New Mic Setup

So, as the frontman for the band, I'm having to take vocals a lot more seriously than I had in the past. For starters, I'm trying to take better care of my voice, warming up and cooling down every time I do intensive singing, and of course I'm taking vocal lessons to improve my tone, intonation, and lung capacity. In addition to all this though, I realized that I would need to invest in a high quality stage (dynamic) mic so that I was getting the warmest tone I could without using a studio recording (condenser) mic, which requires phantom power and usually isn't designed for rough usage. So the mic I went with was Shure's highest quality vocal dynamic mic, the Beta 58A, the big brother to the industry standard SM58. After perusing numerous message boards about the two mics, I decided to go with the slightly more expensive Beta since everyone seemed convinced it was worlds better than the already good SM model. Thus far, I've been very happy with my choice, and I'm even to the point that I think I like the Shure better than my Rode condenser mic, even for recording!

In addition to this, my vocal teacher recommended I get TC-Helicon's VSM-300 XT vocal monitoring amp to give me direct control over my vocal and keyboard signal while on stage, freeing me up from having to rely on the sound guy to get it right. Now, while most instruments in a band don't really have to hear the mix to be able to put on a good show, it's especially important for the vocalist, as that's the only way you can be sure you're in tune (and/or to compensate quickly). While my amp arrived the other day and I've enjoyed using it in my room, I won't really get to see how much it helps until I'm in a full band rehearsal, which will hopefully be this week.

So, being in a band is expensive, but I think this project is really going somewhere, so I'm willing to invest in it and give it all I've got. Can't wait for the day we're actually putting on a show here in town! Super excited!