You have to use mic X on source Y

This always takes the form of "you use a 57 on snare drum", "you use a U87 on vo
cals", "use a D112 on kick", "use a 421 on toms", "use an SM 81 on acoustic guit
ar." These are fine starting points, but they are not prescriptions.
There are no mic prescriptions. Yes, some vocalists like recording with U87s, ot
hers with RE20s, others with Coles ribbon mics, and still others with 57s and 58
s. A D112 is a good kick drum mic, but for a punchy sound for jazz or punk, try
a 57, you'll like it, and generally I prefer the less-bassy AT Pro25. I almost a
lways reach for an AKG D1000E or AT 4050 over an SM 57 on lead guitar for rock m
usic, it always seems to cut through the mix with more character and authority.
And I recently fell head over heels in love with the Crown CM700 on everything f
rom guitars to drum overheads and from viola to vocals.
OK, if you're lost, trying desperately to get a snare drum sound, and you haven'
t tried a 57, then you're in need of help. Then the mic prescriptions come in ha
ndy. But don't ever let anyone tell you that a given source requires a given mic
.
It just ain't so.
-----------Mic selection is dictated primarily by the television crew, and can be modified
by a particular artist if needed. In this case, Sting's backline consisted of ke
ys, guitar, full drum set, trumpet, and backup vocalists. The audio engineers fo
r the Today show like to use standard mics as much as possible. The drums used a
normal complement of top and bottom SM57's for snare, AKG 414's for overhead, a
nd a Beta 52 for kick. Sennheiser 409's were used for guitar, and Sting's P-Bass
used both a Countryman DI and a Sennheiser with the option of an Electro-Voice
RE-20. Sting's vocals went to an AKG 535 with a BSS 901 compressor patched into
that channel. Backing vocals used Beta 87's, but normally would use Beta 58's, d
epending on the loudness of the stage. Keyboards used Countryman DI boxes
Shure SM-57
Shure SM-58
"A '58 will work well for vocals, Will also add a warm sound to mic'ed
guitar amps. I used to use an SM58 when mic'ing my Marshall stack.
Most people would opt for the more universal Shure SM57, though."
Engineer Dave Reitzas on capturing the vocals of artists such as Barbra Streisan
d, Madonna, and Whitney Houston:
I like to use old Neumann and AKG tube microphones, or the new Audio-Technica 40
60 tube mics, which have worked great with a number of artists, such as on the n
ew Lara Fabian record. I like microphones that have full body and a warm sound.
For vocals, I mostly work with the NTI PreQ-3 preamp, into the EQ3, then to a co
mpressor like the TubeTech, and mult the output of the compressor to, usually, e
ight tracks. I then take the eight outputs into the eight inputs of a comp box a
nd take the single output of the comp box to the input of a track on the multitr
ack and then monitor on one channel of the console. This is so I am ready to do
a composite vocal immediately following the recording of the vocal, or I can giv
e examples of what a comp might be while singers are still in the studio singing
.
----------------------

Miking - The 3:1 Rule

by Bruce Bartlett
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------Suppose you're recording a singer/guitarist. There's a mic on the singer and a
mic on the acoustic guitar. When you monitor the mix, something's wrong: the si
nger's voice sounds hollow or filtered. What you're hearing is the effect of pha
se interference.
In general, if two mics pick up the same sound source at different distances, an
d the signals are mixed to the same channel, this might cause phase cancellation
s. These are peaks and dips in the frequency response caused by some frequencies
combining out of phase. The result is a coloured, filtered tone quality that so
unds like mild flanging.
To prevent this problem, follow the 3-to-1 rule: The miking distance should be l
ess than 1/3 the distance between mics. For example, if two mics are 12 inches a
part, they should be less than four inches from their sound sources to prevent p
hase cancellations.
Bruce Bartlett is a mic engineer, audio journalist, and recording engineer. Bruc
e can be reached through Professional Sound at mail@nor.com