Celebrating Shure's Most Iconic Microphones: SM58, SM57, SM7B
This month of May, my friends at Thomann are collaborating with Shure to celebrate some of the most legendary and successful microphones of all time, and I thought I’d jump on the bandwagon too, and give my favourite Shure mics a shout-out too.
The first Shure mic I would like to mention is the iconic Shure SM58 which is especially used for vocals in live performances. Ever since I have been playing in bands (from 2004 onwards), I’ve used this mic on stage whether in Australia or in Europe. No doubt this is a very iconic mic and is used worldwide and has very few competitors. It blocks out other sounds really well and is great for vocal performances where there are lots of electric guitars and drums too. Below are some photos of my old band The Dingo Birds where I used to play cello and sing backing vocals. Shop the SM58 here.
The second Shure mic I would like to mention is the iconic Shure SM57 which is a dynamic microphone for instruments. This was the very first microphone I bought! Back in the day, I was making videos on the AcapellaApp with my electric cello and wanted to record the sound coming out of my amp. I did some research and this was the best mic for recording amps! For the music I make now (ambient and neoclassical) I use a large condenser microphone to capture all the real subtle sounds, but for a solid dynamic mic, the SM57 is a great choice. Below is a cover song of Ed Sheeren’s pop hit Shape Of You that I made with singers all over the world with a music collaboration app, Acapella App. I recorded the electric cello and the djembe and hand claps with my beloved SM57. Shop the SM57 here.
Thirdly, I would like to share the Shure SM7B which I have used a lot to record vocals when I worked as an assistant recording engineer at Red Bull Studio in Amsterdam. It is pretty direct and captures the voice really well, and the thing I like most is that it has the pop filter and it works great too! You will hardly hear any pops from words with a ‘P’ or ‘T’. Right now I think the Shure SM7B is the hottest dynamic microphone for voice overs, particularly recording podcasts. I don’t personally record a podcast but this is the mic I would buy if I did! Below are four recording projects that I did at Red Bull Studio, starting from the top: Bokoesam (where we used 4 SM7B mics for the backing vocalists), Dominic J Marshall (for Dominic’s main vocal mic), Feng Suave (the backing vocal mic) and Liptease (the 3 vocalists who were recorded altogether). Shop the SM7B here.
Last of all, I would like to give these two Shure mics get a shout-out. They are the SM58 Wireless and the 55SH which are both used for live vocal performances, the SM58 Wireless obviously great for times where you don’t want to have a messy cable and the 55SH has that vintage sound from the 70s Rock’n’Roll era. To shop Shure mics click here.
#IconicMicCelebration #Shure.
To shop Shure mics click here.
To shop my recommended gear and equipment, click here.