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Originally Posted by Singstar
Hi, guys! I`m new here and I wanted to ask you a few questions to see your opinions and find someone who knows more about this stuff and who could help me.
Well, I`ve been taking singing lesson for few years now, been singing my whole life... and in the past few months I started thinking about recording some stuff and maybe put it on YouTube or my FB... and I have been searching for a microphone. I have narrowed down my choice to 2 or 3... but I don`t know which to choose. First, I don`t know if I should go for a condenser one (Behringer is my choice for starters) or a dynamic one (Shure)? At first I decided to buy a dynamic mic - I can do a decent recording with it and still use it for performances... but than I switched to a condenser mic - better recordings... then again, I would record it in my room, don`t have an isolated booth or something like that and the condenser one is quite sensitive as I heard, it picks up more background sounds... or not?  Please help...  does anyone have advice which way to go according to the purpose for which I plan to use the mic? I would definitely like to buy both but can`t do it at the moment... in the future I will have both but at the moment I have to choose.  |
You're on the right track with the general situation. A dynamic would serve you better for performance, as its pickup pattern and sensitivity threshold lends itself to that scenario. A condenser is usually strictly a studio fixture, for the same reasons, only in contrast to the characteristics of a dynamic.
A couple of considerations need to be made. First, if you're leaning toward a condenser microphone, you're going to need a phantom power source. If you don't already have a mixer or audio interface with phantom power, then that's another purchase.
Secondly, you're not going to be using a condenser in a live setting. So, for performances, a dynamic is another purchase.
But, there are very good dynamic vocal microphones that can be sufficient for both scenarios. A Shure SM58, for example, is perfect for performance, and does well in the studio. It's a well-rounded microphone, and an industry standard in terms of general vocal performance mics. In the studio, you'll get good results. Not the same crispness and clarity of a condenser, but it's no slouch.
Also, with a 58, you're not going to have to worry so much about shoddy studio acoustics like you would with a condenser, which (yes) picks up a LOT more ambient noise and room characteristic if you're not singing in an isolation booth (or a makeshift one, like a closet full of clothes).
So, ultimately, I think you would be better off with a dynamic for now.
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And second... I`m quite a computer geek and know my way around computers but wanted to hear how people do it... because I don`t have a lot of experience with recording. Which software does the job decently and is free for download? And about recording... people who do it maybe for YouTube or something like that... do they record separately the video and audio.. match it up later than add the backing track? Do they hear themselves when recording? How can I pull everything off?
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Like EvilChuck said, Audacity is one of the more well-known free multitracking softwares around. It's simple, has the basic features, and will fulfill your needs until you're ready to grow.
As far recording with a video, I need you to be more specific.
Are you asking about the recording itself, or how it relates to a video?