Hi All,

Apologies for the newbie questions, but I'm completely new to all things technical and vocal. My 12 year old son is the lead singer of a band at school. The guitarists and drummer obviously have kit at home to practice with, but we'd like to get him a microphone and stand with an amp or something, so he can practice his vocals at home.

He sometimes forgets not to move around when he's singing and the school tend to set them up with a fixed mic, so his voice isn't always captured. We thought by having a small set-up at home it might help him figure out what works for him with regards to his mic technique and ensuring he can always be heard. He also takes singing lessons and sings as part of a chamber choir so the mic set-up would be useful for all of his vocal practice.

We have no idea what to buy. Having researched microphones the Shure SM58 seemed to be a good option so I've ordered one of those from a music store, but beyond that we're lost. What cables, amp, etc should we get? Does the mic plug straight into the amp? Any help you could all provide would be much appreciated!!

TIA

I am kinda spitballing it here, but...

The beauty of being a vocalist is that you don't need much other than your voice to carry around with you to make music.

The SM58 is a well rated work horse mic for vocalists who need amplification. You will certainly need a mic-cable (~30USD at you local music store) to plug it in.

As far as what you plug it into, for live performance generally vocals will be sent to the main House PA. The house will then also generally have any monitors for the vocalist.

For recording the mic will often go direct-in to the Audio interface or mixer then the computer.

Perhaps a small PA SYSTEM is in order for home practice and small giggs. Also look at a good set of headphones so you don't have to bang on the door and tell him to turn it down...

Good Luck and welcome to the forum

as an ex-band player of nearly 50 years, i'd say you probably have the makings of the gear you need already.

a small pa would be useful if his mates have the equipment for playing live which would allow him to sing along with the backing of the drums and the amplified bass and guitar so the whole band can play live. posing is as important as singing (Mick Jagger knew that) so he can either sing into the mic hand held or grab the mic stand.

the SM58 is ideal - it was the standard for many years and i still use one live. a balanced lead - 3 pin cannon rather than jack into the pa is best.

for home practice i assume you have BIAB and can create backing tracks. or you can buy karaoke files which BIAB and RB will play.

buy a usb interface like the Behringer U-Phoria UM2 USB Audio Interface which is quite inexpensive. plug the mic and the headphones into the unit and through usb into the pc where you have BIAB and show him how to play BIAB files. he will hear the backing track and his own vocal played back to him. how you set up the nit should be covered by the manual.

you'll hear him sing which will sound weird as only he can hear the backing but he'll be able to practice covers. if the band plays original material get the chords and create a backing track in BIAB

a small pa like the peavey here

https://www.gear4music.com/PA-DJ-and-Lighting/Peavey-Audio-Performer-Pack-Portable-PA-System/C5J

would be more than enough to play school halls and village halls (which is where we all started) as long as the bass and guitars have their own amps. the drums don't need amplification in small venues. and as the pa comes with mics the bass and guitar players can harmonise behind your sons vocals!

regardless of the schools own set up the band is then independent!