I  have been recording a tune as a present for someone, with a wonderful musician who plays just about every folk instrument possible brilliantly.  Its been a learning curve.  I'll blog more about this after Xmas lest the surprise is ruined.

I have been working hard on a jingle in Logic.  Instrumentation is almost finished. Automation has been done for dynamics.  I am now trying to sort out the score.  I have taken it back to Sibelius which has worked fairly well for some instruments.  But it does't work for Ultrabeat.  Sibelius doesn't seem to know what it is and  plays it as a piano line.  I guess the answer might be just to copy and paste into a new drum set line. I will try to find out tomorrow.

Condenser microphones need phantom power.  It needs to go on first while all settings are down.  Why? Because it could cause a power surge if you turn it on later and damage equipment.  Health and safety issue.  Remember this!

Booked a protools session just to check I can use it.  Studio assessment coming up.  Its fairly similar to Logic so gaining experience on that has been useful.

We recorded vocals and keyboard  today using cardoid condenser mic for each singer along with a pop screen.  The mic was set without a reduction and at felt response.  We also recorded keyboards through a built in DI on the amp. 

We didn't actually record the bass but if we had, we would have added an AKG dynamic mike pointed at the amp speaker as well.

We also tried adding reverb and compression.

I will be recording a song - vocals keyboard and bass guitar - in the Studio on Monday.  So what type of mics should be used and where should they be positioned?

Vocals
Its important to think about whether you are recording a choir, ensemble or a solo singer.  

Other things that might be relevant is how the person is used to working. For example it might be difficult for a singer who is used to singing in a rock band to perform the same way if isolated. 

If recording a group of singers or a choir, and omnidirectional mic might be a good choice with the singers making a circle round the mic. 

But otherwise a cardoid mic in front of the singer could be used.  It should be pointed between the nose and mouth for a balanced recording.  It may be necessary to think about the room.  An omnidirectional condenser mic will pick up room reverb etc.  This might be a good or bad thing depending what effect you want.  The distance between the singer and the mic will change the balance of room sounds versus the singer. 

A dynamic microphone could also be used, e.g. the Schure SM58.  

If the mic is picking up pops and other noises from the singer it might be possible to reduce this by changing the angle of the mic or by using a pop screen.

Piano


Endless possibilities.  It obviously depends on whether the piano is upright or a grand/baby grand.   


If a grand  piano, then you can position the miss above the strings with the lid open.  You can achieve different sounds depending where you put them. If you position them more towards the treble strings you get a brighter sound.  Similarly if you are recording an upright you should open the lid and place microphones above the piano.  They can also be pointed at the front of the piano.

Condenser or dynamic mics can be used.

Bass Guitar.

Bass guitar can be recorded either through DI (direct inject) or through a miked amp  or a combination of both. 

If using DI method you also need to route through a DI box so there isn't an impedance mismatch.  If recording an amp then  you can get distortion.  Valve amps are generally better for bass. 

There are other challenges.  Compression is usually used when recording bass - there is such a big different between the open E string and something played right up the neck on the G string.  Also players may use techniques like slapping.  

Choice of mic for recording bass as always depends on budget and the effect you want.  If on a budget a dynamic mic close to the to an amp would be a good choice e.g. Schure SM57.  But a large diaphragm condenser would be good too.

i'll blog again after Monday to capture what we actually did.

Midi recording in Logic.  Great features.  The punching and step input facilities are great.  Recording with the cycle mode lets you build up complicated patterns.  This combined with ultrabeat allows you to do things like build up drum patterns. The power of the software is amazing. What did we do before all this became available?

Just got round to watching this video about recurring drums with just one mic.  It is called the Tchad Blake method and is very useful if you are in a hurry or can't afford loads of mics.

I have been trying out Logic's Ultrabeat. Its very cool.  You can choose a drum kit and set all the beats.  There are an amazing number of controls (some of the most important ones aren't very obvious - including the power switch.)  Definitely one to work through with a Ultrabeat tutorial.   TINY buttons along the bottom. 

You  should treat the drum kit as  separate components.  It might be best to use dynamic microphones over condensor microphones given the low frequencies and high pressure of drums.  Although condensor room microphones might be good if you want to try them. If using a condenser microphone it should be capable of recording at least 130 dbl apparently , so you need to check.

Drums should be in tune etc.  Some people advise placing high hats higher then normal so they are not picked up the other kit microphones but drummers might not like this. 

Kick drum
Need a microphone that is good at picking up low frequencies.  The mic should be place in the drum (really?) about 6 inches from the beater - or just inside the hole for a lightly different sound.

Snare drum.

This is the loudest sound and keeps the beat of the drum set and is usually miked from the top at the edge - with a cardoid microphone. It has little sustain.

High hat - the highest frequency.  Often the room mic will be sufficient.  If they are to be miced separately then keep it away from the puff of air that comes out when the high hat closes. Just above is fine.

Toms toms are tuned between snare and the kick drum and have a bit more sustain than the  snare.  You could use an individual directional dynamic? mic for each drum or maybe one between and above them.  It might depend how many toms what types of mic you have.

Cymbals For cymbals , which are high frequency use a  mic which is gooding at picking this up might be a flat frequency response condenser microphone.