Microphone Placement

[Fngrstyl]

I thought I'd share this. I hope you find it as interesting

10 microphone placement techniques

[Curran]

Great Article. I used to use the Blumlein with a pair of ribbon mics. It got decent results but I still prefer SDC in Xy.

[Fran Guidry]

Originally Posted by Fngrstyl

I thought I'd share this. I hope you find it as interesting

10 microphone placement techniques

Ummmmm, I was struck by the inaccuracies more than the usefulness of the info.

1. Blumlein: "Most microphones have a setting that looks like a figure “8” and can be switched easily into this mode." Really? Most of my microphones do not have this feature, it's only found on switchable multi-pattern mics, almost all of which are dual diaphragm LD condensers.

2. One LD Condenser: in my experience there's no audible difference between LD and SD mics as a class. And "Cardioid focus the microphone to only retain signals from mostly in front of the microphone." Well, no, that's what some folks seem to think but it's far from the actual situation. The cardioid pattern is typically only about 3 dB down at 90 degrees and the rear null offers a further reduction in sensitivity but it certainly still picks up sound.

3. Spaced pair: Is it not possible to use LD mics in a spaced pair? Is it true that SD mics "retain fewer lower frequencies that the large diaphragm microphones." Well actually there are LD mics that roll off lows more than some SD mics and vice versa. The most significant difference as a class is that _dual diaphragm_ LD mics tend toward omni pattern in their low frequencies.

4. Mid-Side: At some point there should be an indication that there are bidirectional mics other than switchable dual diaphragm LDs, I'm still waiting. And rather than duping and flipping tracks, how about using a VST plugin to decode the MS signal? And "the resulting effect is a somewhat roomy and spacious sound." - well actually the degree of space is a function of the pattern of the mid mic and the relative levels of the mid and side signals. With a hypercardioid mid and matched levels the result is mathematically identical to cardioid XY.

5. One SD close: "If you review example two of this article you can hear how severely different the tone, body, and clarity of a LDC vs the SDC mono signals." This severely different tone is _not_ due to the difference between LD and SD mics as a class. This is exactly the kind of erroneous information that complicates the learning process for those of us trying to learn about recording from the internet. In order to compare mics usefully they must be matched in level, placed at the same position, and given the same source. When I've compared mics (and presented those comparisons to others) with those conditions the differences are remarkably small.

6. Vertical spaced pair: I've never tried this configuration, but "Depending on strum direction you can almost feel the attack of the guitar pick on the high and low strings moving from left to right and right to left." does not sound like something I'd want on my recordings. YMMV.

7. XY - the accompanying pictures shows a misunderstanding of the XY configuration. The point of XY and other coincident arrays is to minimize the arrival time difference at the two mic diaphragms. They should be stacked vertically and aligned as closely as possible, not separated horizontally by an inch or so. "Phasing Issues? Stereo bar to the rescue!" Is it really true that mounting the mics on a stereo bar as opposed to positioning them in the correct location with two separate boom stands will make an audible difference????

8. Room - I'm OK with this one.

9. Dual dynamic: The illustration shows two dynamics a couple of inches apart pointed at the soundhole. Why dynamics rather than condensers? What is the real difference between dynamics and condensers as a class? (Answer: sensitivity and top octave - 10khz to 20khz - frequency response). And do we really want to generate phase anomalies and the resulting unstable image in our recordings?

10. Single dynamic: Why dynamic?

I'm amazed that Cakewalk would publish this material. I guess the fad for "10 amazing facts you never knew" made them do it.

Fran

[Rudy4]

Good catches, Fran.
As I read the article I kept noticing the (smallish) issues that you enunciated so clearly. I just chalked it up to the writer doing a bit of hastily written copy possibly aimed at a more general audience, although that kind of does a bit of a disservice if your intent is to educate. Most of the issues just needed to be thought out a little further before writing. I've certainly been guity of that myself.

I'm not a big Cakewalk fan to begin with, so it's nothing I would have stumbled on by myself.

[Doug Young]

Originally Posted by Fran Guidry

6. Vertical spaced pair: I've never tried this configuration, but "Depending on strum direction you can almost feel the attack of the guitar pick on the high and low strings moving from left to right and right to left." does not sound like something I'd want on my recordings. YMMV.

This is basically the setup Pete Huttlinger uses. He gets a very nice sound - rather X/Y-like, and I've never noticed any tendency for the strings to behave like this. The idea that the strings will move across the sound stage sounds like wishful thinking rather than what actually happens. (You can get that effect with the Trance stereo pickup, and also the Shadow Hex pickup. Kind of amusing, but probably not useful very often) This setup has never worked well for me, tho I think maybe Rick-Slo has used it successfully?

[Picking Moose]

Thank you for the link to the Cakewalk and thank you all for the great replies.

Just based on simple listening experience of the various mics placements provided in the vid, I find the "spaced pair" my favorite, which happens to be also the case here in my home studio, when I record.

[Ty Ford]

Originally Posted by Fran Guidry

Ummmmm, I was struck by the inaccuracies more than the usefulness of the info.

Fran

Nice work Fran!

Perhaps an indication that not everyone who works for a software company knows enough about microphones to write something.

Regards,

Ty Ford

[ukejon]

Very informative, Fran. Thanks for posting.

[selectedout]

thanks for the article
very interesting

[Tazz3]

years ago i taped my friends band in a bar we hung the mics from the ceiling,
it came out nice