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Forum > Gear, Software and Techniques
Good cheaper mics for recording sound effects?
meat motor's picture
meat motor
Posts: 2
 Joined: 2007-12-30

Hi
I've been producing ambient sound art for a while now. So far I have made due with preexisting samples I've found, but am now looking into the prospect of recording my own.
I've been scavenging info from online articles and message boards, but it seems most everyone doesn't like paying less than $200 for a mic. I'm looking for something more around $100 price range, because I'm a destitute college student.

I plan on recording short sound effects like impact sounds or wood/metal pressure creaking with minimal ambient environment contamination. For this purpose, I originally thought a shotgun mic was what I needed, but now I'm not so sure (and I don't know if they make any in my price range).
I know the sound quality won't be perfect for such a cheap price tag, but I plan to feed my recorded samples through various reverb and detuning filters.

Would a shotgun mic be ideal, or would a more basic directional mic be what I'm looking for?

Any help will do! I have little microphone experience. :P

‹ What do you use? ACID Subchunk ›

Submitted by meat motor on Sun, 2007-12-30 04:09. login or register to post comments

Red Prince's picture
Red Prince
Posts: 212
 Joined: 2007-11-10
A shotgun is used when you

A shotgun is used when you need to zoom in on a sound, for example when the source of the sound is a certain distance from the microphone. If you can place the sound right in front of the microphone, you can use a cardioid microphone, which picks up the sound that is in front of it, but not what is behind it or at the sides of it.

Personally, I use the AT2020 cardioid microphone, which I got from sweetwater.com for about $100. It is a condenser microphone, so it needs a source of power, which, in my case, is supplied by my mixer. And I hold it on a microphone stand I picked up at my local Radio Shack. I always keep the microphone just a few centimeters (inches) from the source of the sound.


Sun, 2007-12-30 16:55 login or register to post comments

meat motor's picture
meat motor
Posts: 2
 Joined: 2007-12-30
Ah, Thanks a lot! that looks

Ah, Thanks a lot! that looks perfect!
And I've found it even cheaper at:

http://www.soundprofessionals.com/cgi-bin/gold/item/AT2020


Wed, 2008-01-02 06:04 login or register to post comments