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Blog No. 30 Posted by Larry Seiler, 03/08/12
Like many recording engineers I tend to reach for a specific microphone when recording a particular instrument or voice. In the industry, they call these your "go-to" microphones. I will more often than not pick a certain microphone when recording vocals, acoustic guitar, or other instruments. Although you should test several mikes to determine which sounds best in a given situation, quite often we skip this step in order to save time, something the client is paying for.
Well, over the last several months, I have had the opportunity to test the same microphones on acoustic guitar three times. Granted these were not "scientific" tests, but the kind you would normally do in preparation for a recording session. In each case, we set up the same three microphones. With the microphones placed as close together as possible and aimed toward the 12th fret, we recorded several minutes of guitar playing, recording each microphone on a separate track. Each time I would spend several minutes adjusting the level to get them to be as close to one another as possible. (This is important, because people tend to pick a louder signal as sounding better.) In each case, the acoustic guitar was different. We had a Taylor guitar, a Gibson guitar, and, unforutnately, I can't remember what the third one was. (I wasn't thinking in terms of writing a blog about it at the time.)
Every time we used the same three microphones: a large-diaphragm condenser (LDC), a small-diaphragm condenser (SDC), and a ribbon microphone. The microphone manufacturers were Neumann, Røde, and Stellar respectively. I am not going to mention the model numbers as that could lead to being quoted all over the Internet as a definitive test. (Just so you know, the MSRP of these microphones varies from approximately $200 to $3500.)
Keep in mind that the purpose of such tests is for the client to decide what sounds best to him or her. It doesn't really matter which one I like best or what someone else might like. It is the client who is paying for the recording session, and satisfying the client is our main goal here. After each recording test, the client would come into the control room and carefully listen to each track.
So which microphone was chosen? In the first test, the LDC was picked. (It was my personal favorite, although I frequently use the SDC for a variety of reasons I won't go into here.) In the second test, the SDC was chosen. For the final test, the ribbon microphone won out. (The client really raved about how he loved the sound of that ribbon mic.)
Why the difference? Well, since there were three different brands of guitars, that may have made the difference. But I really don't think so. In my opionion, I think it is just a matter of personal taste. Each person had a sound in their head that they liked and that is what they chose. As they say, there is no accounting for taste. But in the end, it's what each individual is striving for—to get the sound he or she likes.
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Larry@LosSenderosStudio.com
Comments
Nice article. I wonder if the type of guitar made a difference? That would be interesting to note since it is likely the frequency responses would have been different for each instrument.
—John W., March 8, 2012
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