Microphone Placement And Gain Staging Fundamentals
Microphone Placement And Gain Staging
So we talked quite a bit about different aspects of gear however none of that matters if you can’t capture the sound you are looking for. Gear can help your production, but it can also hurt it as well if not used right. I would highly suggest” The Recording Engineer’s Handbook“ if you are just starting out with microphone placement
The Fundamentals
It all starts with two fundamental things microphone placement and gain staging. It does not matter if you have a $10,000 or $100 microphone. .
If the microphone is not placed right to capture the desired sound you might as well stop before you start, as you will get less than a desired results. Furthermore if the sound you capture is distorted or to quiet it does no good as well.
How to find the right microphone placement?
Before you start any type of production you should have a general idea of what type of tone you are looking for. By doing this you have something to aim for in your ears mind. Kind of like an archer trying to hit a target he/she needs to be able to see the target before he can try to hit it. In this case you should be able to create a sonic target to aim for in your head.
Experiment by sweeping the microphone over the sound source
Try to place your microphone close to the sound source then listen.
What do you hear?
Are you close to your target or far away?
Remember what that microphone sounds like at that placement, good or bad. From there start to sweep the microphone to the left and right only moving an inch or two at a time.
Listen closely is it getting closer or further from your sonic target? If not try to move the other direction just an inch or two at a time.
Once you are close also try to move the microphone away from the sound source is getting better or worse?
Once you find your ideal microphone location lock down your microphone stand so the microphone will stay in place. If you are going to try using two microphones do the same with the second microphone until you find the desired location.
Other microphone placement considerations
Does your microphone have a pad, roll off, or multiple polar pattern options? If so you may need to experiment with these to get the best possible tone. For example lets say you like the tone you are getting from your microphone placement but it is to bass heavy and to loud. if you have a pad you can activate it to reduce the volume and with a roll off you can roll off the low end resulting in the sonic target you are looking for.
Gain Staging
What is gain staging, and how will it affect your music production? “Gain staging is the process of setting appropriate volumes at all stages of your signal chain”.
This will start with your microphone then pre amps followed into your audio interface and into your digital audio workstation.
Where do you check your gain staging?
Normally you have a few places to check first is your microphone. As we learned in a previous post that a microphone can only handle so much SPL ( Sound pressure level), and at a certain loudness the microphone will distort. Normally this is not ideal. Back off the microphone if it is clipping or distortion also check the following
Pre Amp / Audio Interface.
Make sure that it is not clipping. At the loudest part aim for 50-70% of max volume if possible. By cranking the volume you will induce extra noise that normally is not desired.
Music Production Software
The next step will be your music production software or digital audio workstation. Once again check to make sure nothing is clipping and aim to stay at 75% of max gain at most. You want to leave room to mix and adjust volumes without clipping.
If everything is set at a moderate level and you are still clipping back off the microphone a little bit a time. It may also be useful to engage the pad or roll off of the microphone has one. Once you do this double check your gain at all of your gain stages to ensure there is no more clipping.
Other things to think about
Anything else you plug into your signal chain will have its own gain staging that needs to be adjusted. For example if you have a compressor in your signal chain you will have to adjust its gain accordingly.
If the sound source is super loud you may have to ask that it is turned down in the case of a guitar players amp to achieve your ideal gain.
With time this all will come second nature, but starting out take things slow and make sure you are doing things correctly.
Category: Blog, Mixing Basics