assignment1.pdf
TRANSCRIPT
How to: Recording Acoustic Instruments
Hello Friends, my name is Matias Recharte, I'm from Peru currently living in Toronto, Canada. I'm drummerand percussionist and I'm very interested in recording acoustic instruments in a home studio with aprofessional sound, that is why I have chosen this topic.
Step 1: choosing a microphone
The fist thing to do when recording an acoustic instrument is choosing a microphone. There are two majorcategories of microphones as we have seen in the tutorials: condenser and dynamic microphones. Whenrecording an acoustic instrument I see two possible approaches.
A. Natural sound
To capture the natural sound as precisely as possible, implies capturing most of the frequencies that makeup the timbre of the particular instrument. Secondly, the performance of an acoustic instrument oftenmakes use of a very wide range of dynamics for expressive purposes. To accomplish this, a condensermicrophone would be the way to go. This type of microphone captures a wider range of dynamics and hasa broader frequency response which means it will better capture the particular timbre of the instrument andthe different tones and dynamics that make the performance unique. The next thing to consider is thesound of the room, which is an important part of the natural sound. How we choose a microphone willmean more or less of the sound of the room (that is the sound of the instrument bouncing of the walls)
Most condenser microphones allow one to change certain parameters such a polar patterns and frequencyresponse. These choices will affect how we capture the sound. A larger polar pattern will capture more ofthe sound of the room but in an enbsemble situation the sound of the other instruments could bleed into oursignal. A smaller polar pattern will focus more on the sound coming from the instruments and prevent othersounds to come into the microphone but it will lessen the amount of room sound. Larger frequencyresponses will capture more of the subtelties of timbre but you might want to controll some of thefrequencies coming out of the instrument if they are too prominent.
Condenser microphones have larger polar patterns
Dynamic microphones have smaller polar patterns
B. Artificial Sound
If you want to obtain an unusual sound out of an acoustic instrument, one that does not fully resemble thenatural sound but that sounds artifficial. For this kind of approach I would suggest experimenting with
dynamic microphones maybe more than one per instrument in different positions. Dynamic microphoneshave smaller frequency response and dynamic ranges. This would alow you to capture only one part of thefrequency and dynamic range that an acoustic instrument produces. This might be a particularly goodapproach for percussion instruments since they tend to have lots of overtones.
2. Placing the microphones
Placing them is as important as choosing them. Different placements will bring about very differentssounds. The most important thing to do when placing a microphone is to listen to the sound, move aroundthe instrument while it is sounding a try to find the place where you feel it sounds best. The most obviousplacement for a microphone is in front of what seems to be the source of the sound like the hole on theguitar or the back hole on a cajon or the bell of a horn. Sometimes thought, it is not the best place to put amicrophone. With acoustic guitars for example, the hole functions more as a bass booster. That's why youmight want to move your ear around the instrument and find alternative positions, taking into considerationthe type of microphone you have chosen and the type of sound you want to record.
LINKS
Here are some links that might help you with more detailed instructions for different types of acousticinstruments:
Percussion:
http://www.drummagazine.com/pluggedin/post/coveringallanglesstudiomikingpercussion/P2/
Acoustic Guitar:
http://www.cakewalk.com/Support/kb/reader.aspx/200701331
Violin:
http://wiki.vpa.mtu.edu/wiki/index.php/Violin_miking_techniques
Piano:
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/may99/articles/recpiano.htm
Drumset:
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/1997_articles/dec97/drumiking1.html
Thank you for taking the time to read my assignment, I would very much appreciate any feedback that youmight give me on it. I really enjoyed researching and reading about this subject and I'm excited to try out allthis different possibilities and experiment, I'm sure you are too!