I'm looking to buy a mic and my budget is kinda limited,but I wanna hear what microphone you guys have so I can get recommendations

Going into college searching, I was figuring I would major in computer science and minor in music. Since then, I’ve grown even more passionate about music, the same of which cannot be said for programming. I’m a person who likes to create things and come up with ideas, something which is true for most things I do. My ideal programming job would be one where I create something new. What I’ve realized is that music is perhaps the only thing that I enjoy in itself, rather than only as a means to execute an idea. I enjoy writing code to execute a larger idea I have, but I can enjoy playing music without needing a reason to. While i’m not professional material, i’m much better at it than computer programming and with ai taking many of the programming jobs, it’s been increasingly feeling like a better option. Not really a question but looking for advice.

Music stuff I’ve done:
I’m currently in my senior year, in my high school wind ensemble and higher level jazz band, where I play trombone. I will likely be joining the lower level jazz band on a secondary instrument, likely trumpet or guitar. I am in the chamber choir and an acapella group. I’m currently working on a jazz piece to play with a a sort of half-big band group size. I also have experience with piano and bass guitar, and have began teaching myself saxophone. I’ve written and recorded and produced a few songs, but the production quality isn’t great. I’ve arranged acapella songs and band songs as well. I sometimes write songs where I sing as well, and it has been a great emotional outlet for me at times.

Forgive my bad explanation

I (19) have been playing Violin since I was 10 years old and during that time I didn't really understand how to read music or anything... I do now. I started taking music more seriously when I went into high school, but I struggle with figuring out how people are able to immediately recognize how a song is meant to flow. For example, I know about different notes and their length, and I know BPM and time signatures, but I have a hard time imagining in my head how a song is supposed to sound and how quickly I'm meant to hit the notes, while others in my classes are able to do so immediately.

I have been trying to study music more (watching videos on explanations, reading through my own sheets, playing through them) but I feel like something isn't clicking, I still can't imagine how things are meant to flow or sound when I look at a music sheet. Is there any way I can improve on this? I would really love music to become a bigger passion in my life.

I currently dont own any instruments, have any knowledge of music or anything.

However I would really like to start, what do I need and how do I start?

Hi everyone,

I am a pianist in 2 bands, an intimate theater band and a gospel choir. The first is a low key performing one that focuses on small gigs here and there, not much. The latter is one of the biggest choirs in my country and performs for big, almost always sold out places with hundreds of people, sometimes a thousand.

I love playing with other people and it gives me such a joy to do this. Okay yes, I have performance anxiety for these events but it vanishes quite quickly whilest performing.

The problem lays in playing alone. When playing for my brothers and uncle’s wedding I knew almost everyone in the room. It ate me up inside. Like almost literally. I had so much stress and anxiety I needed to go to a therapist after. The problem is that everyone knows I’m a good pianist and everyone expects me to do well. It’s like I have nothing to gain and everything to lose. I have played for big gigs and large crowds with almost zero anxiety. But that was in a band, although sometimes I played alone, I always felt like I was backed up by them.

I love playing with other people, the connection through music is something deeper than words can even begin to explain (sorry cliché). But it is true. Playing alone feels like playing naked. If you screw up everyone knows. It seems to be affecting me more when I know the crowd, less when they are strangers.

Does anyone feel the same? What do you guys do about it?

TLDR: I still have performance anxiety when performing alone after performing many times with different bands and can’t seem to get over it, how do you guys do it?

I want a mic stand and microphone where I can easily walk around/move while singing. I have a mic set up for my desk but I have to be sitting to use it and I want to practice actually performing while also being able to potentially use it for recording. I was looking at the Shure SM58 Dynamic Cardioid Vocal Microphone but open to others. I'd love to spend less than $200 on mic and stand combined if possible but could spend a little more if it's truly worth it.

(also posted this on another musician related subreddit...)

hi everybody! first post here.

i have always been into music but now i'm finally deciding to really make some of my own compositions since i've gotten my first job and can buy proper equipment. i would like to buy a synthesizer now with the money i have as they've always interested me.

i would mostly enjoy making experimental music. for genres that i like i'm into obscure 70s progressive rock, avant garde artsy music, baroque classical, and 80s synthwave.

my goal would be to create strange and rather varied music with both a progressive and medieval-esque theming.

i like the idea, then, of having a lot of different options when it comes to sounds and presets.

i love omnichords and q-chords: both how they're played and how they sound but they're very, very expensive :(

i also love the sound of the moog synthesizer but those are fairly expensive too.

something that i could carry around (but not so incredibly small) would be great but that's not a need... also same with the ability to upload my own sound-fonts and things but again i don't exactly NEED that- it'd just be cool.

i would (of course) prefer something cheaper (perhaps up to $500 at most? at least for now).

oh and by the way- i live in the us if that's important if it comes to shipping and things at all.

any ideas? thank you for reading and helping me out!!

Im trynna invest more in my music although im on a budget. Is this good for an amateur setup or not? Any advice would be appreciated thanks.

Hey ya’ll I’ve been playing guitar for awhile now but only recently have started to take it seriously. I want to be able to play with other people (bass, piano, guitar) without being perceived as an idiot. The amount of theory seems overwhelming in terms of keys and chords etc in order to stay within the same notes as another musician other then simply looking at their hands. Should I learn scales or what’s really the best approach for at least getting some rudimentary jamming? I have jammed with people in the past but it’s been all by ear and frankly if someone said play in the key of D I wouldn’t know how to start…. Sorry if this is a noob question but that’s how you learn? Thanks for the input. I’d also be open to going to open jams to try it out, based in Los Angeles thanks!

Of course if you get producing lessons and go and learn music theory and stuff I get it. But the people that just learned on their own with no professional help?

I look at it like athletes. The self taught ones usually aren't as good as the ones with professional coaches and personal trainers and stuff. That doesn't mean the self taught ones are bad,just that the ones with help are better.

But nowadays,there are A LOT OF PRODUCERS that are self taught and are A LOT BETTER than the ones that got lessons or are at the same level. How does that happen? How do they do that? Some of them also didn't play any instruments before

ive got a maximum budget of 2k, i've played both bass and keys before so its im familar (its been a while though), just wondering what you recomend i get all in all? im thinking a yamaha cp and a bass, but ive got no idea what bass to get, or what other gear i will need, any ideas?

Hey,

I’m musically illiterate, always have been. I enjoy golf, hit the golf subreddit a lot and a common question that comes up is about how good someone could get if they had the best coaches in the world, unlimited time to play/practice, and three months time. I’m curious what that question produces when shifted into singing.

I know it’s probably harder to describe than golf, where we can name a distinct score. But curious what you music minded people think. What kind of metric would you use? Any kind of caveats that I’m unfamiliar with?

Again I have no experience in music. I was the kid in your fourth grade music class blowing into the recorder and just pretending to get the notes right.

Is the question "Are musicians flaky?" or is it "How flaky are musicians?"

I can add myself to this categorization.

Unreliable: Someone who cancels plans at the last minute, forgets commitments, or cannot be depended on.

I don't think we WANT to be flaky, for sure. So what CAUSES it? Like today I finally put a damn flyer up at the Y about my weekly gigs AFTER 8 MONTHS of thinking about doing it.

I had to cancel a podcast interview because my schedule has changed due to family commitments changing.

But what's underneath the symptom?

I'm a guitarist, songwriter, and a solid singer. I've written songs I genuinely believe are strong, but I don't play other instruments and I'm not a producer. I'm trying to figure out the smartest next step from here. I just have Rough demos (Guitar + Vocals) at the moment.

I am the bassist, I was wondering if I change my pedal effects and bass tone between songs would that be a bad idea? I dont have an exact tone every time I've been experimenting

I’m a solo acoustic singer/guitarist and recently broke my wrist, so I’m obviously unable to play guitar for a while. I have a 3-hour winery gig coming up that I’d really rather not cancel and lose the booking.

I was thinking about using backing tracks for the guitar/instrumental parts and just singing live over them. I’d still bring my normal PA and try to keep the tracks fairly stripped down/acoustic so it fits the winery atmosphere.

Has anyone done something similar? Would singing over backing tracks be acceptable for this type of solo acoustic gig, especially given the circumstances? I don’t want it to come across as karaoke or unprofessional, but I’d much rather find a way to still perform than cancel the gig altogether.

Would you give the venue a heads-up beforehand, or just show up and perform as planned?

I dont have a writer i cant write music but im a great vocalist who wants to start doing music

How could i start

I'm going to release an ethereal folk album in 2 months, and I'm just starting the promo/ marketing / submitting to editorial part of the project. I have very few followers on any platform and even fewer monthly listeners (0).

Most of my followers are other musicians that I'm building community with or people who have followed me from gigs, but the algorithm sees me playing guitar and singing in a dress and throws it in front of men.

1. How can I get in front of women/non-binary people who care about my music and don't just want to comment on my beauty?😮‍💨

2. And how can I incentivize people to listen on Bandcamp rather than exploitative streaming platforms?

I am new to this whole gig scene and I am looking for a piano that is semi cheap and reliable for gigs. I have been looking into the Roland Go:KEYS 3/5 but people say it isn't great for reliability but is for sound. What would you guys recommend?

I'm starting a tribute band, and I'm missing a rhythm section. I'm doing guitar and lead vocals, and we have a second guitarist at present.

We're looking to record a performance video to share and find musicians, but we only have 2 inputs on the audio interface.

How best should we go about demonstrating what we've got, i.e. recording a demonstration video with 2 guitar parts and a vocal performance.

EDIT: the music itself is very guitar-driven and that's the focus; we both do leads.

So Hi, I am 17, and working on putting out music tho i haven't put out any yet because i'm jsut started on T (hrt) and i'm still waiting to record the songs when my voice stabilizes in a few months

after those few months, sense i wouldn't have any music out, would it be wrong to ask someone to collab with me? they are on social media (idk them) they are just another small indie artist

so yeah, combined with that is how do you go about collabing with someone who is probably not within a travel distance from you?

Yo guys. I'm starting a band with my friend. He plays electric drums. I play electric guitar, and I use a digital multi-fx processor/pedalboard, so I don't really need an amp (and imo, it's better this way). When we get a singer, bassist and maybe another singer/guitarist, we will for sure need a way to connect everything to the speaker (we only have one at this moment, but our rehearsal room is quite small so we don't need something better right now), so that's why i'm making this post. Basically, we're gonna connect the drums, singer's mic, my guitar, bassist's bass, a computer via USB and AUX/Mini Jack (to record everything and also play things), and if possible (I hope so) another singer and/or guitarist. So, the thing is: I saw a Behringer X2442USB listed for 150€ (second hand). Is it good for starting? It has aux sends for in-ear monitoring, which our drummer wants to use and probably the singer too (at least most singers do), so it's a pretty good point. We're on a budget too, so I can't just get a brand new XR18. What do you think?

so im planning to buy a new instrument, but im debating if im gonna buy a keyboard/piano or an electric guitar, i have an experience when it comes to acoustic guitar, i should say im pretty average. but i got lazy to learn anything new because my guitar is old and is more worth to buy a new one than fixing it up. i got interested on learning the piano but at the same time wanting to buy an electric and play "cool" riffs or even learn how to improvise. another concern is feeling the need to buy pedals if i choose the electric guitar. im 50/50 on what to buy give me guys your opinions

You know what I mean, right? When there's some very noticeable change toward the end of the song where everything just gets much more awesome. Maybe the song goes double-time. Or maybe it goes from a soft acoustic song to a rocking distorted rock song. Or maybe it changes styles in some way that is both surprising and awesome. There has to be a name for this, right? Any ideas?