Greetings

[GntlmnJim]

Hello to all...

   Just got on board and wanted to say hello. Hope everyone's having fun making sound waves.

Jim

[RawDepth]

Hello and welcome, Jim. Glad to have you here. Yep, I love this hobby. If I could do it full time I would. I have been slowly building up and improving the home studio gear as I can afford it. Getting better results each time I record. How about you?

[GntlmnJim]

   Thanks for the welcome, RawDepth. Yes, I'm having a blast trying out new stuff. It boggles my mind how far the technology has come since I started messing around with a Tascam 4-track reel-to-reel back in the early 80's. My little home studio is constantly evolving, getting a little tighter with each new song. Anyway, I'll definitely be picking a few brains out there!

[stainless]

Welcome Jim

Nice cover! a favorite song of mine

[GntlmnJim]

Thanks Stainless! My girlfriend, who teaches ESL, had this idea for a teaching CD, with songs containing easily understandable lyrics. This was one of the songs. Her one rule is: "keep the lyrics in the front of the mix and as clear as possible; the musical content is secondary". To that end, and given my limited wallet, I've upgraded my vocal mic from an AT-4050 to an AKG C414-XLII. I haven't used it on vocal tracks yet. I've heard good things about recording vocals with it. We'll see.....
   Anyway, thanks again for the compliment!

[stainless]

Your welcome!

I have to ask... what's ESL?

I've never used those mics (I have a AT-4040 that i use mainly for the soundhole on acoustics)

I use a pair of Jolie modded Oktava MK-319'2 that i like, or I'll use a Karma tube mic, or sometimes a AT E-3300 (which is actually a 'performance condenser' but it works quite well

I just got a pair of Rode NT3's (actually for drum overheads) and a friend who also has a pair suggested i use them on vocals

sooo many options

and we've not even got into mic pre's   

[GntlmnJim]

I'm sorry Stainless, "ESL" is English as a Second Language. She wants her students to start "thinking in English" so listening to, and dissecting song lyrics seemed like a good idea for a CD.

I've got a Rode NT4 stereo mic which I use for room ambience. Love it! I think Tom Petty's drummer uses it live for drum overheads. I used it on one of the CD songs "Take Me Out To The Ballgame" (believe it or not!) where I overdubbed my voice 12 times to simulate a bar crowd. It worked great!

[stainless]

a bar crowd?  I'd like to hear that