There are four basic types: Dynamic, Condenser, Ribbon and PZM. Both the dynamic
and condenser mics have a thin membrane that vibrates sympathetically
with the sound source, be it guitar, piano, or human voice. This
vibration is translated into an electronic signal, which in turn gets
amplified and sent to the recording source. Generally speaking,
condenser micas will be brighter sounding and have a broader frequency
response, but they are considerably more fragile than the dynamic micas.
The signal coming out of the mice is very small, and in most cases needs
some kind of boost before it gets sent to the board. This is your
second opportunity to color the sound via the mice preamp. A mice
preamp will increase the signal to what known as 'line level.' A good
mice preamp will definitely affect the sound of your recording.
There is no such thing as ‘flat response’ mic, just as there is no
such thing as a flat response speaker. This means that some micas will
be better suited for some applications, and not so good at others.
This also means that everyone is going to have his or her 'favorite'
mice and mice preamp, depending on the application. Trust your ears,
and remember classic recordings were done when some of the rules were
broken.
Remember this: there are no wrong mics for any particular instrument.
Your choice may be unusual, but it is not wrong. All engineers will
have preferences, usually based on micas with which he/she is familiar.
Each different mouse will have its own different sound and unique set of
characteristics. Each artist will have his/her own conception of the
sound of his or her own instrument (which may or may not be accurate.)
It is the job of all engineers to deliver the sound that the artist
thinks they hear, not the sound that they actually have to tape.
Frequency response and mice placement will help you to exaggerate the
sounds that your client is looking for.
It is important that the engineer be able to focus his/her attention on
the main issues and not waste time with interesting but minor
technicalities. It is important that the engineer know what the main
issues are. An example is the noise/distortion tradeoff. Most listeners
are willing to ignore a small amount of distortion on loud passages (in
fact, they expect it), but would be annoyed by the extra noise that
would result if the engineer turned the recording level down to avoid
it. One technique for encouraging this attention is to listen to
recordings over a variety of sound systems, good and bad.
You're not alone if you've heard a difference between the bounced or
rendered files vs. your live mixing sound. There are plenty of folks who
will tell you that a One is a One and a Zero is a Zero and it should
sound perfect, but others will point out jitter issues, cable issues,
drive issues, vibration issues and more. There's a lot to digital and
it's crucial that it's set up just right. Don't take anything for
granted in digital. Look into the situation until you are satisfied. Use
science and time-tested method along with some "outside the box"
thinking. Be open-minded and don't settle for so-so sound. It may take
going to another studio, looking up a good discussion forum, calling a
manufacturer, or just regular experimentation!
Here's a cool trick. Take your PT or other DAW into the mastering
studio and compare your mixes with commercial CDs. Then if the mastering
engineer is "reaching" for the kick, just bring it up in the mix till
he/she isn't reaching in that direction any further. Extra bonus: Have
the mastering engineer send you word clock or a signal to your digital
input, and then set your master clock on "digital input" instead of
"internal." It will smooth up the sound of your computer and (so long as
your computer isn't fussy) avoids the mix engine. Here's the caveat.
Mix-style
tweaking can add to
your mastering bill, so know in advance what's appropriate for your
budget.
With today's, sometimes too hot CDs, it's good to make extra
(alternate) mixes when in any doubt. Make a mix that you love, and then
make another one with the kick up a dB or 2. If you're unsure of the
vocal level, make an alternate mix in the same fashion, but more like
vocal up 1/2 dB and then one up 1 dB. Keep in mind the teeter-totter
principle - the element that you bring up will off-set (or lower) some
other element.
Adding kick can seem to reduce the apparent snare level; adding vocal
can seem to reduce the apparent bass level, etc. No matter where you are
recording and no matter what level you're at in your career, hold your
project as being important enough that no one "gives you a blank stare"
when you question the sound. When you A/B your project against a
commercial CD be aware of the fact that any issues that may arise may be
the result of different preferences between you and your engineer. It's
also possible that your engineer doesn't listen to commercial CDs over
his monitor system and he's comfortable with his environment.these, you
need an outboard (meaning not built-in) mice preamp. Some have phantom
power that will allow the use of more sensitive condenser microphones
(phantom power is a 48-volt current that is sent to the mice to power
its electronics).
Many folks have a tough time with the logistics of how to set up proper
A/Being so that you can make fast referencing moves. The other trick is
to level-match what you're referencing to, otherwise it becomes a volume
contest, and volume always wins. How do you get the commercial CD levels
and yours to match? There is gear available (either available now or
available soon) from Nautilus Master Technology. They're a new company
with 4 pieces of pro audio gear intended to make A-B easy and extremely
high-resolution. With the proper tools, you can take as much time as you
need to train yourself to be an awesome mixing engineer. If you think
about it, every engineer trains himself or herself, even if there's a
coach standing over them with tips and tricks. All the tips are only as
good as the people who retain and use their ears to get the desired
results.
Sending tracks to a speaker in a room is an interesting way to create an
additional minced source to re-record back into your tracks. Try putting
a chorus or flanging plug-in on a track and pan the original and the
chorus' to opposite sides. Another thing to know is that width is
relative. That means if you pan some things 'in' a bit (like toms) it
makes other things seem wider. Then compare your mixes to commercial CDs
and adjust, experiment, re-listen, repeat. The trick is to make instant
comparisons so that you retain the "sonic imprint" of what you heard
from the commercial CD.
Like any other piece of gear, the same microphone can give tremendously
different results depending on how it is used. There is a bit of
expertise and experimentation that needs to happen when placing the
microphone to capture a source. Even the best micas in the world will
sound boom and unusable if the vocalist gets too close. These same mice
might fail miserably if recording an acoustic guitar if placed too far
away, or off axis (angled away from the source). An inexpensive mice,
placed optimally for the task at hand can capture exceptional nuances,
and once a track is treated with Esq., compressors and plugging, the
results can be outstanding. Yet a great mic given the same care during
setup and post-treatment can be absolutely stellar.
You might be wondering how studio pros keep the hi hat sound out of the
snare mic (bleed). The mics directional pattern comes in here. You want
your close drum mics to reject all sounds except the drum it's pointed
to. There will always be some bleed, but you work to minimize it when
you set up the mics.