10
piano at a distance of one foot to several feet, depending on taste. A more direct up front
sound will be achieved when the microphone is placed closer to the soundboard.
For capturing a piano in stereo, place the microphones apart, one over the bass strings
and the other over the high strings. The farther the mics are from each other, the wider the
stereo spread. For a more direct stereo effect, the microphones may be placed in an “X”
pattern a couple of feet from the center of the soundboard.
It is often worthwhile to remove the piano lid and suspend the microphone(s) above the
soundboard for the most natural sound. When mics are placed inside a piano with a raised
lid, the sound reflecting off the lid may be undesirable.
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should be miked from a distance of a foot or more. The smooth,
undistorted low-end response is very useful for electric guitars.
Since guitar amplifier speakers are often beamy, experiment with mic placement to find
just the right spot. Placing the mic at greater distances from the speaker cabinet adds more
room ambience to the mix. You will find that a ribbon microphone does not add
undesirable elements to the sound. Basically, what you hear is what you get.
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can be picked up very well with two microphones. Place the
microphones at a distance of ten feet from the floor, and a few feet behind the conductor.
The microphones should be spaced apart approximately one foot and angled, one toward
the left and one toward the right.
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instruments sound very natural when microphones are placed at
a distance of several feet. For a drum set, placing the microphone(s) at a distance of four
to six feet above the kit works very well without the cymbals sounding “splashy.” The
SF-1 is not recommended for use as a kick drum mic.
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Classic Blumlein technique
For many years, several “coincident” microphone setups have been widely used for
picking up sounds in stereo as naturally as possible.
The “Blumlein” technique, named for A.D. Blumlein of England, involves the use of two
figure-eight microphones positioned as in the sketch (
see Figure 1
); so that one faces left
and the other, right, at an angle of 90º (i.e. each displaced 45º from center).
Each microphone ultimately feeds one speaker in a stereo system, and due to the
directionality of the microphones, the result is a very well defined stereo effect on
playback. For classical music, particularly, the reproduction can be very satisfying.
