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The following are qualities that should be found in all studio setups, no matter what type of session or situation.
GENERAL SETUP
Microphones and mic stands should be positioned in such a way that the desired miking is achieved while keeping the stands as out-of-the-way as possible. Microphone and other cables should be run in an orderly manner, as they will be much easier to trace (should you need to check something), as well as safer (making it much less likely that someone will trip over them). Neat cables are much easier to roll up and put away afterword, and they give the session an organized, professional appearance.
Cables should never be stretched through the air to reach a wall panel or stand. Instead, an extension cable should be added, when necessary, to extend the cable down to the floor at the mic or cue box stand and then across the floor to the wall panel. This practice decreases the chances of someone tripping over the cable and possibly toppling the stand.
An important rule to remember is that mic cables may cross AC power or cue lines PERPENDICULARLY, but they should not be allowed to run PARALLEL to them. If this rule is not observed, the result may be either hum in a mic line from a nearby AC cord, or crosstalk from the cue mix in the mic line due to an adjacent cue line. For some sessions, -such as a jingle date which starts out with rhythm track recording followed closely by string, horn, and vocal over dubbing, the way in which the studio is initially set up can make a big difference in how quickly the session moves from activity to activity later.
If the rhythm section is set up in such a way that the other over dubs can be at least partially set up for before the session starts, the session can be made to go faster and smoother, as there will be less stopping to set up in such a way that the other over dubs can be at least partially set up for before the session starts, the session can be made to go faster and smoother, as there will be less stopping to set up later. This will help keep things on schedule and keep the client happy, -and isn’t keeping the client happy a good part of what this business is all about?
A little thought and planning before and during your session set up is all that is needed to properly plan your mic stand placement, along with your mic, cue, and AC line routing. The result of good planning will be a safe, convenient and functional set up, - and a smoother running session. As is the case for control room setup, much important information relating to the studio setup needed for a particular session can be found on its P/D sheet and the "Session Information Form" attached to it.
GENERAL MIC USE AND CARE
Microphones are inherently highly susceptible to damage
through physical shock,as their pickup elements have to be quite delicate in order to respond to very low sound pressures. This delicateness makes them very vulnerable to physical damage. As a matter of fact, the ribbons in some microphones can be damaged by merely moving the mic through the air rapidly. The most common cause of physical damage to microphones, however, is a sudden shock, such as being dropped. Not only are the ribbons and diaphragms in many mics very light and fragile, but the fine wiring incorporated in many dynamic and ribbon mics can be easily broken by a jarring impact.
The electronics in condenser microphones can be damaged in
a similar fashion. Dirt and moisture can degrade the performance of a microphone in several ways. In extreme cases, dust and dirt can accumulate on the grille of a mic to clog it and actually prevent sound from reaching the diaphragm. Even before this condition is reached, small amount of dirt can enter a microphone and adhere to the diaphragm. This extra mass on the diaphragm will prevent it from responding as well to sound vibrations as it once did.
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ELECTRIC GUITAR/AMP SETUP
When Recording a guitar, begin by planning to put the player where they will be most comfortable. If they want to be in the same room as the other musicians and the engineer wants some degree of Isolation, ie. the guitar amp recorded in a separate room, direct boxes can be used to extend the range/length of 1/4 inch guitar cables. This way the musician can be placed in the control room or cutting room.
If the amp is open ended in the back, like on many combo amps, place the amplifier against a wall. For micing a Guitar in stereo Use two cardioid mic's, such as Sure sm 57's and place them about an inch away from the speaker at the outer edges of the same cone. Group these two mics together on your console and put them to the same track Use a condenser or ribbon microphone on the other cone. place the mic at relatively the same distance away and slightly off center. This mic will become the other track.
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The magnets in dynamic and ribbon mics will often attract the small iron and steel particles that are sometimes loose in the studio environment. In condenser mics, dirt and moisture can cause a short circuit between the diaphragm and its back plate, resulting in reduced or noisy output. Moisture alone can have this effect on condenser mics, only to evaporate later, allowing the mic to return to normal again.
MIC DIRECTIONAL USE AND PATTERNS
Another way in which microphones can differ is in the direction of their sound pickup. Some microphones are equally sensitive to sound arriving from all directions, and are therefore said to be “omni-directional.” Other types of mics are more sensitive to sound coming from some directions than others, and have “ cardioid” or “figure 8” pickup patterns.
An engineer would choose a microphone with an omni directional pickup pattern for a number of different recording applications. A situation in which a number of background vocalists were being overdubbed at once would usually call for an omni mic, since it is usually convenient to have the singers arrange themselves all around the microphone.
An omni mic might be desirable when the engineer intends to pick up a lot of reflected room sound along with the direct sound, such as when recording hand claps or overdubbing a solo French horn. An omni directional microphone would not be desirable in an application where it is necessary to separate the pickup of a particular instrument from nearby louder sounds, such as when an acoustic guitar is being recorded in the same room as drums and bass. In this type of situation, it would be better to choose a microphone with a directional characteristic, such as a “cardioid“ pickup pattern.
Microphones with cardioid pickup patterns are the most sensitive to sound pickup from the front, a bit less sensitive to sound from the sides, and the least sensitive to sound coming from the rear. If you were to draw a graph of this type of pickup pattern, it would appear to be somewhat heart-shaped, which is why it is called “cardioid,” which is a term that means “ heart-shaped” (it is derived from the same root as “cardiac”).
Because they are most efficient in picking up sound from one direction (the front), cardioid mics are often called “unidirectional” microphones. They are also sometimes called “pressure gradient” mics, since their operation since their operation depends on the difference in sound pressure between the two surfaces of thee microphone diaphragm. The sound reaching a cardioid mic from the sides or rear reaches both the front and back of the diaphragm.
The sound at the back of the diaphragm is OUT OF PHASE to the pickup of sound from the front. Cancellation of sound thus occurs, and the degree of cancellation depends on the direction from which the sound came relative to the microphone. The case and diaphragm of a cardioid mic have been designed in such a way that sound coming from the rear is able to reach the back of the diaphragm the most efficiently, and rear-incident sound is therefore canceled the most.
Sound waves reaching the mic from the sides are attenuated in varying degrees, as some of the side-incident sound is able to enter the rear of the microphone to cause cancellation at the diaphragm and the extent to which this occurs depends on the angle from which the sound came. It is in this way that a cardioid mic produces its pickup characteristic of reduced sensitivity to the sides and minimum sensitivity to the rear.
Cardioid pattern microphones are very useful for the separate pickup of many sound sources in the same studio, but cardioid mics are not without their own inherent disadvantages. Due to their pressure-gradient principle of operation, many directional mics are subject to a problem known as the “Proximity effect.” This is the sometimes-undesirable rise in low frequency response that occurs when unidirectional mics are used very close to a sound source.
The “figure-8” microphone pickup pattern looks like, as the name implies, the number “8” (although it is usually an 8 that has been turned on its side). When it is diagrammed in three dimensions, the pattern would look like two spheres joined together at a point. Microphones with figure 8 pickup patterns are the most sensitive to sound coming from the front or back. They are sometimes called “bi-directional” microphones.
A common way in which a figure 8 pattern is obtained by placing two cardioid microphone elements back to back and adding their outputs together OUT-OF-PHASE. Where the side pickup patterns of the two cardioids overlap, cancellation will occur, making only the front and back of such a double-cardioid combination sensitive to sound pickup. This is how a figure-8 pattern is produced in man microphones, but other figure-8 mics attain this pattern by other means.
Microphones with figure-8 characteristics have pickup patterns that are generally quite even with respect to frequency-such a mic would not be more or less directional at some frequencies than it is at others. The sides of a figure-8 mic are very, very “dead” with respect to the pickup of sound. Figure-8 mics are useful in situations in which greatly reduced sensitivity to sounds to the sides of the microphone is more important than low sensitivity to the rear. Bi-directional mics are, however, subject to the “Proximity Effect” in the same way that cardioid microphones are.
It should be noted that the microphone pickup pattern called “hyper-cardioid” is in actuality closely related to the figure-8 pattern. The hyper-cardioid pattern is really just a sort of lopsided figure-8 in which one of the sides of the “8” is of less sensitivity than the other. The result is a cardioid pickup pattern with less sensitivity to the sides (in the way that a true figure-8 has low side sound pickup) at the expense of GREATER sound sensitivity to the rear than a conventional cardioid.
While the hyper-cardioid pattern is sometimes presented as a sort of “super-cardioid,” its use can, under some conditions, result in LESS selectivity in sound pickup, since the hyper-cardioid picks up more sound from the rear than a regular unidirectional mic would. This should be kept in mind when choosing a mic pattern. The hyper-cardioid pattern is available in the AKG C-414 as well as other multi-pattern microphones.
RULES FOR CARE AND HANDLING
In light of the types of damage and degradation to which microphones are liable, the following guidelines for the care and handling of microphones have been formulated. The key phrase in the prevention of physical damage to microphones is CARE IN HANDLING. When setting up and tearing down sessions, one should observe these rules:
1. DON'T carry more mics than is safely practical.
2. When moving large numbers of microphones from studio to mic closet, or studio to studio, use the foam-lined baskets made for this purpose.
3. Make certain that mics are securely attached to stands, and that
cables are securely attached to microphones. (When placing a mic on a stand, the cable should be attached to the mic BEFORE the mic is attached to the stand. In this way, the mic will still be attached to the stand via the cable should the mic's quick disconnect fitting accidentally detach itself from the stand.)
4. Whenever possible, try to place mics and mic stands where people will not bump into them. Try to place mic cables where they will be the least likely to be tripped over.
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