Music Recording Is Foremost About the Music; Technology Is

Main Points

▶Music recording is foremost about the music; technology is

not the end; it is the means to the end.

▶Close miking places a mic relatively close to each sound

source or group of sound sources in an ensemble.

▶Because close miking involves miking most of the instruments

in an ensemble, it means that the three-to-one rule,

or an appropriate variation of it, should be observed to

avoid phasing problems.

▶Distant miking places a microphone(s) from about three

feet to several feet from the sound source. It picks up a

fuller range and balance of an instrument, or a group of

instruments, and captures more of the studio acoustics for

a more open and blended sound.

▶Generally, the three distant stereo arrays are coincident,

near-coincident, and spaced miking.

▶Coincident miking, also called X-Y miking, employs two

matched directional microphones mounted on a vertical

axis—with one mic diaphragm directly over the other—

and angled apart to aim approximately toward the left and

right sides of the sound source.▶Near-coincident miking angles two directional microphones,

spaced horizontally a few inches apart.

▶Spaced miking employs two matched microphones—unior

omnidirectional—several feet apart, perpendicular to

the sound source and symmetrical to each other along a

centerline.

▶There are a number of stereo microphone arrays, including

the Blumlein technique, the ORTF method, the OSS or

Jecklin disk, and the Decca Tree.

▶Accent miking, also known as off-miking, is used to pick up

instruments in an ensemble when they solo.

▶Ambience miking, used along with distant miking, attempts

to reproduce the aural experience that audiences

receive in a live venue by recording in an acoustically suitable

studio or concert hall.

▶The closer a mic is to a sound source, the drier, more

detailed, and, more intimate, and, if proximity effect is a

factor, bassier the sound. The farther a mic is from a sound

source, the more diffused, open, less intimate, and ambient

the sound.

▶Regardless of a directional microphone’s pickup pattern:

the higher the frequency, the more directional the sound

wave and therefore the mic pickup; the lower the frequency,

the more omnidirectional the sound wave and the

mic pickup.

▶Although close miking may employ a number of microphones,

more is not always better. Each additional mic adds a little more noise to the system, even in digital

recording, and means another input to keep track of and

control, to say nothing of possible phasing problems.

▶With most moving-coil mics, the farther from the sound

source they are placed, the more reduced the high frequency

response.

▶Generally, large-diaphragm microphones are more

suitable in reproducing low-frequency instruments;

small-diaphragm mics are more suitable in reproducing

high-frequency instruments.

▶Do not confuse perspective with loudness. Loudness aside,

in considering mic-to-source distance, it is hearing more or

less of the ambience that helps create perspective.

▶In recording drums, tuning the drum set is critical if the

individual elements are to sound good together.

▶Although the drum set consists of several different-sounding

instruments, it must be miked so that they sound good

individually and blend as a unit.

▶Because most of an acoustic guitar’s sound radiates from

the front of the instrument, centering a microphone off

the middle of the sound hole should, theoretically, provide

a balanced sound. But if a mic is too close to the hole,

sound is bassy or boomy. If it is moved closer to the bridge,

detail is lost. If it is moved closer to the neck, presence is

reduced. If it is moved farther away, intimacy is affected.

▶Because the dynamic range of bowed string instruments is

not wide, sound must be reinforced by using several instruments,

multiple miking, or both, depending on the size of

the sound required.

▶The piano offers almost unlimited possibilities for sound

shaping. More than with many other instruments, the

character of the piano sound is dependent on the quality

of the piano itself.

▶Because most woodwinds are not powerful instruments,

the tendency is to close-mike them. Due to their sound

radiation, however, this results in an uneven pickup. They

should be miked far enough away so that the pickup

sounds blended and natural.

▶The loudness and the dynamic range of brass instruments

require care in microphone placement and careful attention

in adjusting levels at the console.

▶Some electric instruments, such as the bass and the guitar,

can be recorded by miking their amplifi er loudspeaker; by

direct insertion (D.I.), or plugging the instrument into the

console; or by a combination of both.

▶An alternative to using amplifi ers for an electric guitar or

bass is modeling technology that simulates the sounds of

various makes and models of speaker cabinets.

▶A variety of software programs make it possible to manipulate

and record the sound of traditional acoustic and electric

instruments in the virtual domain.

▶Recording a vocalist is a test for any microphone because

the mic must be able to handle the nuances of the singer’s

timbre and dynamics as well as any popping, sibilance, and

breathing sounds. Mic selection and placement depend on

voice quality, style of music, and microphone presence.

▶Recording music digitally requires the highest-quality microphones

because unwanted noise and other quiet sounds

that are masked in analog recording may be audible in the

digital format.

▶Because digital recording often reproduces sounds not

audible in analog, the mics used for digital recording must

be of very high quality, generate very low self-noise, be

carefully handled, and be kept in clean, temperature- and

humidity-controlled environments.

▶Generally, there are two approaches to handling a music

recording for surround sound: direct/ambient surroundsound

miking, using conventional techniques during recording

and applying the surround-sound imaging during

the mix; and the direct surround-sound approach, miking

for surround sound during recording and feeding the signals

directly to the surround-sound channels.

▶Among the arrangements used for direct/ambient surround-

sound miking are the Decca Tree surround, Delos VR

(virtual reality), DMP (Digital Music Products), NHK (Japanese

Broadcasting Corporation), fi ve-channel surround

using a binaural head, double middle-side (M-S), multichannel

microphone array (MMA), and Woszcyk surroundmicrophone techniques.