Why is Sm57 the industry standard?

[VESmedic]

I mentioned those guys names because they’ve sold HUNDREDS of millions of records in hard rock/metal. I trust their work, not Internet forums and YouTube.

EXACTLY... not YouTube or Internet forums. Which ironically this is, but very few on here seem to have a clue of what’s real and what’s not. You can choose to believe or not, up to you. But this topic is exhausting and comes up every damn day and people like you try to fight about it when it’s readily available information. Hell on the sneap forum, there is a 15 year old thread literally SHOWING you what was used on his records... I’ll let you guess what the common setup was....

and no, you weren’t here just to say “ it can be done both ways”, that’s hardly what you said. You said some engineer somewhere may do it like that, and that’s how it was done in the 60s and 70s: I gave countless examples of how this just isn’t true in the least.

I agree with you,it CAN be done both ways, no doubt. But more often than not, simpler is better, and those producers will always agree with that.

 

[Tone Monster]

EXACTLY... not YouTube or Internet forums. Which ironically this is, but very few on here seem to have a clue of what’s real and what’s not. You can choose to believe or not, up to you. But this topic is exhausting and comes up every damn day and people like you try to fight about it when it’s readily available information. Hell on the sneap forum, there is a 15 year old thread literally SHOWING you what was used on his records... I’ll let you guess what the common setup was....

and no, you weren’t here just to say “ it can be done both ways”, that’s hardly what you said. You said some engineer somewhere may do it like that, and that’s how it was done in the 60s and 70s: I gave countless examples of how this just isn’t true in the least.

I agree with you,it CAN be done both ways, no doubt. But more often than not, simpler is better, and those producers will always agree with that

You’re feisty! I was referring to one post not my original BS call out. You’ve finally agreed it can be done both ways and is commonly. I agree is exhausting. Peace out.

 

[Smash]

I love the anger. I just started this thread to have fun. I am not that passionate about it. But it is cool to hear all of your experiences. It is also interesting as fuck to hear all the mics that everyone has used. I would like to get a couple of them and mic my cab and listen to the differences just for fun. But I think that it is fairly accurate to say that the micd sound of a 57 is what i want to try to emulate by the bands i have listened to growing up as Vesmedic has alluded to. I have been to live bands my whole life. Sometimes it sounds like shit based on the venue, especially if it is inside due to the acoustics. I have gone through some expensive fucking amps, guitars, cabs. It has all been a learning experience. But to have a sound at home that comes through my cab that sounds as good (minus the shitty playing) as the albums i grew up loving is fun for me. So when I say capture that sound, it is what i want to share with my friends. Cutting in a band mix isn't useful when the guitarist is the whole band for sure. Ha. But my buddy is on this board, too. He hasn't chimed in for whatever reason, though i send him clips of my trash playing all the time. He was laughing about some of the comments about how important mic position is. Because he told me the same shit. Then heard my clips. I think the sm7b is forgiving. That doesn't mean that my sound is going to cut in a mix.... Everyone is so caught up on that shit. Different strokes. I guess the point of this post is about a mic that shows what an amp sounds like. So coloring an amp to cut..or anything else that doesn't translate to an accurate representation of the amp, for me at least, isn't useful to me.

 

[VESmedic]

I love the anger. I just started this thread to have fun. I am not that passionate about it. But it is cool to hear all of your experiences. It is also interesting as fuck to hear all the mics that everyone has used. I would like to get a couple of them and mic my cab and listen to the differences just for fun. But I think that it is fairly accurate to say that the micd sound of a 57 is what i want to try to emulate by the bands i have listened to growing up as Vesmedic has alluded to. I have been to live bands my whole life. Sometimes it sounds like shit based on the venue, especially if it is inside due to the acoustics. I have gone through some expensive fucking amps, guitars, cabs. It has all been a learning experience. But to have a sound at home that comes through my cab that sounds as good (minus the shitty playing) as the albums i grew up loving is fun for me. So when I say capture that sound, it is what i want to share with my friends. Cutting in a band mix isn't useful when the guitarist is the whole band for sure. Ha. But my buddy is on this board, too. He hasn't chimed in for whatever reason, though i send him clips of my trash playing all the time. He was laughing about some of the comments about how important mic position is. Because he told me the same shit. Then heard my clips. I think the sm7b is forgiving. That doesn't mean that my sound is going to cut in a mix.... Everyone is so caught up on that shit. Different strokes. I guess the point of this post is about a mic that shows what an amp sounds like. So coloring an amp to cut..or anything else that doesn't translate to an accurate representation of the amp, for me at least, isn't useful to me.

Absolutely. And I do get passionate about this shit because you take someone like you, who is obviously newish to recording and tracking and learning how stuff comes together and why stuff works the way it is does etc, and that’s totally cool! Nothin wrong with that in the least... but to take someone that’s new that really doesn’t know where to go in what direction and then get advice like “ oh ya you gotta use 7 mics and 4 cabs and really exotic stuff only yep that’s what the big boys do!” Is just asinine to me: because it’s literally the exact opposite. Truly. The “secret” I’m telling you is great playing, great inputs, great sources, into a great sounding cab with a well placed mic. That’s literally IT. If you get that down, you are 90 percent there. The tones I get with IR’s done by my friends verses what is commercially available is absolutely laughable in comparison: AND BRIGHT. Which is another thing I can’t stand : dark murky sounding records that is all too popular today. You wouldn’t believe how much high end the guitars actually have in Lewis’s or sneaps mixes. But these guys don’t frequent these forums ( anymore), because they get tired of the absolute garbage that gets spewed here: stuff like this.

I challenge you to really learn about a well placed microphone, a simple 57, and a great 4x12, and really spend time learning about what little movements make in the entire image of the sound, especially when it’s double tracked and it’s extremely apparent as I alluded to earlier: this will get you light years ahead of where you are quickly , trust me. Even better: spend some money and get a Dynamount unit that moves via a remote control and you can listen in real time as the mic moves instead of running back and forth and moving the mic. Put a 57 dead freakin center, and start moving ever so slightly, and THATS IT, I’m telling you it really is that simple once you develop your ear and know what to listen for. It may not jump out at first when you find what you are looking for, but with time, your ears will become much more sensitive, that’s just how you learn man!

 

[Tone Monster]

FWIW supposedly vintage 57s are much smoother than modern ones. I only worked with modern ones and hated em.

 

[VESmedic]

FWIW supposedly vintage 57s are much smoother than modern ones. I only worked with modern ones and hated em.

Agreed... unidyne 57s are brighter, less congested, and less harsh sounding because they don’t have the 4K spike the new ones have. Lots of good comparison videos on this on YouTube. 100 percent best investment I made for my Home studio was buying a vintage unidyne 57, Atleast as far as decent “upgrades” go for a home studio. The unidynes high end sounds like Van Halen, simple as that!

 

[311boogieman]

I learned a lot from reading this thread. Not really applicable to me as much as I am not in the same league as lot of you guys but it is still very interesting. I have an SM57 and decent pre but the in-room (Zoom Q2 in my case) is so much easier to set up and provides that in room experience that I like. Press play. Press stop. Download .mov

Also, I don't see that this is talked about everyday on here VESmedic so it was a worthwhile thread and good to hear varying opinions