Sound Recording - the WellMixed.com Blog

The blog has not been well-tended recently, but now it will be even less so, as the WellMixedStore.com takes over the NavBar link on the main website.

However, this means the beginning of a new era, where the microphones that you want to listen to are available at WellMixedStore.com

News about all thing related to home recording will be more constantly posted on a little microblogging platform that you may have heard about called Twitter. Be sure to Follow @WellMixed there.

A technology that began as a DJ’s ideal solution for the digital age has ended in an out of court patent law settlement.

Digital Vinyl Systems are made by companies like Numark (and several other companies), and rely on modern technology to emulate the old.

[Via Create Digital Music]

The controversy over these digital vinyl systems developed when patent-holder N2IT filed a civil action complaint against provider M-Audio and its remarkably similar Torq technology. In its pursuit of monopolizing on its technology, some speculate that N2IT will also file suit against Serato.

The fallout from this legal settlement is sure to mean the demise of some popular digital vinyl systems that were found to be in violation of N2IT’s patent as well as higher prices for DJ’s who rely on digital vinyl technologies for their livelihood.

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Electronic musician Brian Green - http://www.myspace.com/seeyouinsleep - has superglued 2 iPod touches onto a guitar to create this interesting instrument. It seems to put a lot of sound possibilities right at the player’s fingertips.

Green writes:

The ipod closest to the guitar pick ups is running Itouch Midi’s Matrix app which I’m using to send midi to Ableton Live on my Macbook via wifi.

And the itouch near the bottom is running Bloom designed by Brian Eno and Peter Chilvers, Bloom is a generative music application.

He shakes the instrument to clear the current patch from Bloom.

Typically we try to focus on recording-only subjects here. But I am more interested in this instrument than I have been about any guitar in a while. It just goes to show that small shop luthiers can produce more innovative instruments than any Gibson or Fender.

The quality of sound on this YouTube video is not great. Maybe Woody will let me record him….

A couple posts ago, there was talk that placing 2 mics on an amplifier can produce exciting nü tones. Wait… what if we can only afford 1 mic, Mr Money Bags?!

Alright, time to hit the essentials last. Better late than never, though…

So pictured below is a diagram of a speaker from a guitar cabinet. Usually you only have one speaker … don’t try to mic an entire Marshal 4×12 cabinet with one SM57. It just don’t rock… Choose just one speaker (as pictured here).

Mostly what we want is a small, single speaker boutique amplifier… it sounds better than Direct Injection any day.

The cone of the speaker is exaggerated, but you get the idea. It produces the most high end, and therefore the tone is “crisp” near it. If you listen back to your recording, and it seems like the guitar tone is a little muddy try moving the mic nearer the cone, away from the speaker’s edge. The further off center the microphone is, the more mellow the sound will become.

Now how far away from the speaker should the mic be? I’d say about 4 inches.

Also, you will notice that I have placed my SM57 at an angle. I’ve found that this adds a touch of high end air to the sound.

The 57 handles guitar quite nicely. Electric guitar is almost always recorded with a dynamic, cardiod mic. What do those words mean? We haven’t had posts just yet on them… so here are the Wikipedia entries, because we know that you are going there any way!

Dynamic Microphones

Cardioid Polar Pattern

Namely, two different mics…

Multiple mics are not just for drums. Guitar players should also get to have twice (or more) the fun.

If you are recording an amplified bass instrument, a more common approach is to record one track with a mic’d amp and one with a Direct Injection box, then mix those together. However, you can try this 2 mic technique on any groovy sounding amplifier.

Having two mics on your amp’s sweet spot gives a mix engineer more tonal variation to choose from on a final mix. It also adds a spatial effect when the two mics are panned apart.

Click “more” for some mic suggestions…

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Artists are outsiders. It’s not just a burden to bear, it’s a job.

What do you want to be when you grow up?

Answering “be a musician” is usually met with the same “best-of-luck-to-you” patronization reserved for the kid who is clearly too skinny and nerdy to be the star quarterback. Luckily, skinny nerds still try out for the team. Sometimes they make it. Sometimes they play. Sometime they win. And those are the times when everyone watching wants to jump up and on the table top and cheer…

Table-jumping cheering is the feeling people want when they play a new track on their stereo, and rebellion is one thing sure to elicit such a response. Think of the music that grabs you. It fights against the man, the winners, the status quo. Like a skinny nerd quarterback, it’s like nothing you’ve experienced before.

My point is this: When recording sound, don’t follow the pack. Rebel!

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Before I get too many posts deep into this blog, I need to tackle a question that I know a lot of beginning recordists might have: “I only have money for one mic. What should I get?”

For me, there are only a couple of options around the $100 price point.

1.) an SM-57 by shure

or

2.) a large diaphragm condenser mic.

The SM-57 has a nice frequency response (pictured left). It adds loudness in the higher frequencies where you may want a little added clarity, like vocals. It also takes extremely high sound pressure levels. This means that snare drum rimshots that might make you cross-eyed won’t distort it. The 57 growls warmly on electric guitar. As far as durability goes, if they made cars like this, I’d still be driving a 1978 Volvo 244 GLE. My second choice for first time mic buyers is not quite as durable as this, but may suite a particular need better.

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Go ahead! Crank it up!

Oh wait… what’s that crackly hiss?

It’s the monster… behind the wall … well, from the grid really. Electricity can be DIRTY and noisy. Here are a few easy tips to help eliminate electrical noise.

1. Unplug IT. When Recording with a Laptop, unplug it from the wall and use only battery power. This isolates your equipment from anything else on the circuit that may be polluting the lines. It’s a very easy way to prevent grounding problems in your home from creating noise on your recordings. This works really well if you have a bus powered (USB or Firewire) system. You should notice an obvious reduction in electrical noise. (more…)

Almost every project I work on these days has at least one electric guitar track. Often, the first question I am asked regarding the recording is: should I record with direct injection (DI) or mic up my amp? I almost always argue for mic’ing. Here’s why….

First Factor: Cost

If you don’t already have a DI box or a microphone then you are better off getting a mic for a little more than the cost of a DI. You will be able to use it to record other instruments aside from guitar later, but for now you can pick one that really compliments your guitar and amplifier.

Also, you will not get the return on your investment in other situations with the DI box, which will likely only be used for recording. If you play with a P.A. the sound engineer will almost always want to mic your amp, even if it is small. If you ask nicely, he will use your mic which will often make you sound even better.

Of course, most bands already have a mic in their arsenal: the singer’s mic. If you are strapped for cash, don’t buy, borrow. These mics should have a good frequency range (around 50-15,000 Hz) suitable for guitar and can usually handle the high sound pressure levels that your amp puts out just fine. Sometimes you won’t be putting out a lot of sound pressure, which brings me to the next point.

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