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My recordings aren't sounding as consistent as I want them to, and I'm trying some multitracking so it's really important that everything's coming from the same direction.

SM57>Lexicon Lambda interface>Windows 10 desktop

I've got a standard tripod mic stand, and I've tried sitting and standing, and can never seem to get it setup just right. By the time I get to the bottom of the page of music or, god forbid, the second or third page on a single take, the bell is way off from where I started soundwise, even if it's only actually an inch or two.

How far away from the bell is generally best from the Shure? At an angle or straight on? How should I expect the hardware gain settings to change with placement, and should I be normalizing, compressing or leveling? On individual tracks or the master?

I've gotten what I feel are my best results soundwise about 9-12 inches away from the bell, slightly off center in line with the bellrim. Sometimes I think I can tell a difference between having the mic straight, or at a 45 degree angle, but there's more difference just if I lean forward or back a couple inches.

Any tricks for keeping still?

I don't plan on treating the room, and wonder if I should be using more room sound rather than a software reverb.

I'm also having problems with the UI on the free DAWs that are available. I'm hesitant to spend money on a DAW just to find out that I end up going back to audacity. I've tried the free or trial versions of Ardour, Studio One, Reaper, Tracktion, and Garage band. So far I liked the customizability of Reaper, but it would take ages for me to get it set up how I want it. They all seem to pack in too many features and effects for what I need, and then don't give you the option to hide things you'll never use and put what you do need on the screen. I never understood things like having to choose a song length before you even get started, or snapping things into a tempo track. Garage band seemed like the easiest to use, but I'm not on Mac anymore...

I'm open to any suggestion and critiscism, but all I really need to do is take the input and pan the tracks around, EQ, and adjust levels. Some reverb would be nice but more often than not the free plugins included sound worse than just going dry.

And do professionals really set a tempo and snap the tracks to match the metronome so it's perfect even if it still sounds off? Or is that just common in "the industry"?

Quote from: M.R.Tenor on Mar 24, 2017, 03:22PMI've got a standard tripod mic stand, and I've tried sitting and standing, and can never seem to get it setup just right. By the time I get to the bottom of the page of music or, god forbid, the second or third page on a single take, the bell is way off from where I started soundwise, even if it's only actually an inch or two.
The closer you are to the mic the more significant the change in sound will be when the bell moves.

QuoteHow far away from the bell is generally best from the Shure? At an angle or straight on? How should I expect the hardware gain settings to change with placement, and should I be normalizing, compressing or leveling? On individual tracks or the master?
The SM57 is intended to be in close proximity to the source. Of course, the closer the mic is to the bell, the more noticeable small changes in movements will be. It would be ok to normalize the audio as long as you're not introducing a lot of noise as a result. The addition of compression is really about taste and genre. Most classical engineers avoid compression because, by design, it removes dynamic contrast.

QuoteI've gotten what I feel are my best results soundwise about 9-12 inches away from the bell, slightly off center in line with the bellrim. Sometimes I think I can tell a difference between having the mic straight, or at a 45 degree angle, but there's more difference just if I lean forward or back a couple inches.
You're in the right ballpark for placement with that mic. Experiment with 1-4 feet of distance and adjust your pre's accordingly. If your preamps are noisy at higher gain levels, you may have to find a happy medium between distance/gain to get the best results. The Lexicon doesn't have very powerful pre's do you may be stuck with 9-12in from the bell to avoid introducing hiss.


QuoteAnd do professionals really set a tempo and snap the tracks to match the metronome so it's perfect even if it still sounds off? Or is that just common in "the industry"?
No. In most situations, this isn't happening. If you're multitracking and lining up a single voice, then yes, an engineer may flex the time, but usually you'll change the display to read timecode instead of beats/bars. I don't know if Audacity has the capability to do this, but I use Logic Pro X. When I'm recording something that doesn't keep a steady tempo, or needs room to push/pull (most situations) then I have the DAW display timecode instead of beats/bars.

FYI on a big award show last week I replaced two amazing-sounding KM-84s with a single SM-57 on the percussion player.  The reason?  It wasn't that I was punishing the the perc player--far from it--he did a great job.  But the physical space he was assigned to by the scenic designer was right next to the the drum kit, and he only played hand percussion.  When I first set the input list up I pictured him giving me a lovely stereo picture of all his toys with the 84s, but when soundcheck started all I heard in the 84s was the spill from the kit.  This is a prime example of the fact that audio never behaves in ways you expect it to--be ready to adjust to any circumstances.

The solution I came up with was to remove the KM-84s and replace them with a single 57.  In my experience, the SM-57 is a diaphragm happiest when a loud sound source is right up next to the capsule.  The result was useable percussion sounds that could then be steered anywhere in the stereo field I wished.  Everyone walked away happy.

For you tech heads, the real explanation lies in how the two capsules (KM-84 and SM-57) behave with regard to pattern and rejection.  Audio people use a term called "reach" to describe how a given mic renders a distant source.  In short, better "reach" describes a mic that will hear a more distant source with better fidelity.  This is actually a myth, because all capsules will see exactly the same energy from a given source at a given distance.  The real difference lies in how the capsule renders signals on the edge of the pattern.  In the case of cardioid patterns, the real reason a Neumann is a Neumann is that even when a source moves far away from the center of the pattern, the source still sounds pretty.  It will be attenuated, but it will maintain most of the sonic characteristics of being right in the middle of the pattern.

That, my friends, is a manufacturing miracle.  Even casual listeners can hear the magic when a great mic is used in  great space.  Craftsmanship counts. 

As to the OP's original concern, I would use Trombone Shorty as an example.  This was few years ago, but as I recall he used a Shure SM-7b as his primary horn mic.  He put his bell right on the mic and blew, and on a noisy stage it sounded awesome.  By this I only mean: figure out a setup you love, play around with it a bunch and get used to it.

Good luck!

Peter

FYI on a big award show last week I replaced two amazing-sounding KM-84s with a single SM-57 on the percussion player.  The reason?  It wasn't that I was punishing the the perc player--far from it--he did a great job.  But the physical space he was assigned to by the scenic designer was right next to the the drum kit, and he only played hand percussion.  When I first set the input list up I pictured him giving me a lovely stereo picture of all his toys with the 84s, but when soundcheck started all I heard in the 84s was the spill from the kit.  This is a prime example of the fact that audio never behaves in ways you expect it to--be ready to adjust to any circumstances.

The solution I came up with was to remove the KM-84s and replace them with a single 57.  In my experience, the SM-57 is a diaphragm happiest when a loud sound source is right up next to the capsule.  The result was useable percussion sounds that could then be steered anywhere in the stereo field I wished.  Everyone walked away happy.

For you tech heads, the real explanation lies in how the two capsules (KM-84 and SM-57) behave with regard to pattern and rejection.  Audio people use a term called "reach" to describe how a given mic renders a distant source.  In short, better "reach" describes a mic that will hear a more distant source with better fidelity.  This is actually a myth, because all capsules will see exactly the same energy from a given source at a given distance.  The real difference lies in how the capsule renders signals on the edge of the pattern.  In the case of cardioid patterns, the real reason a Neumann is a Neumann is that even when a source moves far away from the center of the pattern, the source still sounds pretty.  It will be attenuated, but it will maintain most of the sonic characteristics of being right in the middle of the pattern.

That, my friends, is a manufacturing miracle.  Even casual listeners can hear the magic when a great mic is used in  great space.  Craftsmanship counts. 

As to the OP's original concern, I would use Trombone Shorty as an example.  This was few years ago, but as I recall he used a Shure SM-7b as his primary horn mic.  He put his bell right on the mic and blew, and on a noisy stage it sounded awesome.  By this I only mean: figure out a setup you love, play around with it a bunch and get used to it.

Good luck!

Peter