SHURE SM57 DYNAMIC PROFESSIONAL MICROPHONE

SHURE SM57 DYNAMIC PROFESSIONAL MICROPHONE


The Shure SM57 is possibly the most popular microphone in the world, with its main competition being the Shure SM58. For the home recording studio, it is possibly the first choice for many, as it is a very good dynamic microphone, and it costs a mere $99.99 discounted. The SM57 is a microphone that is also found in virtually every professional recording studio you can think of, as it is perhaps the most commonly used microphone to record the snare drum as well as the saxophone. It is also a microphone that it very good for reproducing the spoken word, and if you look closely you will be sure to see it mounted of the podium of some of the most prestigious speakers, including being used at the White House at press conferences and important speeches for over 30 years. Why is the SM57 so popular? Read on and you will understand why.


The SM57 is a small diaphragm, dynamic, cardioid, microphone. Small diaphragm microphones, like the SM57 are commonly used as hand held microphones for singers, or to record instruments such as the guitar and saxophone. The term “dynamic” refers to the type of pickup that is being used in the microphone to change sound waves traveling through a moving current of air into electrical impulses that accurately reproduce the sound that the pickup is being exposed to. There are three microphone pickup types: dynamic, condenser, and ribbon, and each works a bit differently and has certain advantages and disadvantages in different recording situations. The term “cardioid” refers to the sound pickup pattern of the microphone, and a cardioid is a microphone with a unidirectional pattern, meaning that it picks up sounds that it is pointed directly at, while minimizing the pickup of sounds coming from the side or back of the microphone.


Because the frequency response of the SM57 (40 to 15,000 Hz.) is similar to that of the SM58 (50 to 15,000 Hz.), many people falsely make the assumption that they are actually the same microphone and can be used for the same purposes. This is not the case. If you examine the frequency response chart of both microphones side by side, you will see that the SM57 microphone accentuates certain frequencies and the SM58 accentuates others. The SM58 has a frequency response that is tailored for singing, while that SM57 has a frequency response that is more suitable for guitar, drums, and saxophone, and although the SM57 does a good job at recording vocals, it would not be my first choice in most circumstances. Does that mean that one should never consider using the SM57 to record vocals? Of course not. There are actually certain people whose vocals may sound best when using an SM57.


Under what circumstances is the Shure SM57 most useful? One could go on all day trying to answer that question. Every room has its own ambience, and every musical instrument has its own specific type of sound, and no one microphone is best for all situations. I shall however give a few suggestions regarding use and microphone placement.


Like most dynamic microphones, the SM57 is subject to what is known as the “proximity effect.” This basically means that the closer to the sound source the microphone is, the more rich, warm, and bassy will be the sound that it is reproducing. This should not be something that is hard to understand. For example, those of you who are electric guitarists may already know that if one were to move the height of their electric guitar pickup further away from the vibrations of the strings, there would be a noticeable decrease in the bass frequencies, and vice versa. The same is true with a dynamic microphone such as the SM57. When the SM57 is about 6 inches from a singer’s lips, the sound is rich and warm. Move is further back away from the singer, and it becomes a bit thinner.


With regard to recording drums, I like to place one SM57 about 1 to 3 inches above the head of each tom tom in a drum set. I like to place one SM57 1 to 3 inches above the rim of the snare drum, and sometimes I will place one SM57 just below the rim of the bottom of the snare, for a different effect. For recording from a guitar or bass cabinet, the closer to the center cone of the speaker, the more bass response. The further from the cabinet, and the more off center axis the microphone is placed, the thinner the sound that is recorded. With simply moving the SM57 closer to the amp (one to three inches away from the grill), I have been able to make my Fender Stratocaster sound closer to Stevie Ray Vaughn’s dynamic, powerful, rich, full sound, or make it twangy and thinner sounding, by simply moving the microphone back about 3 feet. Using the same guitar and same amp, and a different microphone placement, one can achieve a very different sound. For recording horns, I like to place the SM57 about 3 feet away, and this yields are bright, clear, brassy sound. For most woodwind instruments, I like to place the SM57 about 3 to six inches away from the sound source.


The SM57 is also a great microphone to use when trying to mic an amp or horn for live performance. Because it has a very tight cardioid pickup pattern, it does a great job in isolating the sound that it is being pointed at, and rejecting the sounds that come at it from the sides or back of the microphone. This also makes it very resistant to feedback. Place the SM57 one to six inches away from the sound source (i.e., guitar amp or horn), and you are all set. This microphone’s resistance to feedback also makes it a good choice for micing things like conga drums, timbales, and bongo’s in a live setting. I like to place the SM57 about 3 inches away from the rim of the skin of the drum, and point it just a bit off center. That is also the usual placement of the SM57 that I prefer to use when I am recording these instruments in a studio setting as well.


Is the SM57 the one and only microphone you will ever need for any and all purposes? Of course not, but it is a microphone that any professional recording studio or good home studio should not be without.


Well, thank you for taking the time to read my review of the SM57. But now, if you will excuse me, I must get back to my practicing.