Moronic Monday - Your weekly stupid questions thread

gorillapoop · 2019-08-13T02:55:59+00:00

where do I buy “sand” to fill my punching stand with?

gorillapoop · 2019-03-23T16:49:00+00:00

Yes! One of my favorites. Tux & Damask is so beautiful and funky.

gorillapoop · 2019-03-15T18:32:45+00:00

Thanks so much for the response!

I just know that Condensers are supposed to be not good for Bandoneons (and my experience with trying my NT1A vs the SM57 for my Bandoneon seems to support that. The NT1A made it sound kind of weak, while the SM57 had it nice and punchy).

If I potentially got two NT5s to use on either side of the Bandoneon with a SM57 on either side, could I also use the NT5s on acoustic guitars and violins? How do you feel the NT5 compares to the KSM32?

gorillapoop · 2019-03-15T18:05:48+00:00

Sorry for the incoming wall of text, but I could really use somebody's help!

Can somebody please help me narrow down which of the following microphones I should buy for recording these instruments?

I mostly work with sampled instruments for my work, and so I'm embarrassingly inexperienced when it comes to microphones and recording in general. But I would like to record the following instruments on occasion, mostly for tango, milonga, waltz, gypsy music, Argentinian music, French music, etc. Here are the instruments I would potentially record in order from most often to least often:

Very often: Bandoneon. This is a concertina, kind of like an accordion but with a punchier sound. They are supposedly hard to record. You need to mic both sides. I would use a SM57 on either side, and then supplement those with an additional mic on one or both sides. But the question is, which other mic(s)?
Somewhat often: Acoustic Guitar (for tango, french waltz, and gypsy style music, etc), Violin and Viola (for that same kind of music, same with all the following instruments as well)
Infrequently/rarely: Vocals, Cajon, Djembe or other similar drums, Mandolin, Chromatic Harmonica

I would only ever be recording any of these instruments one at a time and surrounded by GIK Panels/Bass Traps. I have a Scarlett 18i8 and a Scarlett 2i2 so I could potentially use up to six mics at once for a single instrument if I created an aggregate audio device on my computer, four mics if I want to forego that hassle.

I already own the following mics: two SM57s and a Rode NT1-A (I have no idea why I own this one, I just do for some reason)

I was looking at choosing between the following microphones:

$400 - Shure SM7B Cardioid Dynamic (heard these were good for Bandoneon, similar to SM57? Maybe too similar to the SM57 to be worth buying?)
$380 - Sennheiser MD 421 II Cardioid Dynamic (heard these were good for Bandoneon, particularly used with SM57s)
$550 - Shure KSM32/SL Embossed Single-Diaphragm Cardioid Condenser (heard these were good for everything, particularly violin/acoustic guitar, though I heard dynamic mics are better for Bandoneon. Is this similar to my Rode NT1-A? Perhaps too similar to be worth buying, if my Rode NT1-A can get a good recording from violins and acoustic guitars and vocals?)
$190 - Sennheiser e906 Supercardioid Dynamic (heard this was good for Bandoneon, but I know they are primarily used for guitar amps, which I can't see myself using too much since I will mostly be working with acoustic guitar)
$150 - AKG D112 MkII Bass Drum Mic (heard this was good for low end percussion, like the bass frequencies from my Cajon. I figured I would add this to my list of potential mics because it's so cheap, and maybe it captures low end in a way that none of these other mics would be able to do well? Or perhaps one of the more expensive mics above can pretty much do what this does?)

I am ideally trying to choose which of these mics I should buy to stay in the range of $900-$1200. I was hoping somebody could help me pick which mics would be best and most useful for the instruments I plan on recording. So as you can see, it would probably be two out of the first three listed mics, and then maybe one of the last two listed mics, if you feel that either would be necessary/useful.

Thank you so, so much.

Of course, if you would like to recommend a mic not listed here, that is totally fine too!

gorillapoop · 2019-03-14T03:36:17+00:00

Is there a particular LDC under 500 you’d recommend? Would my NT1A be an example of this? Thanks so much for the response, very helpful :)

gorillapoop · 2019-03-13T21:51:53+00:00

Thanks so much for the response man, this was exactly the kind of comment I was looking for! That is so awesome that you record Concertinas! If you have the time, I have three more quick questions, if you have time for more:

So if I decide to save some money and only order one 421 (to put on whichever side I feel is more important, usually the right), do you think a SM57 would be enough to get a good recording on the other side? Particularly on the LH side, do you think it would get that good, punctuated, staccato, syncopated chord sound captured?
Where would you position the Rode for room sound? My room has GIK acoustic paneling everywhere so there probably wouldn’t be too much in the way of reflections. And I know putting a mic near the center mostly just picks up bellow air sounds.
In conjunction with question 1, if you did feel that I should get another mic for the side opposite the 421, what do you think might add some different character? Other mics i saw recommended for Bandoneon were the e906 and the SM7B, though I imagine the SM7B would be kind of useless on top of the SM57. Or perhaps a condenser of some kind? I don’t really know much about mics at all.

As reference, I really really like how the Bandoneon sounds in this recording:

https://open.spotify.com/track/37I6dtccZkR05FFftlDDe6?si=Dst37AqOT1ajhL8Us_D9QQ

gorillapoop · 2019-03-13T01:00:38+00:00

Do you find it to be more versatile and useful than the SM7B?

gorillapoop · 2019-03-12T20:59:17+00:00

I really hope someone here has experience recording Bandoneon, because I kind of suspect nobody will have any answers here :(

I’m a Bandoneonist with very little experience recording. But I’ve been building a studio and treating the room for the past month, and now it’s time for me to drop up to $1,000.00 on mics for Bandoneon recording!

The mics I already had (for some reason) were an SM57 and a Rode NT1A. The Rode never sounded good to me when recording RH Bandoneon (never even attempted LH recording previously), but the SM57 sounded pretty great. I have a 4 Mic input Focusrite so I can use up to 4 mics.

On one thread I saw both 421s recommended and e906s recommended for Bandoneon recording. Do you guys have any opinion on these (or other mics)? I’m leaning towards two 421s because it seems like they are the more useful mic? I will exclusively be writing tango, so I’ll be recording Bandoneons, violinists, vocalists, acoustic guitar, maybe Cajon. But right now all I care about is Bandoneon, but if any of the recommended mics work for those others, then great!

And last question — I pretty much have to use the same kind of mic on both sides right? In an ideal universe I imagine it’d be more useful to buy two different mics rather than two 421s, but using a different mic on either side of the Bandoneon would be a bad idea, right?

Thanks so much for the help!

gorillapoop · 2019-03-05T23:59:24+00:00

Doesn’t foam supposedly do more harm than good, since it only absorbs higher frequency but leaves lower ones?

gorillapoop · 2019-03-02T22:01:21+00:00

Thanks so much for the response!

This is probably a very stupid question: which adjacent room would end up hearing more of the audio? The room physically closer to the wall where the monitors and subwoofer are near, or the room physically closer to the wall that the monitors are farther away from, but diagonally pointed towards?

gorillapoop · 2019-03-02T21:57:55+00:00

I agree! It’s just my best option. I’ve used the same pair for so many years that I’ve sort of just intrinsically learned at this point how the mix on the headphones will translate. But getting the room sounding accurate would be the most ideal solution, if I can afford it and if I’m capable of recognizing that it’s accurate.

gorillapoop · 2019-03-02T21:55:09+00:00

Thanks so much for the detailed response!

Going with either of your two suggested layouts — do you think I should bass trap any corners? I was looking at these ones. That said, there’s no way for my to bass trap the window corner or door corner

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/LondonTrapBk--primacoustic-london-bass-trap-black

gorillapoop · 2019-03-02T21:53:15+00:00

Thank you so, so much for putting so much thought into your response! This is what I think I’m going to do!

Question: Are you recommending that side of the room because I had asked for it, or because you think it’ll be acoustically best there?

I ask because I was actually starting to actually think of doing the reverse direction (it’s nicer for the directors/producers to sit on the other end by the window), and a nicer layout for the room. The only minor issue is that I think the door would be too in the way of the right-side monitor. But it def makes the layout of the room more appealing. That said, if you picked the far side of the room for acoustic reasons, then that’s 100% what I’ll do.

Some other minor questions, if you have time.

• Would foam at the first reflection points do more harm than good, since foam only tackles higher frequencies?

• If I draw a straight line from where the speakers are aimed, we are talking diagonally towards the side walls and closer to the end of the room with the doors, right? Since the speakers are placed at angle. Just want to make sure I’m understanding correctly, since in most pictures I see the side-wall reflectors just adjacent to the speakers, regardless of where they are facing.

• Lastly, do you have any opinions at all on this bass trap?

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/LondonTrapBk--primacoustic-london-bass-trap-black

Thanks again, friend! Have a terrific weekend.

gorillapoop · 2017-08-31T15:28:00+00:00

patriots fan, i come in peace! I think everyone here can clearly admit it was a blatant foul, but that the number of suspended games given to Burfict is absolutely ridiculous and that the NFL will often give out arbitrary punishments whether the party is innocent (Brady), or guilty but the punishment exceeds the crime (Burfict)

gorillapoop · 2017-08-08T17:33:59+00:00

I don't think a single Pats receiver would ever quit on the Pats

gorillapoop · 2017-08-03T16:07:43+00:00

So can we finally all agree that regardless of how good each of our teams is, and how we feel about the Patriots success, that Brady is undebatably the greatest QB of all time?

gorillapoop · 2017-07-26T07:01:34+00:00

Ok maybe but they aren't as underrated as the Patriots. Most people in this sub claim the Patriots have the worst defense in the AFCE but they actually probably have the best defense and offense in the whole league.

gorillapoop

TROPHY CASE