lesson 4 - Posted on 2013-03-26 by Matthew Lutchman

this week i met with joey twice, although i did not get to sit in on a session.  when i showed up at crystal clear on friday i thought we were going to go over lesson 4 which is all about microphones (types, placement etc.)  however, joey decided that instead of going through the workbook, he would have a demonstration where we would actually look at all the mircrophones he had in the studio.  we went one by one, i would get to hold and look at the mic, and then we would discuss aspects of it (active/passive, dynamic/condenser, sensitivity, polar pattern, what he likes to use each specific one for etc.) he then told me to go back and re-read lesson 4 and we would go over it on sunday.  i am really glad he decided to go about the lesson this way.  upon re-reading the lesson it made much more sense.  as opposed to the first time, where i was just trying to remember the different types, patterns, and such, when i was re-reading i was able to mentally picture the mics that i held and looked at, making the points the book was expressing much clearer.  on sunday, going over the lesson was a breeze.  again, we would move around and go into different rooms to illustrate certain points such as proximity effect.  the last question of my homework was to make a list of studio guidelines that i had learned from the lesson and joey remarked that it had been a while since a student had gone as in-depth as i had when making this list.  after i told him all the points i had come up with, he had one or two more to add to it.  i think making this part of the homework was a great idea.  i will now have a resource to go back and look at to help me with mic techniques in the future.