SM58... who wants to hear what it sounds like?

Does any body want to hear what a SM58 sounds like?

How about when it's run thru a Mackie 1604 and a skanky hand held 16bit DAT recorder?

Here's an example of a plain ol live show board mix... no post processing, lo-cut, eq, or compression... just 4 tracks squeezed down to two... all panned straight up the center.

When you do hear a less than perfect passage... blame it all on me. I was the sound guy... I was doing a live show and just taping it as a side line.


As an introduction to this clip I would like to explain that this is from a small club live show benefit I helped with many years ago to lend support to a local alternative styled preschool that many of my friends' kids attended.

Here in Tallahassee the best stuff is usually done for free for the love of doing it... that's why we live in Tallahassee... there are a bunch of folks that share that ideal here.
 

The act you will hear was a combo of three old friends... they weren't playing together regularly at the time... they just got together to help out and play a set for the benefit.

There is something interesting about this particular clip... us younger music folks had become aware of a young lady with a remarkable voice... so minutes before the set started we strategically forced this new young singer upon the combo for a cameo on a single song... we figured Summertime ought to work for every body.

What you are about to hear is the very moment the two singers met for the very first time... and they did it on the stage... and this was the first song of the night for the ensemble... this WAS the sound check as well as the start of the set. A curious Easter egg is that when the lead singer thanks and introduces Miss "Travis" Barry at the end of the song... she still doesn't know Avis's first name.

I hope you'll listen to the end... it was a magical moment. The whole crowd knew this was a unanticipated meeting of great talents... and at the end of the song... I'm telling the truth with no exaggeration... everyone in the room ran out back of the club while clapping and cheering with tears in their eyes... as if they were embarrassed by the fact that they were so emotionally moved.

For myself, I was left to operate the mix board... while tears streamed from my eyes.

We all knew we had just witnessed magic.

So here it is, 4 local Tallahaseeans each using a SM58:

http://harmoniccycle.com/...singles/Summertime.mp3

Pam Laws: lead vocals
Avis Berry: guest vocals
Johnny Whitehurst: rhythm guitar
Missippy James: lead guitar

BTW Miss Berry is now jamming with folks like the Nevilles and such. It's a joy to help people get recognized for what they can share with the world.

It's the kind of stuff us small townies take pride in. ;-)

all the best,
mike
 


editing spelling as I find mistakes :-)

Thanks for listening Frank,

I forgot to add... because this was a benefit... I didn't have much for monitors up on the stage. They were pretty much flying blind. :-)

best,
mike

This is niice ;)

superb!

Sounds great.

I liked it very much.

Thanks for posting it.

Yeah!  I could imagine the emotion in the room! Very nice indeed.

This thread is goofy. :-)

My point was to remind everyone that it's pretty difficult to argue that the SM58 is hindered by a lack of frequency response... regardless of what you might see on an analyzer etc.

Frank, I've been sitting on the wav for 10+ years... It's a big deal for me to slip someone's music out without permission... the mp3 is probably the best I can do and still feel like a responsible service provider.

I just grabbed it from my archives to post in response to a recent discussion where the SM58 wasn't getting enough love... and I enjoyed the fact that for this example the signal chain wasn't fancy etc... so all you are hearing is the SM58 mic going thru a few ICs... viola.

It was also important to me to illustrate that you don't have to live in a major media market to have learned this... which is why I indulged in all the goofy small town stuff.

The emotional response was primarily based on the realization that 3 well established artists extended the GENEROSITY and hospitality to a noobie singer and allowed a circumstance like this to happen.  It catapulted Avis from a open mic duo person to a new voice on the "scene"... and we all knew we were there for that very moment.

There are a lot of acts that would never allow opportunities like that to happen.

The only thing I have witnessed to be more powerful was the night Wynton Marsallis came to town and invited Marcus Roberts to sit in... Marcus took and extended solo that night while Wynton feigned impatience. We all were just blown away by the audacity and spirit that Marcus displayed. Wynton kidnapped Marcus that night and they left on the tour bus in the morning... Marcus came back after 5 number one albums under his name and is now a respected instructor at the uni.

Generosity is an amazing thing.


all the best,
mike

Etta? you got lucky!!!

Music is as music does... I love it when the music speaks for itself.

That's a great story.

"only the engineer knows for sure"

like I said in the first post... blame it all on me. :-)

The first lady was about 60, the other lady was about 20... that might also account for some difference in tone.

best,
mike