Microphone Selection and Placement

After you're sure that your source is the best it can be you need to select the right mic. Selecting the right microphone is important. If you get this wrong you're going to have problems further down the line. Does this mean you use your best mic, your most expensive mic? Hell no! You use the best mic for the particular instrument and this particular song. That is the key to getting a good home recording.

Now most likely you don't have a large number of microphones. You may only have one or two, if this is the case you will have to make do with what you have. The key is to use the proper mic technique as I mentioned in this post. Proper mic technique can make up for deficiencies in your microphone. Even the cheapest mic can give good results if you use it properly. Make do with what you have. I guarantee that if you pay attention to mic technique your recordings will be superior to recordings made with better equipment, but no technique.

Now back to mic selection. The first thing you should do is decide what the source needs. Is it overly bright? Then try using a ribbon mic or dynamic. Do you want a very detailed recording? Then use a condenser mic. If you're not familiar the three different types of microphones then you are severely handicapping your recording abilities. These days everyone wants to use condensers. Now condensers are fine but a good dynamic or ribbon mic can be just what the doctor ordered.

I particularly love dynamic mics. They are as a rule cheaper than condensers and harder to damage. Even more importantly dynamics take EQ better than the cheap condensers that are so prevalent these days. Shure makes some of the best dynamic mics in the world. There is a good summary of their microphones and what applications they are good in this post. Another mic I recommend is the EV RE-20. The RE-20 is my personal favorite. It works great on vocals, guitar amps, bass amps and kick drums. Here is a list of microphone's that I think everyone should have.

If you want to improve your recordings you need to pay attention to details. One of the most important details is mic selection and placement. So be sure to give it the attention is deserves.

It's All in the Source

Start at the source you here this all the time. You hear this all the time, in books, on the web, when you talk to professional recording engineers and producers. However, how many times have you had the band all there, you put up the mics quickly, press record and hope for the best. Go ahead admit it, we've all done it. There are many times when this is the only you're going to get anything recorded.

Knowing this is the case it's important to make sure that you plan your recording sessions in advance, I know I say that a lot but it's true. Plan where you think the instruments will be placed, plan which mic you will use on which source. Spend some time thinking about how you want to place the mic. You can't know exactly how a certain instrument will sound on a certain song, on a certain day, but you can have a starting position.

A great source for this sort of information is Bobby Owsinski's book The Recording Engineer's Handbook. This book shows you (yeah, you don't even have to read) how to mic numerous sources. Now the mic techniques in the book aren't the most fancy or creative, but you know that you'll get a sound that's usable. And with just a bit of tweaking you can fine tune it.

Being in the ballpark is the goal, no one has an entire month these days to get the perfect snare sound. Getting the sound as close to what the finished product should sound like at the source, in the shortest time is our goal. So pay attention to this critical first link in the recording chain. Use you ears, make great music. And as always don't forget to have fun doing it. - Wizard

Communication Breakdowns

Communication is extremely important in all areas of life and unfortunately it's easy to neglect. The importance of communication when recording is obvious but rarely talked about (it's more fun to talk about mics or that new mixer you want). However, I feel we all need to give a little bit of attention to this aspect of the recording process.

Before you start a session go and talk with the musicians make them feel comfortable and get to know a little about the music you'll be recording that day. Even if you have planed to do something it's always a possibility that the artist may have something different in mind.

Also it's always wise to inquire about the artist personally. I say this because during a session I was doing a few years ago I was not getting a good performance out of the vocalist and I kept pushing, not to hard just asking if we could do another take after three tries she left without saying a word. It wasn't until two weeks latter when we had another session that I learned she was having chest pains and couldn't breath(a few months latter she had a heart attack, but she's ok now). This illustrates the importance of making sure the artist and you are communicating, that day I was in a hurry and didn't stop to find out how the artist was feeling. Always make sure that the artist knows that if they have any problems that they can talk to you, and maybe you won't wind up contributing to someone heart attack.