Mic Placement demo

Doug Young · #1 03-21-2019, 10:03 PM

Hi, I just posted a demo I originally shot for the Acoustic Guitar recording article I did a month or two back, but that we didn't end up using for the magazine. The attempt is to show a handful of typical mic placements and demo how they sound. Mic placement's always tricky, you can get different sounds from minor changes, and I had hoped this would turn out a bit better than it did, but maybe it will be useful to someone!

runamuck · #2 03-22-2019, 12:47 AM

Very nice and helpful. Thank you, Doug.

Edp251 · #3 03-22-2019, 03:53 AM

That was easy to understand and very helpful for this recording novice. Thank you.

Bob Womack · #4 03-22-2019, 05:29 AM

You probably know my favorite!

Bob

westview · #5 03-22-2019, 08:04 AM

Thank you. This was helpful. I will try some of these.
The explanations were easy to understand.

rick-slo · #6 03-22-2019, 10:25 AM

Just a note about playback systems: Listened to the video at work on my computer monitor speakers at fairly low volume and all the mike setups sounded exactly the same.

Doug Young · #7 03-22-2019, 10:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rick-slo

Just a note about playback systems: Listened to the video at work on my computer monitor speakers at fairly low volume and all the mike setups sounded exactly the same.

Indeed, I see people listening to stuff on mobile devices, laptops with tiny speakers and so on. In those cases, you'll totally miss the nuances of mic placement, stereo image, etc. I guess it's a way to test how much it matters - if you can't hear any difference on the types of systems you listen to, then any recording setup will do!

I had a similar experience years ago when I was helping Fran Guidry finish his 1st CD. He'd recorded it over the years, using different setups, different micing techniques and so on. Listening in my studio was a head-spinning experience as tonality and stereo image changed radically between songs. Then I put it on my home stereo - not a terrible system, but not studio quality. There I couldn't hear any differences between tracks...

Doug Young · #8 03-22-2019, 10:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bob Womack

You probably know my favorite!

Bob

I was thinking of you when I did that one! I've tried that setup several times before, ever since Pete Huttlinger first told me about it, without much success. But this time, it seemed to work - I really like the consistency in tone between the left and right channels. In a lot of ways, it sounds more natural than some of the others. I've used it a few times now.

rick-slo · #9 03-22-2019, 10:40 AM

Pluses and minuses I guess. I have some early on recordings I did that I don't care for due to thinness and harshness.
One day a receptionist was playing some of those on a smallish boombox type system and I heard that from a distance
and it actually sounded more mellow and ok. On the other hand I really like the experience of good recordings on good
playback systems.

DukeX · #10 03-22-2019, 10:46 AM

Thanks for the excellent video, Doug!

Stevien · #11 03-22-2019, 10:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bob Womack

You probably know my favorite!

Bob

Bob ..... Inquiring minds want to know; which IS your favorite?
Steve

nickv6 · #12 03-22-2019, 11:03 AM

Very informative.
Thanks for posting this video.
Nick

Doug Young · #13 03-22-2019, 11:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stevien

Bob ..... Inquiring minds want to know; which IS your favorite?
Steve

He's talking about the "Vertical ORTF" placement. Bob's described it very well many times, and I referred to some photos he's posted when I set up for that. I should have labeled the placement "Bob"!

KevWind · #14 03-22-2019, 04:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doug Young

He's talking about the "Vertical ORTF" placement. Bob's described it very well many times, and I referred to some photos he's posted when I set up for that. I should have labeled the placement "Bob"!

Vertical Ortf , could be a great song title or name of a band

Doug Young · #15 03-22-2019, 06:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KevWind

Vertical Ortf , could be a great song title or name of a band

I guess it's actually Vertical Reverse ORTF, so an even crazier band name :-) "VRO" for short...

BTW, after I shot this video, I actually asked the guys who make mic mounts on Shapeways - I used them in some other placements in the video - if they could make a mount for this. It's not all that hard to just do it with the stereo bar as I did in this video, but it's kind of nice to have a mount that has the angle and distance fixed. It looks like they actually created one:

https://www.shapeways.com/product/8E...ionId=84980007