rob aylestone
Moderator
I never use a standard HPF filter, I use EQ and adjust till it sounds right. I never follow rules - you know, it's a bass, slap on a compressor, it's a girl singer, small condenser = breathy sound so roll the top off. Another thing I never do is use a mic off axis on purpose. We know what it sounds like, but it's dangerous on anything that moves because even if you like 17.5 degrees off axis as a 'sound' - you have trouble keeping it there. Fine on a bass cab or guitar cab, but for me - it's point the mic in the best direction, EQ to taste, move on. In fact, as long as I am sure I can EQ it, I'll record it flat anyway and sort the EQ later. I'm a firm believer in capture everything and sort later, I don't like using techniques that decide in advance that it doesn't need recording, in case later, it does. HPF those bass frequencies and they're gone for ever!
Proximity effect I don't consider as always a bad thing. The guys who do festivals have to mic everything in zero time. No time for anything other than a line check, and that gets scrapped if it worked ten minutes before. I've done stage crew sound work for festivals and you look at what the next band has, you look at the mic on the end of the cable, and you look to see if the amp has a DI. Then you think - hang on, that's the same amp as we had last week that buzzed through the DI, so you look at the 57, and decide it will do fine. Aim it at the cone the same way you did the last twenty cabs, and move on, job done. What that 57 captures the FOH guy can sort, no problem. Studio work means the same process, but if when you listen, it's not perfect, before EQ and processing you can go and move the mic, or swap it - if it's thin, you pick a less thin mic, if it's bright and that's wrong, you swap and again if it needs top, you dig out that old favourite from the mic box that is ALWAYS too bright.
I hate rules that are rigid and fixed. I quite like flexible guidelines, and I never press buttons in EQ sections unless I really have to.
Proximity effect I don't consider as always a bad thing. The guys who do festivals have to mic everything in zero time. No time for anything other than a line check, and that gets scrapped if it worked ten minutes before. I've done stage crew sound work for festivals and you look at what the next band has, you look at the mic on the end of the cable, and you look to see if the amp has a DI. Then you think - hang on, that's the same amp as we had last week that buzzed through the DI, so you look at the 57, and decide it will do fine. Aim it at the cone the same way you did the last twenty cabs, and move on, job done. What that 57 captures the FOH guy can sort, no problem. Studio work means the same process, but if when you listen, it's not perfect, before EQ and processing you can go and move the mic, or swap it - if it's thin, you pick a less thin mic, if it's bright and that's wrong, you swap and again if it needs top, you dig out that old favourite from the mic box that is ALWAYS too bright.
I hate rules that are rigid and fixed. I quite like flexible guidelines, and I never press buttons in EQ sections unless I really have to.