Wow, I want to read this all. I am most diffidently going to be coming back and reading everything that is posted, but I am so tired tonight.

I am most certainly a musician, a vocalist and lyricist. I played clarinet years ago, and would love to pick it back up but have to find an instrument at a price I can afford. I also play the piano, well enough, but am by no means a great pianist, I taught myself. This year I bought myself a used guitar and am desperately trying to figure out how to make sounds that don't hurt my ears...

I would have to say my biggest influence is jazz. All though my current work comes out somewhere along the jazz/pop fusion stuff... with a little alternative thrown in for good measure. I love to sing jazz and gospel and spent years as a child teaching myself to "sing black". The voices of strong black women fascinated me and I wanted to sound like that.

I have always been at the wrong place at the wrong time to be able to work on any of my music at a professional or even semi professional lever; however, I am returning to school this next year to get my teaching certificate and plan on majoring in Special Education and minoring in Music. Hopefully that will bring more opportunity.

I'm past electronic rock except for the vocals, which i believe need a good mix. I'd like an new/old, wild, concept now with old/new wooden vintage instruments in larger groups. Sort of a mix of rock, country, and the old twenties jazz. On some magical nights though, I hear celestial music in the air, floating through the trees, and I copy and record the melodies on my flute and yamaha keyboard. I've had many a block too wildcat, but, when you least expect it, your heart song will return.

A friend of mine and I recently re-connected and she does her radio show from home and sends the stations files.......long way from the days i was in radio and everything was analog. She and I had met in radio and to listen t o her talk about radio now amazing. Her show is syndicated now like Delilah.

i bet you were using the sure sm7 - that's an awesome mic on a lot of vocals
it has a bass roll-off and a presence boost selection and get in close there's a sweet proximity effect not too crazy
it sounded surprisingly good on a guitar cab too
i've also used the electrovoice re20 - the fraiser mic
and i've tried a re27 - but it seems to have a slight bump in the presence 2k-4khz and a reduced proximity response comped to the re20

i've been told that a crisper sound is what you need for radio work - is that true?

that makes perfect sense now that i think about it - dj's swim in that warm deep sound while ads and news spots are far more out front and on top and present


i also know an engineer who swears by the heil pr40. he wants to put that mic on everyone. he claims it is superior to the sm7 but i have yet to hear for myself. i would love to get my mitts on one and see what kind of magic it can do

have you considered large diaphragm condensers - they are usually very transparent but i can recommend

the rode nt1 - it has a really smooth sound and comes at a budget price. i've found quite a few of them lately at the pawn shops for about $100. it definitely doesn't sound like a budget mic and slightly off axis it darkens up quite nice
and actually the nt2 as well - it comes with selectable polar patterns and high pass filter but it costs a bit more

and

the neumann tlm103
this mic has sounded amazing on everything i've put it on
it's super quiet so even whispers can be captured with amazing clarity
and run it through an avalon pre - heaven

imac studio monitor speakers
 

Advice anyone?Good sound -not too expensive.












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i'd like to throw out a recommendation for the m-audio av 40 2 way desktop reference monitors

- they have a small footprint but feel quite substantial (weight and construction wise)
- they are powered and do not require an additional power amp
- they have both 1/4" and rca line inputs
- they have a pretty flat frequency response
- my home studio mixes translated remarkable true in an acoustically treated studio on genelec 1038's (head and shoulders beyond the 8 and 10" jbl and mackie monitors that i've also mixed with)

the downside
- they roll off drastically at about 70Hz (there is a bass boost but it just bumps the 70Hz a couple dB's it doesn't extend the range)

of course this critique is dependent on my mixing space and results can be completely different in yours