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III. Sampling from a microphone
There are two types of microphone - dynamic and condenser. Condenser mics need
some form of pre-amplification to raise their signal, while dynamic mics like a Shure
SM58 function without amplification (but have limited use in a studio environment
and are better suited for stage performances). In both cases, you should really use a
dedicated microphone preamplifier/compressor such as this DBX model. With a
condenser mic, like the AKG 3000B you can use this preamp to raise the mic signal
and then use the built-in compressor to limit and squash any peaks - this means that
if your vocalist shouts too loud, it will not distort your recorded signal. With a
dynamic mic, you just use the compression without the amplifier (although the end
result will not be as good as dynamic mics are more suited for stage work).
Simply connect your mic to the compressor unit, then connect your compressor
output to the MPC input. As vocals are a mono source, you only need to connect a
single output to your MPC, standard practice is to connect to the left input. Please
refer to your compressor manufacturer’s manual on how to set up your compressor
for limiting a signal.
Personally, I recommend recording vocals and other performances such as scratching
and guitar playing to a multitrack recording system first, then you can sample your
sounds at your own leisure from these recordings at a later date
What about the digital connections?
The digital output sends out the same signal as the stereo outputs, except it is in
digital format rather than analogue. This means the quality of sound will be much
better. So, if you have a mixer with a digital input, you could use the digital output
as your main output method. To hook this up, you’ll need a coaxial cable – you can
buy ‘special’ digital coaxial cables from any music store, but much of the time you
can get by with a standard audio coaxial cable as described at the start of this
chapter. Many digital multi-trackers feature some form of digital input and output so
your MPC digital connectors will come in very handy when recording and sampling
with these multi-trackers (see later in this book!).
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