There’s no point in having top of the line monitor speakers if you have poor quality microphones or pre-amps! Your recording chain is only as good as its weakest link.
Purchasing high quality front-end first (the input devices) allows you to upgrade your back-end (the mixing and playback system) at a later date, but still have great sounding material originally captured. Having poor quality mics or pre-amps means you are cap-turing potentially poor sound, which can’t be turned into great sound later no matter how good your monitors are. In fact, great monitor speakers will just magnify the defi-ciencies of poor mics or any other devices in the recording chain.
Great mics and some great pre-amps connected to a good quality audio interface will enable you to capture better sound.
Mic Pre-amps @
Example 3.18: A vocal recorded through a budget mixing console pre-amp.
Example 3.19: The same vocal and mic, recorded through a professional mixing console pre-amp, known for its warmth and fullness.
Example 3.20: The same vocal and mic recorded through a boutique outboard pre-amp, known for its punch and aggressive qualities.
and mixing chain that allow the engineer to create the sound of the final product.
Good, unbiased product reviews are a great place to start when deciding what mics to use or purchase. Stay away from manufacturer publications, and catalogs with “reviews” that are really sales pitches published by manufacturers and retailers. The following summarized information should help you make initial mic choices:
USE DYNAMIC MICS WHEN:
• The sound source is very loud.
• The sound source contains no essential real high frequency content.
• Amplitude and transient compression characteristics are desired.
• A “smudging over” of details is not problematic.
Common recording studio applications include: kick drum, snare drum, tom toms, guitar, and bass amplifiers.
Stage and live sound applications include: other drum percussion instruments, horns, and vocals.
USE SMALL DIAPHRAGM CONDENSER MICS WHEN:
• Accuracy, details, and maximum resolution are desired.
• The sound source contains essential high frequency content.
• The sound source has important initial transients or sharp, percussive characteristics.
• The bigness and “hype” of a large diaphragm condenser mic is not desired.
Common recording studio applications include: drum overheads, hi-hat, other percussion (particularly transient or bright sizzly instruments), acoustic guitar and other plucked string instruments, horns and other wind instruments (when accuracy is preferred over hype and color), bowed string instruments, and pianos.
Stage and live sound applications are similar, but more care must be taken when using relatively fragile condenser mics on stage. Additionally, the mic’s extra sensitivity and reach can increase feedback potential.
USE LARGE DIAPHRAGM CONDENSER MICS WHEN:
• A big, full, hyped sound is desired.
• A detailed recording with good high frequencies is desired.
• The slightly warmer and/or smoother sound of many large diaphragm mics will be ben-eficial to the sound source and mix.
Large diaphragm mics tend to be studio workhorses – they are the generic go-to mic for many uses.
Recording studio applications include almost anything where a big, bold, detailed repre-sentation is desired: vocals, horns and wind instruments, string instruments, acoustic guitars and other plucked string instruments, drum overheads, room mics, and pianos. They are becoming increasingly popular as guitar and bass speaker cabinet mics.
On stage and for live sound they need to be used with care. Their cost, size, and weight make them less popular, but with knowledge of how to keep feedback at bay they can be used on quieter stages – jazz or folk shows perhaps, for vocals, strings and acoustic guitars, horns and wind instruments, speaker cabinets, and pianos.
USE RIBBON MICS WHEN:
• Their smooth, less “sizzly” high frequency qualities are desired.
• Their good transient response is desired.
• Extreme rejection of sounds coming from the sides (and above or below) is desired (and if the ribbon mic is bidirectional, there is no spill coming from directly behind the mic).
Typical studio applications include: vocals (with a good pop filter), drum overheads and room mics, acoustic guitars, electric guitar cabinets, horns, strings and other orchestral instru-ments, and piano.
They are less commonly used on stage due to their fragility, but professional touring acts do sometimes use them.
USE TUBE MICS WHEN:
• A big, phat, warm sound is desired. Maybe the source sound is a little thin or harsh, and needs warming up?
• Warmth and thickness are more important than sizzle and fine detail in the very high frequencies.
Common studio uses include: vocals, horns, thin sounding guitar and bass cabinets, and other acoustic instruments that need some “sonic makeup.”
DIRECTIONAL MICS ARE BENEFICIAL WHEN:
• Spill from sound sources behind the mic needs to be minimized – use a cardioid mic.
• Spill from sound sources to the sides and towards the rear of the mic (but not at 180°) needs to be reduced – use a hyper-cardioid mic.
• The least pick-up to the sides (and above and below) the mic are desired (but there is no spill coming from behind the mic) – use a bidirectional mic.
• Room reflections need to be de-emphasized, as is typical in potentially bad sounding, acoustically untreated (or incorrectly treated) small rooms – use cardioid or hyper- cardioid mics.
• Proximity effect is desirable to “beef up” a sound.
• A good sounding room produces desirable reflections that will give a sound excitement and energy. In many typical homes, small room recording situations, omnidirectional mics are generally not used, because the room characteristics are unfortunately problematic.
• A less “point source,” and more organic and blended image is desired – and can be achieved through effective use of the better sounding spill an omni mic picks up.
3.26 THERE’S MORE TO IT THAN SPECIFICATIONS!
A lot of this chapter has discussed specifications, and you should use mic spec sheets to help identify mics with characteristics beneficial and complementary to the sound sources and projects you’re recording. But while specifications are an indicator of technical performance, they are not an indicator of perceived sonic performance or how a sound will work within the context of a mix. The actual sound of a microphone is much less easily quantifiable and is a combination of its technical specifications and many other characteristics that are impossible to quantify numerically.
A mic with stunning technical specs may just not work well on a given sound source – it might exaggerate characteristics in an unflattering way. A noisier, less sensitive mic may make a specific singer sound stunning, even though its technical specs are not as good! What is more important? Having a sound that works aesthetically, or having a more technically clean and less noisy signal to work with? Most engineers would sacrifice technical specs for the right sound! A slight technical sacrifice isn’t going to stop a record becoming a hit!