Inexpensive lofi mic for garage rock vocals

[jorri]

For a garage rock sound I'd recommend going through a guitar amp, such as ac30. Numerous plugins can get there too but more important than mics that produce a lofi sound. Unless you can tap an old telephone or find a vintage cheapo hifi (as in plugs into stereo system) mic (by searching vintage mic on eBay and sorting by lowest price there is a TON of cheap old tat, even a few ribbons and special use stuff - but watch for it having a usable connector not DIN)

[somanytoys]

Great suggestions.


Just my opinion, but it seems like it would be more practical overall to buy a decent mic and mod the sound however you care to do it, than to get a mic that only does one thing.

Unless it’s a really cheap one, then who cares, you‘ll still have money left over to buy a better mic for other uses...

[ElephantDNA]

I also endorse an SM57 or 58 with some processing. I would just try and run it through some distortion pedals or something to give it the gain. My band is going for a similar type of sound and I think I'm going to start by putting the vocals (using 57) through my orange micro dark head and crank the gain as far as I can without clipping. I think that will probably get it done. If it isn't doing it for me, I think my next option will be to run it through a ZVEX distortron.

[øøøøøøø]

If looking for a low-fidelity and distorted sound, I see no reason to not use what you already have and just figure out how to make it do what you need.

Lo-fi and distorted can be a complex objective, but it's not usually an expensive one.

Just try blowing out various parts of your chain... overload the mic preamp. Overload the recorder (even if it's a digital recorder; see what it sounds like). Use a plugin that simulates overloading something else. Cascade one mic preamp into another. Try a guitar amp, as others have mentioned. Try a guitar distortion pedal (both of the above would require an impedance matching device... or hell, skip that, use an adapter cable, and see what you get). Run it through a cheap practice space PA and mic the PA. Distort the ever loving shit out of that PA, if you want.

No need to buy new things before you've tried to do things!

[bah humbuck]

I would look into the electret condenser microphones made by Sony and Realistic (Radioshack). They were supplied with cassette recorders, in the box, and often can be had for under $20 on fleabay. Check out this thread on Tapeheads.net - Tape Recorder Microphones

[sholkham]

A crystal piezo disc glued to bottom of a tin can and wired to a 1/4 jack is an easy DIY solution, gives the hi and low cut effect.

Inpost processing putting odd eq spikes in the midrange can give you some cool effects too.

[Mighty_Zoltan]

Shure green bullet if you want a lo-fi distorted vocal