The Criminally Underrated Role of Mic Position
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- Опубліковано 3 жов 2024
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Today we talk about a somewhat under represented topic in the audio community....just how much mic POSITION can change your sound. This applies to everything you could think of, voiceover, guitar, piano, you name it :)
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Favorite Microphones:
NT1 - amzn.to/2NUoBJK
SM57 - amzn.to/2P1pUXC
Electro Voice RE20 CLASSIC - amzn.to/2UFdyaM
SM7B - amzn.to/3lL4REV
Lewitt 440 Pure - amzn.to/3imNwRh
Austrian Audio OC818 - amzn.to/3CCO0MK
My Audio Interface:
Scarlett 18i20 2nd Gen- amzn.to/2P4SXtl
My Monitors:
KRK Rokit 5a - amzn.to/3grczSW
My Headphones -
Audio Technica M30x - amzn.to/3feOfE6
Status Audio CB-1s - amzn.to/3IfcOeX
Hifiman Sundara - amzn.to/3JvDkm1
My Guitar Amps -
Fender Deluxe Reverb Tonemaster (Blonde) - amzn.to/3w9ZuGk
Boss Katana MKII-50 - amzn.to/3dNj40c
Fender Bassman - amzn.to/3hbT4y4
My Synths and Controllers:
Launchpad Pro Mk. 3 - amzn.to/3rl502V
Arturia MicroBrute - amzn.to/31eFSQL
Korg MS 20 Mini - amzn.to/3JjjeLm
Arturia Microfreak - amzn.to/3u1RYLa
Arturia Drumbrute Impact - amzn.to/3i8nL7F
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Mic position seems to be a lost art within the UA-cam music guru community.
Most seem to give out the basics. Y'know. The mic on the 14th fret kind of tips. And they are great starting points.
But man is it important to experiment. That was my number one thing I noticed immediately when going to a proper studio with a proper engineer.
They experiment! Sure they are more efficient in their methods because they often know the instruments due to them recording it earlier in their career.
So thank you for bringing mic positioning to mind. Experimenting with the position has made my music and VO recording miles better!
Such words of wisdom! Thank you for saying this :)
Mic position completely changed my opinion of the sm7b. I used to think it sounded like a bucket of mud. Then I learned about mic position!
Haha nice! It can definitely vary a lot with position!
Great presentation. I do soundscape field recording. The distance and position can create a totally different sound and audio experience. Love your content!
Thanks as always Rod! Always love to read your comments :)
Love this concept and your demonstration, especially on the guitar cab. Mic position is super impactful, and a wrong mic placement can ruin the tone of any microphone. Very noticeable on a sung vocal.
One question I still have - are condensers technically "more sensitive to background noise" than dynamics? It's true that they're typically much brighter/faster - so high-pitched, detailed, ambient sounds like clothes moving are more noticeable. But would a big eq high-shelf on a dark dynamic bring out the same noise? Polar pattern could play into it too, I guess condensers are usually more wide in their pattern than dynamics (esp. "broadcast" dynamics). Is this what we mean when we say that condensers are "more sensitive to background noise" than dynamics? Is it just a generality based on polar pattern and frequency response norms? Or do condensers pick up sound at further distances?
Wow that got long and wordy. Anyway, love watching the videos, keep it up!
I'm back. Could we go over room modes in a future episode? For example, 700-850hz potentially being direct reflection from my computer monitor or desk. Maybe a bit on how sound travels through rooms and how to find where to place absorbers and diffusers. I'm sure it'd help others, not just me.
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Oooh thats a good one! I have a friend with a music studio too maybe we could analyze what a proper treated room is like compared to a not so treated one
Yes I need it too, it would be great ❤️
Who needs a Leslie speaker, when you have a friend to move a mic around your cab?
Can I rent that guy who was moving the mic? He is gonna be hella useful
Hahahaha I'm sure any friend has the proper skillset :)
@@AudioHaze You would be surprised.....
Again, a great topic, rarely talked about anywhere. Thank you!
Yea, i noticed that sometimes drastic change in tonal quality myself. For the longest time, i was like: Lets use the closest talking distance, that I can get away with, because I was that partial to misuse the proximity effect and also get the best signal to (ambience) noise ratio possible. But lately i thought about finding away to get rid of as much of the proximity effect as possible. Here, I was lucky that my particular microphone of choice (the Shure Beta 58A) comes with a freqency response graph, that shows the different behaviors dependent on the distance to the microphone. So i did some EQ based on the frequency response graph, to make the microphone of a 2 inch signal flat. Impressively enough, the outcome was not only a signal, that was closer to the microphone at a distance of 4-6 inches, it also got rid of quite a bit of the bassier frequencys of the ambience noise, effectively making said ambience noise *quieter*.
While i ended up using a de-Esser - something that I never did before - I was able to get a much cleaner sound out of my microphone. Again, this is while still using the microphone as close as 2 inches, which gives me a ridiculously good signal to ambience noise ratio of up to 58dB RMS / 63dB Peak, even with moderate talking volumes. Even at worst, with traffic outside at the rush hour, its like 53dB RMS / 59dBFS. But thats just talking distances, of course. Having my microphone coming in from above sounds drastically different, warmer, because the mid tones are much more tame, especially with the Anti-Proximity-EQ, that I did initially, before attenuating the mid tones. Too bad, this is unusable for me, being a streamer with all the unwanted noise initially coming from down below. I actualy prefer the Beta 58A coming in with a slight angle downwards, when it comes to sound, because that does things, that I don't seem to be able to replicate with EQ. For how long, remains to be seen for now, since i'm a noobie, when it comes to EQ.
Great advice here! Sounds like the right combination of good mic technique and a nice processing chain :)
You're one of the best audio channels I've come upon. Thanks.
I’m honored thank you so much!
2:52 "my sun went behind the clouds"
Could you fix that with a cloudlifter?
EYYYY congrats you win best pun of the week lol
The Austrian Audio mic is the one suiting you best so far. Loved all these tests by the way
Absolutely informative. Thank you my G. Nice sundaras ✌️
Thanks dude!! And yeah, they're pretty sweet cans :)
You're making me start to question whether I really should've copped some expensive IEMs
I was a bit confused what you meant by the mic sounding brighter in the center. To me when it was in the center, regardless of the distance, it sounded kinda muffled or more concentrated in a certain frequency.
7:54 is this a subtle reference to the song Julian Krause uses in almost all of his videos? hehe.
Question! So can you record vocals at the same time as you record acoustic guitar?
Nicely explained! Thank you.
Thank you Rainer! :) and thanks again for your donation!
@@AudioHaze You're dearly welcome.
I'm learning microphone positioning with streaming along with how the proximity effect can change my voice completely!
Absolutely! Such a powerful tool
Amazing video, mic positioning is extremely important yet not so many people talk about this topic
Absolutely!
I’m high but i came looking for help and it’s like manual reverb I think? I thunk?
cmon, get the youtube algorithm to capture this awesome channel, click like and make a comment
Thank you so much this is so kind 😭
I want booth junkie
Mom: we have booth junkie at home
:
I’m sorry, i thought it would be funny. But i love your content, you do all sorts of really cool stuff. Also i like how you package everything in a way i haven’t seen before, you explain things so well i feel like i can be braindead and still get it.
Hahaha thanks dude, no worries ya boy can take a roast :) we got the discord milestone coming up soon!!
Danke!
✋Here! Sadie Alexa Knight officially checking in for today's session. 😆
Welcome Sadie! :)
Hello! I have been considering of buying a microphone for my so called "home studio" , and i am yet to come to have a conclusion. So i though't it to be for the best to ask for the opinion of a professional.
My intensions with the microphone is to record mostly vocals, acoustic guitar + other acoustic instruments such as harmonicas, i could possibly record electric guitar with a michrophone next to the amp when i get a proper amp, but right now and mostly for the near future i'll be recording my electric guitar strait to my computer through the Focusrite Scarlett 4i4 3rd Gen audio interface.
My room is not very acoustically treated right now, but will most likely be treated at some point. The price range would be generally from around 120-300€ (126-317$) with having some flexibility to a certain limit.
Apologies for the long comment, and hats of to your great content.
Greetings from a 14-yo bloke from Finland.
Hey dude! I personally would go for a Lewitt 440 :) if you want a darker mic, the King Bee II is another great option! Lewitt = Brighter tone, King Bee = Darker tone, or split the difference and get a Rode nT1, but its not great at room rejection
@@AudioHaze Thank you for the reply! :D I'm going to have to take a look at those.
Man your channel is like the best discovery I made on YT lately! You explain things very well and demonstrate them in a way that's easy to visualize! Also you have a nice taste for music, which really makes things better for me!
Wow thank you so much! Dang that means a lot I’m honored :)
@@AudioHaze I'm still a beginner when it comes to audio and I don't really consider improving in that sense a focus for myself. However I do want to improve on my own YT channel (it is in Portuguese, though, so I won't even ask you to check it out) and on my own attempts at making music, so this channel has been helping a lot!
I've been looking for a second mic to explore a different tonality from my AKG P220, so I've been binge-watching the videos about microphones (the budget tier list has opened my eyes to why so many people talk about the MXL 990, it just might be my pick). I always have to go a little bit below the typical budget, but at the same time it gives me enough time to know really well my current setup (which is perhaps what it's all about in the end). So keep up the good work, dude!
Watching from France, your channel is brilliant ! hope you the best :)
Thanks so much dude! Really appreciate the kind words :)
Yooo I'm here to learn. I wanna maximize my own mic. Let's go!
Hell yeah!
Great vid. Was wondering how to position sm58 for the darker sound? Just straight? Thanks
Hey Andrii! On voice? Guitar? Guitar is really going to be about getting a nice, off axis response :)
@@AudioHaze yep, on voice. I already eq-ed it to sound like sm7b and its great, and I'm thinking what positioning would fit most to produce this broadcast sound :)