Recording Instruments

Question 1

What are the best microphones to record piano?

Answer 1

Condenser or Ribbon

Question 2

What are the best polar patterns for recording piano?

Answer 2

• Piano’s are very complex so there is a lot of variation

- Omnidirectional, Bi-directional or Cardoid

Question 3

What problems does the piano lid bring?

Answer 3

• Closing the lid could results in too many low end, muffled sounds
• Having the lid open means the high frequencies can escape out of the top of the piano, resulting in a less full sound

Question 4

What can using a coincident pair bring to a piano recording?

Answer 4

• With crossed coincident pairs, the mutual angle can be used to balance the mid-range levels with those of the outer registers
• A coincident pair is a pair of microphone with their stereo patterns slightly overlapping in the middle, but facing away from each other

Question 5

What are some stereo pair microphone techniques

Answer 5

• When used with omni mics its a very effective technique due to the off-axis and low end benefits
• The recordings should be panned hard left/right or this could result in phase issues

Question 6

What are the best methods of recording the kick drum?

Answer 6

• A good mic is the AKG D112, a large diaphragm mic with a cardioid polar pattern
• Boundary mic a few inches from the kick, attached to the rim
• A boundary mic has a very flat frequency response and is great at picking up just one instrument without spill from other instruments

Question 7

What are some alternate methods for recording the kick drum?

Answer 7

• Put the mic inside the hole for a rock sound
• Put the mic inside the drum for metal/punk
• Put the mic outside the drum for jazz/soul/blues/acoustic

Question 8

What are the best methods for recording the snare drum?

Answer 8

• A dynamic on top of the snare with the microphone angled down towards the center of the drum
• For a rich sound, a mic could be attached to the bottom of the drum
• Good dynamic mics include the Shure SM57 and the Beyerdynamic M2O1TG

Question 9

What are the best methods for recording the hi-hat?

Answer 9

• Cardioid diaphragm condenser, specifically the Neumann KM184, aiming straight towards the sound source, resulting in a fuller sound and less spill from other instruments
• Careful to keep the condenser away from the crash, as the sudden flow of air it creates could damage the microphone

Question 9

What are the best methods for recording toms?

Answer 9

• Can be mic’d with the same mic, often an overhead or a pair of overheads in the form of a large diaphragm condenser.
• When mic’ing multiple toms try to face them in the same direction to reduce phasing as much as possible

Question 10

What is a coincident/xy pair?

Answer 10

Two microphones positioned with at a 90 degree angle on top of each other, with the centre of the mics aligned with the sound source

Question 11

What is a spaced/ab pair?

Answer 11

An identical pair of mics spaced 50 cm to 1 meter away. They can be panned left and right of sound source to create a wide stereo effect.

Question 12

What is on axis mic’ing?

Answer 12

Where the mic is directly facing the sound source, resulting in a brighter or harsher sound.

Could be used in a close mic’ing situation or to get a clean signal

Question 13

What is off axis mic’ing?

Answer 13

Where the mic isn’t directly facing the sound source, resulting in a warmer or muddier sound

Could be used in a ambient mic’ing situation or to capture a softer sound

Question 14

What is the proximity effect?

Answer 14

Where a microphone is too close to a sound source meaning the bass frequencies are enhanced.
This can result in distortion and bass boosted qualities, which can be good or bad depending on the situation, although it can result in clipping, which is always bad.

Question 15

What are the best methods to avoid noise, hissing and clipping?

Answer 15

• Set gain accurately
• Make sure microphone is a good distance from the instrument
• No ambient/outside noises such as humming lights, phones, and outside noise
• Cables are plugged in properly and not broken