Microphone Heaven.
Microphone Placement
Proper microphone placement is viewed as a sort of
magical art by a lot of musicians.
It doesn't have to be that way. Most musicians have
spent a lot of their practice
time working on the sound they get, or the tone of
their instrument. As such, they
already have a decent idea of the sound they want to
hear. They just don't know how
to capture it with microphones.
Pictures of mic placement
In one sense, it isn't possible for them to capture
the exact sound they hear in their
head with microphones. The sound a lot of musicians
are looking for is an unrealistic, unattainable
perfection. This is what keeps them practicing, and
striving for that perfect sound. They might not even
be producing the sound that they
hear in their head. However, with a little bit of
common sense and practice most
musicians can obtain a sound that is close to what
they hear.
A musician's ears are their best tools. It isn't
always possible as the player to
use these for the best mic placement. Because you
can't listen to yourself play in the second person,
you should listen to other players playing their
instruments up close. If you are a saxophone player,
listen to a fellow sax player as close as you can to
the horn. Move your ear closer to the bell, then
closer to the keys, then closer to the mouthpiece, and
then closer to the underside of the bell. While this
may seem a little awkward, it reproduces what you are
doing when you move a microphone around. Different
areas of a musical instrument resonate differently,
and if you want to get a certain sound using mic
placement you need to be able to hear these
differences. Hopefully you know a fellow musician
well enough to be able to audition different mics in
this way, without being put in a straight jacket for
it!
If you are an engineer, use your ears as well. You
may already have a method that you use to mic an
instrument, but that might not always work to get the
sound a particular musician is wanting. Sometimes it
may even be a matter of using two different
microphones recorded to two different tracks. Some
musicians want to hear an up-close sound, as well as a
distance mic. Some may want an additional mic placed
behind them (over their shoulder or over their head),
pointed toward the instrument to capture the sound
they hear while playing.
Also, mic choice can play a big part in the recorded
sound. Just swapping the microphone for a different
one can capture a different sound. Ideally, every
engineer would use every microphone in his posession
in every possible situation just to get an idea of
what it sounds like. In the real world this isn't
always possible due to time and budget constraints.
However, don't be afraid to spend some finding the
sound a musician is looking for using different mics
and mic placement. Especially if the musician
expresses unease at the sound captured by a particular
mic and/or placement.
Musicians should also realize that the end result of
their recording will be influenced by the microphone
and the mic placement. As such, they should spend as
much time as they are comfortable with figuring out
which mic setup they want to use. If it doesn't sound
right at first, adjust the mic placement. If it still
doesn't sound right, try a different microphone.
