Audio Tuts has a great overview on different types of microphone placement for recording an instrument. The article covers close miking, distant miking, and ambient miking. Conversation continues on to what mics work best for these placements and how to combine several of these positions to get a fuller sound. Here is brief excerpt on close miking
Listen to the string accompaniment of Eleanor Rigby by The Beatles. Geoff Emerick said that he got the tight sound quality of the quartet by close miking every instrument, which was very unusual at the time. (Ref: Behind the Glass, Massey, Howard.)
I’m assuming most string sections were typically recorded using a mixture of distant and ambient miking. Which reminds me of a story Jimmy Page tells in It Might Get Loud about recording the drums for When the Levee Breaks. The story is summarized here:
Bonham’s drum performance was recorded by engineer Andy Johns, who placed Bonham and a brand new drumkit at the bottom of a stairwell at Headley Grange. The drums were recorded using two Beyerdynamic M160 microphones at the top of the stairs, giving the distinctive resonant yet slightly muffled sound. In the Rolling Stones’ mobile studio, Johns compressed the drum sound through two channels and added echo via Jimmy Page’s Binson echo unit. The opening drum break has long been a popular Hip Hop and dance music sample.
{ 1 comment }
