Microphones! - Posted on 2014-06-04 by Felipe Grisi

Hello people!

This week is all about microphones! And I do like this subject by the way.

So, for todays post, I would like to write about what microphones I use and in which situations I like tu use them.

First of all, my primary microphone is an Akg D40. It's a condenser microphone, with cardioid polar pattern. I use it mainly for instruments and I always record my guitars with it. Some people use it for drums (snare and toms), although I've never used it in this situation. It's a very nice microphone, very well constructed and I've been using it for 4 years now. The reason I picked this microphone was to have an alternative from the omnipresent SM57. I just wanted to be a little different from 70% of the people that uses the 57. I believe it's a good way to create and identity and I'm really happy with it and I wouldn't exchange it with an SM57! Below is the link to the microphone website:

http://www.akg.com/D40-831.html?pid=942

Another microphone that I use a lot is the Akg 420. It's a condenser microphone and, although it's used mainly for vocal, it has a lot of applications. I even use it to record sound effects. I already recorded weapon sounds with it, placing it behind the head of he shooter to simulate his hearing. Although it's not the "top of the line" from Akg, it sounds really good with good budget as well. It has a lot of polar pattern options: cardioid, figure 8 or omni directional. It also has a high pass filter, which cuts some of the low frequencies. This is a very helpful feature in many situations. You can check the microphone in the link below:

http://www.akg.com/P420-1039.html?pid=1032

Finally, I also use a Rode NTG-1 microphone. I have never used this mic in any musical consideration. I use it mostly for sound effects. It's a shotgun condenser microphone with an hypercardioid polar pattern. This means that it can ignore most of the sound that it's not in its range. That makes it very useful also for voice overs, and I do use it in this kind of situation. It sounds REALLY clear and if you want to record any sound with little details, I would definitely go to a NTG-1. It's a very light microphone and easy to carry. I totally recommend this one for sound effects. As for the musical application, I've never tried it, but I believe they would be nice as an over for drums or maybe an acoustic guitar. Check the link below:

http://www.rodemic.com/microphones/ntg-1

I think that's all for today! My plans are to post at least two mixings still this week!

Thanks for reading!