Lesson 5&6 - Posted on 2015-01-15 by Holly Markson

I learned about the different categories of microphones and polar patterns as well.  It's amazing to see how awful or wonderful the sound you record is depending on what the sound is and what mic you are using.  Sebastian also covered miking techniques in Chapter 6 and we did a test in the studio.  He had me record myself holding 3 different microphones all 2 inches from my face and speaking into them at different angles and when available, different polar patterns.  We used a shure m57 dynamic,  an Audix D6 dynamic, a Ribbon mic and a U87 condenser mic.  The sounds were very different from one another!  Although when the u87 was used in omni directional pattern it was virtually the same from all angles we recorded at.  The audix D6 was not the best for voice recordings and the ribbon gave the warmest and clearest recordings of all.  The Shure m57 was a very nice sound as well!

Sebastian also covered some different miking techniques and he played an acoustic guitar in front of an X-Y stereo pair of 2 matching cardioid mics and then a Mid-Side technique with one cardioid and one bi-directional mic.  Both recordings sounded great but the mid-side gave a lot more reflections from the room while at the same time having a direct sound from the guitar.  It had many layers to the sound and I really liked that!