidth947]

Or you can avoid using the letter P.

Hahahaha

Oh yeah one thing I forgot to mention - dont try a fishnet stocking pop sheild

 

[CanadaRAM]

There's another trick that can be experimented with: position a pencil vertically in front of the mic. The pencil breaks up the airflow of the breath and reduces the booming from plosives. Try in combination with the nylon screen.

 

[WinterMute]

There's another trick that can be experimented with: position a pencil vertically in front of the mic. The pencil breaks up the airflow of the breath and reduces the booming from plosives. Try in combination with the nylon screen.

The old Abbey Road pencil trick, good call!

 

[pulsewidth947]

Damn we need a "cheap and dirty tricks for recording" thread

 

[scarlco]

Mic wise, I've seen some good words on the snowball from blue. Might look into it myself - not sure if it's available for purchase yet, though.

 

[The Truth]

The old Abbey Road pencil trick, good call!

Does this really work? I've never heard of this trick. Where do you put the pencil? How close to the mic? What sized mics does it work with?

 

[WinterMute]

Does this really work? I've never heard of this trick. Where do you put the pencil? How close to the mic? What sized mics does it work with?

Yeah it works for excessive poppers, get a standard pencil and a couple of rubber bands, run the pencil vertically down the mic so that the pencil runs across the center of the capsule, then add a pop-sheild to your taste (sometimes not necessary).

It works best with the larger vertically orientated mics like the U87.

 

[.:*Robot Boy*:.]

Have any of you tried one of those pop filters that forces the plosive down? I was told a while ago (hence the haziness of this description) that there was a pop filter that was essentially a mesh aluminium screen that forced the plosive down without dampening any frequencies.

Or maybe I just dreamed it...