Recording - June 2010 - 34

miking is often a choice for small acoustic ensembles, like jazz groups. Once again, if other players are also live in the room, you will either have to accept that a significant degree of leakage will result, or isolate the piano, either with baffles or in a separate booth (often done when clean tracks are required). The last positioning option is far-field, or distance placement. The mics are placed at least a few feet back, to capture more of the sound of the piano in the room. Obviously the room now becomes a critical aspect of the recording, especially for recordings made in live venues like recital/concert halls. This approach is most commonly taken for classical music recordings. Mixing mic pairs from different positions, recorded on separate stereo tracks, is also commonly done, to allow the apparent perspective of the piano to be adjusted later on in the mix. If the piano to be recorded is an upright, mics can be placed at the back of the piano, or sometimes under the keyboard—depending on the type of upright, this is where you would gain access to the strings and sound board. If that’s not possible, removing the top lid may give access to the inside of the instrument. And of course, more distant mic placements will always serve as well.

overdubs—that defeats the purpose of recording the live section in the first place, as that tight ensemble playing can make the whole arrangement sizzle when it’s done well! When miking wind instruments like flute and sax, you’re concerned with sound emanating from three main places: the mouthpiece, the body of the instrument (the holes), and the end (the “bell”). The main thing you get from the mouthpiece area is breath noise. This is not always something you want to emphasize, but sometimes it is an important part of the playing style—think of a breathy flute or alto sax. The bulk of the instrument’s most well-balanced tone probably comes from the body, while a very focused sound wave (that sometimes noticeably favors certain notes) emanates from the bell. Taking sax as an example, a single mic might be positioned (as with acoustic guitar) about a foot or so away, pointing at the body somewhere between bell and mouthpiece. Closer to the mouthpiece will favor a breathy tone, closer the bottom will favor the bell’s more “honky” tonality. At closer distances, you should be careful that some notes don’t jump out too much, and that you’re not picking up too much of the clicking sound of the pads as the player fingers notes—a little is natural, too much can be distracting. Also, watch out for a player who moves around a lot (or sways) as he plays—to avoid noticeable tonal shifts, you may have to pull back on the mics a bit. If more than one mic is used, they can be placed to blend in different aspects of the sound (e.g. breath vs. bell “honk”), or one can be used more for ambience.

Winds can be miked with one or two mics to blend body and bell sounds, while brasses are miked at the bell. In all piano recording situations, any serious session should be preceded by a professional setup (or at least a quick check) of the instrument by a good piano tuner, to remedy any bad notes, buzzes, clunks, or other issues that might otherwise mar a great recording. Interestingly, the piano isn’t the only keyboard we can capture with a mic. Check out Devon Brent’s article in this month’s Keyboard Column on electric keys and how you can use miking and other techniques to add character and vibe to an instrument you normally just cable up to your mixer! Come blow your horn Winds and brass—trumpet, trombone, sax, and sometimes flute— all have their place in many musical styles. One of the more common recording scenarios is having a brass section come in to lay down some tasty horn licks, so let’s finish up with a few brief comments on miking up the horn section. Different mic types can be used for winds and brass, depending on the situation and the instrument. For more delicate instruments, like say, flute, a condenser is a good choice. For edgier sounds, like sax or trumpet, condensers are also great, but so are ribbon mics, which can warm up the sound nicely. Even dynamics can be pressed into service, though that would more likely be in a live situation than a studio recording. If a section is to be recorded together (e.g. tenor sax, bari sax, trumpet), each instrument can be miked separately (even though they’ll probably be in the same room together and isolation will be minimal), or they can be taken with a stereo pair. If the section is tight and their self-balance is just right, the stereo option might be a good choice. If a little more control in balancing the section after the fact may be needed, then individual mics would be called for— even though you won’t have real isolation, you’ll still be able to make minor adjustments to the balance. Unless you have to, don’t separate the section pieces in iso booths, or take them separately as
34
RECORDING JUNE 2010

Brass instruments like trumpet or trombone are different, as most of the sound comes from the bell. These instruments are very directional— a mic positioned directly in front will capture a bright, focused tone, but too close will result in too much “glare”. SPLs are very high right at the bell, so pick a mic that can handle it. A couple of feet (or more) back will provide a smoother sound, and the mic can be moved a bit off-axis if the sound is still too bright and hard (unless that ultra-crisp brass “sheen” is what you’re going for). Here’s where a ribbon is many people’s go-to mic, offering more warmth than a typical condenser. When it comes to positioning players in the room, some studios maintain a “live” area that offers more reflective surfaces (like wood) for instruments like brass. Using (or creating) such an are,a and letting the mics pick up a good proportion of the ambience, will result not only in a better recorded sound, but likely a better performance as well, since the room supports the players’ tone as they perform. Highly recommended. The end zone Well, that’s all the room we’ve got. The real work starts now—training your ears to become intimately familiar with all the subtle nuances that result from applying various miking techniques and strategies, and being able to dial up just the sound you want in any given situation. So, pull out those mics and start hitting the red button! Joe Albano (albano@recordingmag.com) is a musician/engineer/ producer/audio consultant in NYC—he can be reached through his production company’s website at RPMRecording.com. Photos by Bruce Kaphan (vocal mic cluster on page 29), Darwin Grosse (acoustic guitar photos on page 30), Michael Schulze (electric guitar amp photos, page 30, bass photo, page 32, and brass/wind photos above), and Nathan Rosenberg (piano photos, page 32).

http://www.RPMRecording.com

Recording - June 2010

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - June 2010