Topic: General opinions on Shure SM 58 for music

[6079]

The prevalent theme regarding the Shure SM 58 mic is that it's great for vocals, especially in it's price range.  I'd like to know about how well it produces in recording concerts, in general.
This is a basic rock concert - moderately to low levels of noisiness - indoor club, and I'll be near the mixing board with two of these mics.
This is an ignorant shot in the dark, but they have no bass roll off, nor do I have the option on my recording device; therefore wouldn't the high-end reproduction value of these mics be an asset, in cutting some of what may otherwise be, too much bass?

Is this going to suck or will it be OK?

[stirinthesauce]

Is this going to suck or will it be OK?

depends on what is your idea of OK.

If I was to use dynamics for ambient recording, the sm58 would be down near the bottom or at the bottom on my list.  Dynamics aren't desirable for ambient concert recording because of their low sensitivity, exactly why they are good in on stage applications.  However, there are dynamic mics that were used with relatively good success, close to the soundsource, back in early taping days (think 80's GD recording).  Those primarily were sennheiser 421, 441, beyerdynamic 201 or m69. 

[John Willett]

The SM58 is a mic. designed for close vocals.

It has a tailored response for use close to the mouth and with a frequency response curve that is pretty horrible but is designed to let the voal cut through a backing band.

For this use it is good - but I would not use it for more distant work or for speech (unless you want that specific effect).

[BradM]

A buddy of mind recorded Grand Theft Bus using an SM-58 into a MiniDisc recorder a couple of years ago:

http://www.archive.org/details/gtb2005-09-16.shnf

if you want to listen to what it sounds like; my guess is that it was pointed at the stage or the stacks. You might also want to compare the sound of that recording to either

http://www.archive.org/details/gtb2005-03-19.mix.flacf

or

http://www.archive.org/details/gtb2005-11-12.oktava.shnf

which use more taper-standard equipment.

Aloha,
Brad