Recordingwithone,
twoormoremics
Microphonesareourelectronic
‘ears’intherecordingprocess,
butunfortunately,theydon’t
hearthingsinquitethesame
waythatourearsdo,whichis
whywehavetolearnhowtouse
themcorrectly.
Themostcommonmethodof
mikingsomethingupistousea
singlemicrophone.Thiswill
capturea combinationofdirect
soundandroomsoundina
mannerthat’sdictatedbyits
pickuppatternandpositionin
relationtothesource– butit
won’tgiveusleft/rightstereo.In
ordertocapturedirectional
information,weneedtorecordin
stereousingtwomics.Thereare
variouswaystodothis,andtwo
mainoptions(seeStereomic
techniques, right)arethecrossed
(XY)pairandspaced(AB)pair.
Otherpossibilitiesarethe
Blumleinpair,ORTF,mid-side
andDeccatree.Eachmicis
recordedtoanindividualmono
track,althoughyoucanuse
stereotracksifyouprefer.
Thethirdmethodistouse
multiplemictechnique.This
couldbeassimpleasusingtwo
micsaimedatdifferentpartsof
theinstrument(notthesameas
stereorecording),oritcould
involvea combinationofstereo
mikingandindividualor‘spot’
mikingofspecificpartsofthe
instrument.Let’stakea closer
lookatallthreetechniques...
Torecordinstereo,ideallyyou’llusea
pairofmatchedmicrophones.These
shouldnotonlybeexactlythesame
model,butalsoverycloseinleveloutput
andfrequencyresponse.Themost
affordableoptionscanoftenbesmall-
capsulecondensers.1
Toset up a crossed (or XY) pair, use
two cardioid mics with their capsules
oneabove the other or adjacent. Set the
anglebetween them to anywhere from 90
to 135 degrees, and point your two-mic rig
towards the sound source (using a stereo
bartomount them keeps things simple).
Matchthe gains of the two mics.2
Fora spaced(orAB)pair,youcanuse
anypickuppattern,butomnisgivethe
mostevenspectralbalance.Spacethem
apartanywherefrom50cmup,according
todistancefromthesoundsource.Large
spacingwillgivecombfilteringwhen
monoed,solistenforthat.Oursis spaced
byovera metre,justabovethekit.3
When using spaced microphones,
there are additional techniques to
consider. Most common is the ‘3 to 1 rule’,
wherethe distance between two mics is at
leastthree times the distance from the
soundsource. This is useful for single-
pointsources, but less with a drum kit,
whichhas multiple spaced sound sources.4
Recordingwitha singlemicshouldbe
reasonablystraightforward.Thefirst
jobistoselecta microphonebasedonits
pickuppatternandsuitabilityforthejob.
Thiscouldsimplybea caseofchoosing
somethingsmallorrobustenoughif it’s
goingtobeneardrumsticks.Choosea
cardioidorhypercardioidtohelpisolate
aninstrumentfromitssurroundings.1
Next,useyourearstoestablishwhere
theinstrument’ssoundiscomingfrom
andpositionthemicaccordingly.Tofind
thesweetspot,getsomeonetomovethe
micasyoulistenonyourmonitors,ortry
listeningviaheadphonesasyoumovethe
micyourself.Tryrightupcloseand
graduallymoveawaytoestablisha
satisfactoryrepresentation.2
If the sound you’re after isn’t
translating, and you’re certain the
instrument sounds good in itself, try a
different mic, as each one has its own
frequency response. Alternatively, if
you’reusing a directional mic, try angling
it slightly off axis to help make things
lessedgy.3
> Stepbystep
3.Singlemictechnique
Step by step 4. Stereo mic techniques
make music now / the fast guide to recording
28 / COMPUTER MUSIC / July 2019