Room micing techniques

[David Amos]

Hey guys,

I am about to start recording an album for a friend of mine at a nice studio
in Austin. He is a singer/songwriter and is looking for a nice "live" sound
on his album. At a demo session earlier this week I tried using an AKG 414
as a room mic about 4 feet from where the talent was seated. This gave an
interesting "roomy" sound, but because his music is so quiet, it wasn't
enough to achieve a really nice live sound. Does anyone have any
suggestions for micing the room on a solo acoustic act? Keep in mind I'm
trying to avoice using digital reverb.

Thanks a lot,
Dave




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[Neil Henderson]

>I am about to start recording an album for a friend of mine at a nice studio
>in Austin. He is a singer/songwriter and is looking for a nice "live" sound
>on his album. At a demo session earlier this week I tried using an AKG 414
>as a room mic about 4 feet from where the talent was seated. This gave an
>interesting "roomy" sound, but because his music is so quiet, it wasn't
>enough to achieve a really nice live sound.
Well, if you're going for something closer to a live kind of sound, then try
forgetting about the room mic when you record him, but after you're done
tracking, run the tracks through a small PA setup in the live room, and re-mic
that, go to track with it, then mix in whatever proportion to the original
tracks sounds good to you.

If by "live" you meant something else, like maybe simply something more than
close-micing alone, then have you tried other variations of what you've already
done? For example, you said you stuck the mic about 4' away... did you move it
around other than that? Further away in a cardioid pattern? Closer in, set ot
omni? Same distance but closer to the floor (if it's wood) or wall to enhance
the reflections? Tried two of those mics in stereo?

If you've got a halfway decent room, you should be able to get something useful
out of the 414's or nearly any other mic of that level of quality. Sometimes
you just have to move the mic(s) around until you find the "sweet spot".

NeilH

[Nick H]

>Does anyone have any suggestions for micing the room on a solo
acoustic act?

Well, the first thing is to find a good spot for the mic.
Lots of folks will walk around with a finger in one ear, listening to
the players to find the sweet spot. For solo acoustic, you can often
get away with putting a nearfield on the stool, and save a bit of
player fatigue.
Polar pattern on the mic is another thing to pay attention to,
especially if the mic is closer to a wall or other surface than it is
to your source material. You may also want to check for comb filtering
& phase issues with closer mic, if you're using them.
Cheers,
Nick

[David Amos]

I guess what I was really asking was if anyone had done anything like this
and how they went about it (stereo room mics, how far away were they placed,
were they high above ground or low to the ground, etc.) But thanks for the
input and I'll definitely try some other things out.

One other question though, for anyone. I'm working in a studio in which the
main cutting room has two glass panels in it. One is between the control
room and the cutting room and the other is at the exact opposite end of the
room inbetween the cutting room and a drum tracking room. Any helpful tips
on how to work with the glass or if there are interesting ways to make use
of it before I go and start playing around with it?

Thanks,
Dave

"Neil Henderson" > wrote in message
...
> >I am about to start recording an album for a friend of mine at a nice
studio
> >in Austin. He is a singer/songwriter and is looking for a nice "live"
sound
> >on his album. At a demo session earlier this week I tried using an AKG
414
> >as a room mic about 4 feet from where the talent was seated. This gave
an
> >interesting "roomy" sound, but because his music is so quiet, it wasn't
> >enough to achieve a really nice live sound.
> Well, if you're going for something closer to a live kind of sound, then
try
> forgetting about the room mic when you record him, but after you're done
> tracking, run the tracks through a small PA setup in the live room, and
re-mic
> that, go to track with it, then mix in whatever proportion to the original
> tracks sounds good to you.
>
> If by "live" you meant something else, like maybe simply something more
than
> close-micing alone, then have you tried other variations of what you've
already
> done? For example, you said you stuck the mic about 4' away... did you
move it
> around other than that? Further away in a cardioid pattern? Closer in, set
ot
> omni? Same distance but closer to the floor (if it's wood) or wall to
enhance
> the reflections? Tried two of those mics in stereo?
>
> If you've got a halfway decent room, you should be able to get something
useful
> out of the 414's or nearly any other mic of that level of quality.
Sometimes
> you just have to move the mic(s) around until you find the "sweet spot".
>
> NeilH
>




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[xy]

if the live room sounds great, and they have a killer set of
flat-response speakers hanging around. you could record him close
mixed with nice gear.

then send the live recording out into the live room loud and capture a
more profound room-echo.

they do this all the time with guitar amps. it's called "re-amping".
someone higher up the food-chain than myself could comment on the
potential effectiveness of what i'm speculating about above.

[Peter Larsen]

David Amos wrote:

> Hey guys,

> I am about to start recording an album for a friend of mine at
> a nice studio in Austin. He is a singer/songwriter and is
> looking for a nice "live" sound on his album. At a demo session
> earlier this week I tried using an AKG 414 as a room mic about
> 4 feet from where the talent was seated. This gave an
> interesting "roomy" sound, but because his music is so quiet,
> it wasn't enough to achieve a really nice live sound.

Just what do you mean with a "live sound"? - it could be that a studio
is not the right place to record in ... unless it offers more room
volume than you can afford. If your problem is that the first wall and
ceiling reflections arrive too early then a larger room is needed. If it
is that there are not enough of them, then a more live room is needed.

Anyway: _a_ room mic is _a_nathema, you need a room pair. One setup that
does in my opinion work well to give an (unnatural) sound that I like is
to have a close and a less close stereo pair. With a singing guitar
player you could end up at also having a close up on vox and a close up
on guitar, but if all else fails: simplify by reducing the number of
microphones.

> Does anyone have any suggestions for micing the room on
> a solo acoustic act? Keep in mind I'm trying to avoice
> using digital reverb.

OK. Nothing wrong with digital reverb properly applied, but if you want
to do it real-like here is another option: find an analog tape recorder
- or a digital delay line - and play the signal from either the
recording mic setup or a dedicated mic setup back via decent quality
loudspeakers with "a suitable delay" and at a "suitable level".

Setting it up is not complex, just adjust until it sounds right in the
room, it can provide a very credible enlargement of the perceived room.
Tried it - mostly for fun - on a piano recording experiment that was
also mostly for fun and thus well suited to alternative approaches.

> Dave


Kind regards

Peter Larsen

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[David Amos]

Thanks for any help, i know i was kind of vague, but I guess I'll just keep
experimenting until I find the sound I'm looking for. I normally use a very
nice lexicon reverb system, but I wanted to fool around with the natural
acoustics of the room.

Anyways, thanks for your time and insight and if I get the sound I'm looking
for, I'll post what I did just for kicks.

-Dave




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