Tag Archives: microphones

Tips For Tracking Pianos & Keyboards: Part 2 of 2

In Part 1, we explored aspects of recording white key noise, mic placement and stereo considerations when recording pianos and keys. You can read that article in the August 2012 print issue.

Concert Stage vs. Studio

You might be lucky enough to have a friend with a nice piano in their living room, but the downside is that there are usually less-than-stellar acoustics and unwanted background noise problems when recording in a house. Studios with big rooms and expensive pianos can be, well… expensive. If you are creative and do your homework, you can probably find a church, music school or small concert hall in your area with a well-cared-for piano that you can use off-hours for cheap. We have a local Performing Arts Center nearby with a stunning Steinway grand available for use, so check around, you might be surprised. So pack up your laptop, interface and mics and capture the piano in its natural environment without the problems a live audience can cause.

Piano Tuning

No one will care about all the trouble you took to position the mics if D#3 and F4 are out of tune on the final recording. Our studio piano goes out of tune so often that we’ve learned to tune it ourselves (it takes about an hour to do a touch up tuning). But there are plenty of local piano tuners in the $100 range – just look them up on the interwebs, it’s money well spent. Continue reading →

Record Killer Lead Vocals

Tips for Producers and Engineers: Part 2 of 2

The lead vocal – it’s arguably the most important track in most songs. It’s carrying the melody and message and overall tone of the song and it’s what most listeners lock onto over anything else. Try asking someone how they like a particular song and chances are their comments will be about some aspect of the lead vocals. So how do you record a great vocal part? Here are some tips we have found over the years that help the vocalist perform at their best. To read Part 1, check out our June issue.

Mic Technique: A good vocalist will know how to use the mic to maximize their performance – moving in closer for softer, breathy parts and backing up and turning slightly when they want to belt something out. We almost always use a pop filter to help eliminate plosives (say the word “pastrami” into your hand and you’ll feel what I mean). The pop filter is a good visual reference for singers and you can give them a little primer on moving in and out; but mark my words, if the singer is not already a pro at using mic distance, they will completely forget to do it during their performance, anyway. Continue reading →

Record Killer Lead Vocals

Tips for Producers and Engineers: Part 1 of 2

The lead vocal – it’s arguably the most important track in most songs. It’s carrying the melody and message and overall tone of the song and it’s what most listeners lock onto over anything else. Try asking someone why they like a particular song and chances are their comments will be about some aspect of the lead vocals. So how do you record a great vocal part? Here are some tips we have found over the years that help the vocalist perform at their best.

Capture the best performance: First, it’s easy to forget (even for some vocalists) that a singer’s voice is their instrument. Try to schedule your vocal takes when the singer is at their peak. That means not scheduling a session right after a long weekend of gigs or even after a long day of work. Most vocalists have a time of day that they perform best. Have the vocalist warm up first. Some vocalists have a set routine; others don’t even know what you’re talking about when you ask about warm-ups. For the latter, a couple softer than usual warm up takes can help get them ready. Have plenty of room temperature water on hand in the booth for the talent and remind them frequently to keep their pipes hydrated. Continue reading →

Record Better Drum Tracks: Part 2 of 2

photo by Johnny Arguedas

After microphone selections have been made and sent into the control room, it’s time to start thinking about getting the sound into DAW – but first you’ll need to choose what the signal will pass through (mic pres, EQs, compressors, etc).

MIC PREAMPS

Getting sound into the control room will require going through the mic panel. It’s usually best to lay the mic panel out the same as it will arrive at the DAW inputs. This will help cut down on confusion. DAW stereo inputs are always odd and even, so when it comes to the overhead and the room mics, it’s best to plug them into the mic panel the same way, odd then even, even if you have to skip one input to get to this format. Once the sound has passed down the mic lines and made its way into the studio, it’s time to figure out a mic preamp. With drums it’s usually best to choose a mic pre with a built-in EQ or at least pass through an EQ before it gets to the DAW. That way it’s possible to due a little subtractive EQ to get some of the junk out of the sound that is not needed for each independent drum.

Looking at preamps, here are some choices that will return solid sound. API will have that rock edge that will return nice results. Neve mic pres are always nice, the older the better, as long as they are good condition and there isn’t a lot of noise in them. Some of the others to look for are Vintech copies of the Neves, SSL, Chameleon, and Amek 9098s.

EQ AND COMPRESSION

Now that the preamps have been chosen, it’s time to figure out if an EQ will be necessary. When it comes to EQing, if something is taken away from the sound with through equalization, there will be no getting it back. So be careful not to paint yourself into a corner when it comes to mix time. The same goes for compressors, if it gets over compressed on the way to the DAW. In many cases, compressors will help add a little punch to the sound and can be used to control the dynamics of the recording.

When choosing a compressor for drums, it’s usually best to stay away from tube compressors due to their inherently slow attack. This will usually not benefit the fast transients of drums, but it can work for the room mics or even the overheads. The DBX 160a is a relatively cheap option that will work well for drums. It’s important to test them out, so when the time comes it will be easy to find what fits the sound that you’re after. When compressing the rooms it will return some interesting results to really crush them. This will give a pumping to the rooms along with pulling up the tone of the room.

If the drums are being cut in a nice live room, that’s always a plus. With the overhead microphones, I prefer to keep them as clean as possible and do any EQ or compressing in the mix stage rather than on the way into DAW. It will provide more options in the long run. With all of the other drums, if compression is used, then using it lightly will assure that the dynamics of each drum are not killed.

TRACKING TIPS

If the typical EQ spots are not known, it will usually be best to set the bandwidth to an average setting – not wide and certainly not a notch setting. Then turn that band up a bit and sweep its range to find where the “junk” is. Then subtract that from the sound, but not by too much so as to not over-EQ any drum’s natural frequencies.

There are certain places on the drums where adding a little EQ can help the good things stand out. Such as 2 kHz on snare (the crack of the snare), or 60Hz/100Hz on the kick along with click of the beater – this frequency will vary depending on the type of music that is being recorded. It’s always good to become with familiar with these EQ points so they can be reached quickly and easily. Taking a look at the attack, release, and the ratio of the compressor. To get a little more punch, it’s best to set the attack slower to preserve the transient of the drums and set the release a little quicker with a ratio in the middle. If the desired sound is a little smoother, then do the opposite; set the attack a little quicker and the release a little slower. This will smooth out some of the transients of the drums.

USING YOUR DAW

Once inside the DAW, it will help to have everything laid out as simply as possible. It’s always best to shoot for the cleanest sound during tracking so that things run smoothly in the computer, but if for some reason something was overlooked or the sound is not where you wanted it to be, remember that in today’s world of audio there are plug-ins such as Sound Replacer, Drumagog, TL Drum Rehab, and more that will allow the individual drums to be replaced. If the timing slips here and there and you are working in Pro Tools, knowing your way around Beat Detective can really help to get things back in line. These are by no means better choices than a good drummer, but they can help in a pinch.

Dustin Lefholz is a professional audio engineer. He has certification with a variety of consoles and DAW systems including SSL, Neve, Amek, Trident and Pro Tools. Lefholz has over 170 album credits to his name, including tracking, mixing and mastering.

Record Better Drum Tracks (Part 1 of 2)

Drums are one of the trickier instruments to record due to the fact that multiple microphones will be used on a single source. Bleed has the potential to creep in, so reducing it to the best of your ability will be important in getting a good drum sound. With track counts no longer being an issue in the digital realm, direct miking each drum has become one of the best ways to capture drums. This will make the drum session seem daunting, but when each drum is broken down to an individual track it will be more manageable at mix time.

If possible, setting up the drums the night before the session will benefit the efficiency of the session’s start time. This will leave more time to hone in sounds, get the musicians set and make tweaks. Most of the time, having drummers show up 30 minutes earlier than the rest of the band on the day of the session will ensure that there is plenty of time to focus on each drum’s timbre, tuning and finding any sound problems before tracking the reset of the band.

Kick

I like to start at the kick drum and work my way through the kit so the tracks end up in my DAW in an organized fashion. Kick drum heads come in two types: with a sound hole and without. The head that doesn’t have a hole can always be removed and a tunnel can be created with a packing blanket, which will allow access for close miking near the beater that would otherwise be impossible. When using this miking technique, there will be a lot of mic choices, so finding and using one that is suited to the session will be your first decision. Look for a mic that is made specifically for the low frequency range. The next thing to consider will be if a “kick out” mic is going to be used. This would be one that is placed near the outside head of the kick drum to capture more of the boom of the kick and less of the click.

Snare

The snare also has some choices when it comes to miking – will it be a top only mic or top and bottom system during tracking? This mic selection is an extremely important decision and will be the point where you decide to use a dynamic or condenser microphone. An inexpensive and easy answer is to use a Shure SM57. When placing the mic, it will be key to find a spot that doesn’t allow a ton of hi-hat bleed through. The hi-hat is in close proximity to snare drum; if your snare mic is not placed properly, there can be a lot bleed that can’t be removed when it comes time to mix.

Hi-Hats

The hi-hat is usually mixed down due to the amount of bleed that is present from the snare and overhead cymbals, but capturing it is always important. Using a condenser microphone can help capture some of the sizzle.

Toms

When it comes tom miking, usually a top and bottom mic will help reproduce the most natural and full sound. The bottoms will be a little smeared in the bottom end, so EQing the unwanted boom of the bottom mics will help get a nice, tight sound. The top mics will capture some bleed of the cymbals. Try to find a place that uses the mic’s natural cancellation to help get a clean sound while capturing the tom’s natural, resonant tones.

Overheads

There are more choices when it comes to mic placement for overheads. The technique and placement for optimal sound capture is something that has long been debated. This includes where and how to place the mics and if they should be used in conjunction with a ride mic, etc. Many times it’s best if the overhead mics are placed equidistant from each other, and a stereo bar can help make sure that a proper angle is reached with the microphones themselves. This ensures that you’ll capture the whole kit with overheads. When considering mic selection, small diaphragm condensers can give great results. Ribbon microphones can be a great choice as well, if they are available. But phantom power will kill most ribbon mics, so be extremely careful not to send phantom power to them if they are used.

The Room

If the drums are being recorded in a studio, usually recording the room’s natural ambience will help complete the overall tone of the drums, while also capturing the natural characteristics of the recording location. Stereo miking techniques will be best here. So take some time to get familiarized with the different mic options available and stereo miking techniques to ensure the best choice for the room, feel and desired sound.

Sweet Spot

Crucially important, especially with drums, is the finding of the ever-elusive “sweet spot,” including the individual drum mics and room mics. This is a precise technique and usually requires an assistant to help place and move the mic while you monitor the sound and hone in on the best positioning to capture the natural sound of the drum, cymbal, percussive element and room.

Drums can consume a good number of your session’s tracks. A solid understanding of mic techniques and differences will be necessary to ensure they are captured with precision and that the backbone of the rhythm track is strong. Part Two will go inside the control room and look at the some of the common recording techniques and mixing techniques when it comes to recording drums.

Extend the Life of Your Gear

A little bit of knowledge about care, use and preventive maintenance can extend the life and maximize the performance of the gear you already own. Shure’s Bill Ostry shares tips that will preserve your equipment and your budget.

Wired Microphones

1. Keep windscreens on vocal mics clean and unclogged – clogged windscreens can reduce the performance of a microphone. Double check screens especially after female vocalists who wear lipstick.

2. Double check that all contacts are clean – tarnished pins on an XLR connector can reduce conductivity and impair performance.

3. Use quality microphone cables – cheap cables tend to have bad solder connections and shields that don’t hold up after repeated coiling and can become very noisy.

4. Keep handheld microphones free of tape residue. Often times it is required to use gaffers tape on a microphone for one reason or another. Once the tape is removed some residue may remain and can contribute to the handling noise of the microphone.

5. Do not tape over, cup or cover the windscreen or vents of the microphone. The directional (acoustical) characteristics of the microphone will become compromised and can lead to poor sound quality and/or feedback rejection.

6. Microphone selection and placement can make all of the difference. For example: a microphone designed for a vocal application is likely to have a presence peak and would not be ideal for a bass drum or guitar cabinet.

Wireless Microphones

1. Gain set-up is crucial for the proper operation of the wireless transmitter. Handheld transmitters can be overdriven by a vocal presenter if the gain is set too high and under-driven if the gain is set too low. Both situations can lead to poor end results.

2. Batteries: Use fresh batteries with a full charge for each event. Using rechargeable batteries is a great way to save money and landfills as long as you or someone on your staff is able to effectively manage them. Remove batteries from transmitters after each performance. This will keep you from using half-dead batteries the next time you need them and will also prevent an accidental leak from damaging your transmitter if stored for an extended period of time.

3. Make sure that you have chosen a clean frequency in which to operate your wireless system. You can use the frequency calculator on Shure’s website to help determine which TV channels to avoid. If you still have questions, Shure’s tech support group is glad to help.

4. Antenna placement and set-up is important. Try to keep antennas as close to transmitters with line of sight as is possible. Antennas can also be frequency band specific – don’t try to use an antenna from another system without double-checking the frequencies first. Make sure all connections are solid. For antennas, double-check the center pin on the BNC connectors to make sure it isn’t bent or broken. If you need to remotely locate an antenna, be sure to use the correct cable – not all coax cable is the same. Cable used for television will not perform the same as cable designed for use with antennas.

5. Many times a body pack transmitter can get wet from a performer (sweat). It is important to try and clean off the body pack and dry before storing. Using a hairdryer (set to low or no heat) is a great way to speed up the process. Storing BPs with silica gel desiccant packets also works well.

Monitors/Earphones

1. Make sure that you have a good coupling between earphone and ear canal. The foam sleeves provided with your earphones are designed to expand in the ear canal and seal off the outside world. When a good seal is provided the earphone couples to the ear canal and they act as one, providing maximum bass response as well as optimal clarity.

2. When using earphones for monitoring, use both earphones. Performers that pull one earphone out during performance break the isolation and protection in that ear from the stage volume that using both earphones provides. Often the performer will end up turning the volume up to potentially unsafe levels in order to compete with stage volume. Both ears should be isolated throughout the performance and ambience can be added in via condenser mics strategically placed on stage and fed only into the performer’s mix.

3. Earwax is something that nobody wants to talk about, but we all have it and eventually it can clog up your earphones. Keep your equipment clean using the tools provided upon purchase.

4. When using Shure earphones, if you prefer to use the yellow foam sleeves, be sure to check them regularly as they can harden over time and can become uncomfortable. Regularly replacing your old sleeves with new ones not only increases the comfort level, but also helps ensure a good coupling between earphone and ear canal.

5. Check the cable assembly on earphones regularly. Should a cable become frayed or compromised, this can lead to harsh artifacts or no sound at all.

Headphones

1. Use the carrying pouch that came with your headphones when transporting them, and be sure to detach the cable when you fold and store them.

2. Replace ear pads that are worn, not as comfortable or provide less sound isolation.

3. If the signal is breaking up or you are hearing distortion, your volume level may be too loud. Prolonged high volume levels that create distortion could damage the headphone drivers. If you experience distortion at a lower volume, check your signal chain to determine the source of the problem.

Bill Ostry joined Shure in 2010 and has been professionally involved in the audio industry for over a decade. For more gear tips, head to shurenotes.com.