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Permalink Reply by ChickenboneJohn on May 9, 2011 at 8:08pm

I believe it's done using an old army-type field telephone handset...the carbon element gives you that hard-edged distortion. Alternatively you can go for a "Coppertone" mic..more sophisticated and expensive, and a more subtle tone.

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Permalink Reply by Don Goguen on May 10, 2011 at 1:52am

In addition to using an old phone handset, you might just try using a regular vocal mic into your computer setup and then use a high pass and low pass filter to bandwidth narrow the vocal track.  Old analog phones were about 800Hz to 4kHz.  So in your recording software go to EQ and set a high pass at 800Hz and a second filter for low pass of 4kHz.  It will give you a similar effect without the distortion.  There are plenty of ways of adding distortion if you want but try this first as you would need no additional equipment.

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Permalink Reply by James Boutilier on May 10, 2011 at 4:28am

Thanks guys.
Let me clarify... talk to me like a cheap Idiot, hahaha

Filters? Please understand, the only recording software I have is windows built in WAV REC, ahhhhhh

Can I make it any harder? hahaha

Kindest
jim

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Permalink Reply by Don Goguen on May 10, 2011 at 5:45am

Do a google search for Audacity.  It's free and very powerful.

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Permalink Reply by 3 String Blues on May 10, 2011 at 6:00am

Yeah I say go for audacity....it will make all the difernec in the world...just dont save aas an MP3 file...it will sound terrible...other than that direct recording gives you lotsa of options

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Permalink Reply by BenBob on May 10, 2011 at 11:18am

Recording on the cheap:

 

Try using an old set of headphones, earphones, or even earbuds. The smaller they are, the more lo-fi you'll get, and it will be in stereo if you record them that way. Plug it into your computer's microphone input, which is usually a pinkish color. If it has an inline volume control, turn it up all the way.

 

I even connected a little speaker I ripped out of an old tape recorder to a mic input. It actually sounded pretty good.

 

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Permalink Reply by Mark Bliss on May 11, 2011 at 6:03am

Make a piezo "surface mic" and tape it onto the bottom of a soup can (or turnip greens for "authenticity").

Mount your can to a home made broomstick mic stand, and plug it into your mic input.

Make some noise.

Audacity is a good free choice for recording, theres other cheap or free options as well. I havent used it in ages, but a recording program that will work with effects "plug ins" would broaden your range for experimenting, as many basic assorted plug-ins are also cheap, or free.

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Permalink Reply by Greg on May 12, 2011 at 5:45am

I use a green bullet harp mic and the cheapest overdrive pedal I could find.I've had better luck with the overdrive pedal than with a distortion. Just tweak the knobs until you get what you want. You could use any mic with a pedal but need an XLR to !/4" adapter to pug it in. I've made the piezo in a can mic before and had pretty good results. There's a sample of the harp mic on my page called work in progress just to give you an idea how it sounds. Everyone's ideas here are good. Just a matter of how you want to do it and the budget you have!!!! Always seems to be my biggest problem.....

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