[wcap]

Originally Posted by Bob Womack

Hi!

I was off yesterday and not in the studio so I didn't have the opportunity to put your recordings up on the big monitors but I have done it this morning. I'm noticing the brightness and a little ambient quality to the recordings. I saw that you said the mics were about two feet away and my ears perked right up. Are you aware of "proximity effect?" That is an effect caused by cardioid microphone phase cancellation that is evidenced by increasing bass tilt-up as you bring the mic in closer and closer. It sounds to me as if you have moved the mics entirely out of the proximity zone and you are getting far less bass and midrange than you could out of your mics and are getting more room noise than you want as well.

I would move the mics in closer until there is better balance between bass and treble and there is less room ambiance in the mics as well. There is often a point in there where the mids and treble will be nicely balanced but the bass may be too full. The bass tilt-up can be overcome with subtractive EQ to give you a nice, clean recording. I just completed a set of score cues for a TV show that I recorded right in the control room with a pair of AKG C451Bs at about fourteen inches out from the neck joint with this method.

Bob

There are lots of replies above that I have not responded to yet that I plan to, but I'll reply quickly to this one since it is easy to do.

I actually have been moving microphones closer over the years of my intermittent, widely spaced bouts of recording attempts. The farthest microphone spacing (close to two feet out) was for my recording of Sheebeg and Sheemore (the third video I posted), recorded a number of years back. I think the 12 string guitar recording (the first recording) was closer to 1 foot (well, maybe between 12" and 18"), and the others were somewhere inbetween (probably very close to your 14 inch distance).

I've been making this switch due to noticing a greater sense of presence (I guess that is what I would call it) in recordings where I had the microphones really close. The other reason for doing this has been to minimize the effects of the less than ideal acoustics of my recording spaces.

And yes, I have encountered booming bass when doing this, but I've figured out how to deal with this with EQ settings, as you suggested.

I think you have identified some real issues with my recordings, but I'm not sure you were completely hearing the harsh, piercing attack that is bothering me. I don't hear it so much on better speakers/headphones myself (I'm sure you have good equipment, better than mine, to listen on), but it simply drives me crazy on my iPod with some of these recordings.

Thanks so much for your feedback. It means a lot to be able to get feedback like this from people like yourself (and others here too) who are extremely knowledgeable and experienced.