Help with external mic

[Noldo]

HI ppl im just new to this forum so im pretty much new to the br aswell. Ive been using my br to record my bands live rehearsals using an external sony condenser mic and its been working out pretty good apart from the fact weve got a pretty crap pa so the vocals arnt comming thru to well. so we were thinking of recording the band in stereo with the mic then using the remaining 2 tracks to lay the vocals on top. problem is i cant seem to use the effects that you get when using the built in mic ...or am i going wrong somewhere? any help would be greatly appreciated thnx.

[hewhoiscalledj]

Yeah it's tricky learning all the ins and outs... Regardless of which input you use (GTR, MIC, LIN, EXT) you can still select all the effect presets for each input. Just hit the Effects button, then scroll the cursor to the left so it's under GT, MC, LN, or EX (far left) and use the +/- button to scroll thru.

so, you can plug in an EXT mic and select EXT input... but you can choose the MIC effects or vice versa. Personally, I like to record with no effect except for Limiter (to avoid clipping and get the cleanest recording possible.) Then experiment and add effects (like Compressor and EQ) afterwards.

[Noldo]

Thanks alot ive actually used your previous posts as reference for recording live rehearsals and the results have been not bad. just need to fiddle around with the levels i think. again thanx top advice!

[hewhoiscalledj]

Yup, once you get the level situation under control, recording is a breeze. Now i'm trying to get the hang of mastering.

For live band recordings, i'd strongly suggest getting a stereo mic (not the Sony though.) I picked up an Audio Technica stereo mic for about $60 and it's done wonders for my recording.

[Noldo]

cool is this the model or is this not as good?

http://www.keene.co.uk/electronics/multi.php?mycode=ATR25

[hewhoiscalledj]

different model and i think that one may be a step up from what i got since it has a greater frequency response...

here's what i bought: http://www.audio-technica.com/cms/wired_mics/5f7e96b21f21e6b3/index.html/

[guitarron]

thats interesting- any chance of hearing a post from you using it?-maybe with an acoustic?

[hewhoiscalledj]

i've been meaning to post some of my band rehearsals and have seriously been slacking. this forum has a max size of just under 5mb to host the file and my smallest file is just over that. either i have to set myself up with another host site, or cut a piece of my files to post here (i'll probably just do that...)

the trick is that i post here while at work (shhh....) but dont really get much of a chance to do so from home. i'll have something up soon enough though...

[Tony]

I know the consensus is with the built in mic but I'm thinking of buying a Rode M3 to use as a general instrument mic with the MBR.  I was wondering if anyone had any experience of them or opinions about them.  I know hewhoiscalledj has been using the audio-technica pro24 and is happy with it but they are roughly the same price here in Australia and the Rode seems to get a better write up.

Rode M3: any views?

[guitarron]

i know ya want to hear about the rode, but i could'nt help but chime in with my studio projects c1
http://www.zzounds.com/item--STUC1

same price
it is extremely versetile sound greats, so far ive used it on vox,acoustic guitar and a drum overhead
its very sensitive- i need to shut off the furnace and fans even my pc because it will print EVERYTHING
amazing clarity
price just dropped on them i paid $40 more for it a year ago

what i feel is key is the mic pre amp
i've used my art dual mp, and the pre amps out of my mackie board and my motu ultralite
i'm considering getting a higher end mic pre