Recording - June 2010 - 2

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Our eyes and ears It’s a term often used to denote people who witness and record events for us, events that we can’t or won’t attend ourselves—people like court reporters, war correspondents, spies... In the recording studio and on the musical stage, our “eyes and ears” are our tools of the trade: cameras and microphones. They let us record what we see and hear, and yet—cameras and microphones are a far cry from the real thing, from those precious organs in our heads that we take for granted (but shouldn’t, he says, wagging a schoolmarmish finger...). In this issue we concentrate on mics and miking. Our Paul Stamler gets it right when he says “No microphone hears the way ears do”, in his splendid account of what goes into microphones to make them work (starting on page 16). Looking at the illustration of the mechanisms of a condenser mic from the 1916 original patent papers, you could be excused for thinking that this is a fairly complex device. Then you compare that to the wall poster at your audiologist’s office where you (should...) get your hearing tested every now and then, and the mic’s complexity pales by comparison. One of the things mics can’t do that we do almost constantly is selective focusing by filtering. Long ago I learned that lesson the hard way, when I agreed to do an interview for this magazine in the interviewee’s favorite coffee shop. We had a splendid talk, amiable, quiet, focused—and when I got home to transcribe the tape I could hardly hear our conversation! I heard more other people talking, punctuated by the hissing from the espresso machine and the roaring of the street traffic every time someone opened the door... I had no recollection of having to make an effort to focus, to filter out those other noises, they hadn’t bothered me at all while we talked. We all know, however, that—to a limited degree—microphones can be made to focus, by virtue of polar patterns and mic placement. That’s how—in the extreme— you can hear the snap count from the middle of an NFL stadium, or the conversation between golfer and caddy, picked up from afar by shotgun and parabolic mics to the exclusion of any noises even from immediate surroundings. Less extreme and—to the average recording musician—more useful applications of this knowledge come with the miking of amps, instruments, vocalists, and various groupings thereof. Starting on page 28, our Joe Albano addresses such techniques for acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass guitar, acoustic bass, piano, brasses, and woodwinds—and vocals, too. Next month, when drums, beats, and percussion will take center stage, Joe will also address drum miking. Brian Tarquin reports on miking techniques for guitar amps, and Devon Brent, the ever-intrepid keyboard wizard, suggests miking keyboards in ways you may not have thought of. Today’s recording musician can choose from among more mics on the market than ever before, with new models coming from all fronts. We’re bringing you reviews of several new mics from manufacturers whose names may be new to you. Check them out—you just may find some that will make a good fit for your working habits. I mentioned cameras—a necessity for many to promote their music in this age of YouTube. While reporting on video technology is not our beat, and we therefore make no claims at expertise in the matter, I can say that I had been less than happy with the audio quality coming from several small video-capturing devices I had used over time. Recently I took a Zoom Q3, a pocket-sized video camera, to a l-o-u-d live gig and was happier with the recorded audio than with the video! It turns out that Zoom knows where the device’s forte lies—the Q3 was designed so that it can be switched to record audio only, and it does that very well. My write-up is on page 38. Entertainment lawyer Todd Gascon and his client and cohort in this project, Bruce Kaphan, are back with their series on legalities of importance to the recording musician. There are issues that come up when you assist on someone else’s project, when you call in someone to add their talent to your project, when excerpts and samples are incorporated in projects—and these issues must be known and they must be addressed, better sooner than later. Ultimately it all translates into peace of mind and into money—and who doesn’t need more of both? Happy Recording!

Thomas Hawley Brent Heintz

EDITORIAL

EDITOR: Lorenz Rychner ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Mike Metlay WEB EDITOR: Justin Peacock MÚSICO PRO EDITOR: Fernando Curiel
CONTRIBUTORS

Scott Dorsey, Paul J. Stamler, Paul Vnuk Jr., Joe Albano, Brian Tarquin, Devon Brent, Todd Gascon, Bruce Kaphan, Nick Casares, Marty Peters
TAXI METER

EDITOR: Kenny Kerner
ART

PRODUCTION

ART DIRECTOR: Scott Simmonds PRODUCTION MANAGER: Colin Courtney PHOTOGRAPHY: Brent Heintz
PLAYBACK PLATINUM SERIES

EDITOR/PRODUCER: Lorenz Rychner
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CIRCULATION MANAGER: Tiffany Sepe
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DIRECTOR: Brent Heintz CLASSIFIEDS MANAGER: Stephanie King
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ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE: Stephanie King
EXECUTIVE OFFICERS

PRESIDENT: Thomas Hawley VICE PRESIDENT: Brent Heintz
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RECORDING JUNE 2010

Recording - June 2010

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