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Best micing position

4/5/1999 7:58 AM
Anthony Stauffer	Best micing position If you've ever stood about 3 feet away from a good amp while it's pointed at your feet, then you know how good the amp sounds from about 3 feet above. I've never liked the sound of any amp when it's pointed straight at me, so when I was recording with my band last week I decided to try something different. I positioned the mic at about head level, about three feet in front of the amp pointing at the grill at roughly a 45 degree angle. This was to immitate my position when I stand about that far away and listen to the amp. I've noticed that when listening from this position, the low end is a lot fuller than straight in front of the speaker, especially if the amp is in the corner. Try it out and see what you think. The sound I got was the best I've recorded yet. And with a low end mic to boot. Anthony

4/5/1999 7:58 AM

Anthony Stauffer

Best micing position

If you've ever stood about 3 feet away from a good amp while it's pointed at your feet, then you know how good the amp sounds from about 3 feet above. I've never liked the sound of any amp when it's pointed straight at me, so when I was recording with my band last week I decided to try something different. I positioned the mic at about head level, about three feet in front of the amp pointing at the grill at roughly a 45 degree angle. This was to immitate my position when I stand about that far away and listen to the amp. I've noticed that when listening from this position, the low end is a lot fuller than straight in front of the speaker, especially if the amp is in the corner. Try it out and see what you think. The sound I got was the best I've recorded yet. And with a low end mic to boot.

Anthony

4/5/1999 5:44 PM
Trace	Anthony; It makes sense really...bass frequencies need to travel a certain distance before they are able to be heard. Try miking the cabinet straight on and then the same way you just were. Then blend both mics and see what happens. You can also add a mic about 9 feet back aimmed straight on to the speakers. All three produce a very good tone!!! Remember, when the mic is up at ear level and aimmed down the room is playing a BIG part in the tone. So this may sound good in some rooms and horrible in others. Chow for now; Trace

4/5/1999 5:44 PM

Trace

Anthony;

It makes sense really...bass frequencies need to travel a certain distance before they are able to be heard.
Try miking the cabinet straight on and then the same way you just were. Then blend both mics and see what happens. You can also add a mic about 9 feet back aimmed straight on to the speakers. All three produce a very good tone!!!
Remember, when the mic is up at ear level and aimmed down the room is playing a BIG part in the tone. So this may sound good in some rooms and horrible in others.

Chow for now;
Trace

4/6/1999 6:21 AM
GFR	Here's another mic positioning trick. Most players (acoustic guitarists, drummers, pianists, sax players, etc.) are used to the sound of their instruments heard from behind. They are not used to the sound in front of the instrument (that is radiated to the audience). It's like the "voice inside your head" thing for singers. Try positioning a mic at the same height as the musician ears, from behind him, besides his head. The recorded sound will be very familiar (to the musician).

4/6/1999 6:21 AM

GFR

Here's another mic positioning trick.

Most players (acoustic guitarists, drummers, pianists, sax players, etc.) are used to the sound of their instruments heard from behind. They are not used to the sound in front of the instrument (that is radiated to the audience). It's like the "voice inside your head" thing for singers.

Try positioning a mic at the same height as the musician ears, from behind him, besides his head. The recorded sound will be very familiar (to the musician).

4/6/1999 10:15 AM
Trace	GFR; Good call! A stereo mic placed just behind their hard is a really cool thing indeed! Trace

4/6/1999 11:30 AM
SpeedRacer	All this micing stuff reminds me of the Binaural recordings that were done mostly in the 70's.. where they built an actual head, and put mics in each "ear" to simulate the actual listening experience. It works great for "ear candy" stuff (stuff that really blows you away if you're in headphones), but doesn't carry over in regular listening situations. Never tried a stereo mic behind the head.. pretty slick!

4/6/1999 11:30 AM

SpeedRacer

All this micing stuff reminds me of the Binaural recordings that were done mostly in the 70's.. where they built an actual head, and put mics in each "ear" to simulate the actual listening experience. It works great for "ear candy" stuff (stuff that really blows you away if you're in headphones), but doesn't carry over in regular listening situations. :-(

Never tried a stereo mic behind the head.. pretty slick!

4/7/1999 9:09 AM
Trace	Speed; The "stereo-mic-behind-the-head-thing" (whew) is used alot for drummers. Drummers hit their cymbals, toms, etc to according to what sounds right to them BUT it always sounds 100% different in front of the kit, even if you're standing in front on the bass drum. So it picks up the sounds from their "perspective" and it's pretty interesting. Most of the time things are more "even" (I.E.: a fill with cymbal crashes at the end of the fill) The "head-with-mics-in-it-thing" was still being made by Shure last time I looked and it's a stereo "mic". Kinda funny looking to see a head on a stand in the live room! (ha, ha) Heyy....where's Warren??? He's pretty good with this stuff. Chow; Trace

4/7/1999 9:09 AM

Trace

Speed;

The "stereo-mic-behind-the-head-thing" (whew) is used alot for drummers. Drummers hit their cymbals, toms, etc to according to what sounds right to them BUT it always sounds 100% different in front of the kit, even if you're standing in front on the bass drum.
So it picks up the sounds from their "perspective" and it's pretty interesting. Most of the time things are more "even" (I.E.: a fill with cymbal crashes at the end of the fill)
The "head-with-mics-in-it-thing" was still being made by Shure last time I looked and it's a stereo "mic". Kinda funny looking to see a head on a stand in the live room! (ha, ha)
Heyy....where's Warren??? He's pretty good with this stuff.

Chow;
Trace

4/7/1999 6:37 PM
Warren	Hey all, Good comments all around. Depth and perspective are very important to a good, natural sounding recording. That said, most recordings don't sound very natural at all. Like Trace was saying how it sounds different in front and behind the kit, it sounds totally different in the control room coming out of two little speakers. I second the comment on having a good sounding room when you've got the mic back aways. I've always been a big fan of close/far miking things and stereo miking things. It eats up more tracks, but I find that the sound is more complex and intresting and therefore the song doesn't need as many layers to make it sound full. The binaural heads are kinda neat. Tchad Blake swears by them, and the sounds he got on the latest Latin Playboys record are really unique and fresh. One time we were experimenting with binaural techniques, but didn't have a head, so we just taped some mics to the drummers head. It didn't sound very good, but you definitly got a feel for how he was hearing things. You can make a 'head mic' pretty easy: get a styrofoam head like they use for displaying wigs, drill a hole straight through were the ears are, and one up ther neck that intersects it. Put an inch or two of tubing in the 'ear canals' and put a small electret mic at the end of each one. To really make it accurate, go to a costume shop and get some of those rubber ears that are anatomicaly correct and glue them on to the head. Its amazing how much the shape and angle of our ears affects our ability to percieve the distance and location of incoming sounds. I think radio shack has those little electret mics. Speaking of radio shack electret mics, if you don't own one (or preferably two) of their PZM mics, go get one. There are plenty of easy mods to get them sounding really great. Take them and put them back to back and mount them on a stand about head level in front of the drumset, pan them in stereo and see what happens. You have to move them around a bit to find the sweet spot but it gives you a nice, phase coherent room sound. Rolling!! Warren

4/7/1999 6:37 PM

Warren

Hey all,

Good comments all around. Depth and perspective are very important to a good, natural sounding recording. That said, most recordings don't sound very natural at all. Like Trace was saying how it sounds different in front and behind the kit, it sounds totally different in the control room coming out of two little speakers.

I second the comment on having a good sounding room when you've got the mic back aways. I've always been a big fan of close/far miking things and stereo miking things. It eats up more tracks, but I find that the sound is more complex and intresting and therefore the song doesn't need as many layers to make it sound full.

The binaural heads are kinda neat. Tchad Blake swears by them, and the sounds he got on the latest Latin Playboys record are really unique and fresh. One time we were experimenting with binaural techniques, but didn't have a head, so we just taped some mics to the drummers head. It didn't sound very good, but you definitly got a feel for how he was hearing things.

You can make a 'head mic' pretty easy: get a styrofoam head like they use for displaying wigs, drill a hole straight through were the ears are, and one up ther neck that intersects it. Put an inch or two of tubing in the 'ear canals' and put a small electret mic at the end of each one. To really make it accurate, go to a costume shop and get some of those rubber ears that are anatomicaly correct and glue them on to the head. Its amazing how much the shape and angle of our ears affects our ability to percieve the distance and location of incoming sounds. I think radio shack has those little electret mics.

Speaking of radio shack electret mics, if you don't own one (or preferably two) of their PZM mics, go get one. There are plenty of easy mods to get them sounding really great.

Take them and put them back to back and mount them on a stand about head level in front of the drumset, pan them in stereo and see what happens. You have to move them around a bit to find the sweet spot but it gives you a nice, phase coherent room sound.

Rolling!!

Warren

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