how do i get natrual sounding " shakers"

[stallos]

not sure about natural but using the vocoder effect on noise setting produces some nice shaker style noises. play with the release times

[Piplodocus]

Stick a tiny bit of track delay on it too. Shaker players are notoriously slack and slightly behind the beat!

[H20nly]

Hold a shaker in your hand and shake it in front of a microphone. easy and simple.

It's a sad sign of the dark side of the software revolution that it took a few replies to get to the correct one. People are so out of touch with the wonders of sound.

i dunno that it's the "correct answer" per se, but it certainly is a damn good one.

shakers are pretty inexpensive. making your own is cool, but seriously look:

google results

add some reverb or delay, eq, etc. and you can make all kinds of far out stuff.

[regretfullySaid]

Just use something from a spice rack or use vocoder. There's no reason to buy a shaker.

[simmerdown]

i snagged 3 of my kids plastic easter eggs, put different sized beads in each, duct taped 'em shut....easter is coming, be on the lookout, lol

[crumhorn]

my kids plastic easter eggs, ...

Plastic Easter eggs? That's just cruel - making them eat plastic when they're expecting chocolate!

[pepezabala]

Hold a shaker in your hand and shake it in front of a microphone. easy and simple.

It's a sad sign of the dark side of the software revolution that it took a few replies to get to the correct one. People are so out of touch with the wonders of sound.

i dunno that it's the "correct answer" per se, but it certainly is a damn good one.

shakers are pretty inexpensive. making your own is cool, but seriously look:

google results

add some reverb or delay, eq, etc. and you can make all kinds of far out stuff.

ok, but for lots of people recording something is actually difficult. bad mics, bad preamps, no studio ... me for example, when recording acoustic guitar I will always get some traffic as I have a busy road in front of my window. So I often enough use the piezo pickup although I know that I theoretically would get better results with a microphone.

Many people don't even own a decent microphone. but then again, if they really want to produce they should get one.

[beatmunga]

ok, but for lots of people recording something is actually difficult. bad mics, bad preamps, no studio ... me for example, when recording acoustic guitar I will always get some traffic as I have a busy road in front of my window. So I often enough use the piezo pickup although I know that I theoretically would get better results with a microphone.

Many people don't even own a decent microphone. but then again, if they really want to produce they should get one.

Bad preamps? I think you're getting a bit 'gold plated jack plug' here. And no need for a great mic for shakers. I find a cheap SM58 style dynamic works better than a top end condenser - tones down the top end a bit. But I've got great results from the crappy internal mic on a Macbook too.

Shakers are not like acoustic guitars, which are notoriously tricky to record well. As has been said already, shakers are inherently noisy, and will mask all higher frequencies in the background. Low end rumble (a juggernaut going past...) can be easily eq'd out.

I'd repeat that cheap, or even home made percussion is more essential to anybody constructing rhythms than a top quality mic. And if some people who claim to be musicians/producers can't shake a plastic egg or tambourine in time with a click, then maybe its time to find another hobby...

[simmerdown]

for shaker you can get a good enough rec thru your laptop mic