How does diaphragm size/polar pattern relate to mic applications?

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cello

Thanks for replying so quickly. That sounds interesting. It is a bit too electronic sounding to me. I just rented a pair of AT 4050s and NT5s. I will try some different patterns and compare the small and large condensers.

You can actually see what I am doing at cellojourney.com.
 
The "electronic sound" is probably caused by the reverb added for the pop song it was used in. I'm talking about the bow noise to actual sound ratio. This was recorded with an RCA 77DX ribbon mic about 3 or 4 feet away, in a small room.
 
cello

I think this is pretty good when it comes to bow noise. It is slightly there but not distracting. In a mix I am guessing it would be inaudible. With just cello by itself it would be acceptable. I find it interesting that even adding a piano can help with bow noise.
 
Classical Music and Mic Diaphragm Size

This may be a generalization but whenever I hear of classical music recording generally small condensers are used. Even in cardioid mode. You hear about Oktavas, Schoeps, DPA. Why generally not large condensers?

To my ears small condensers provide more clarity. It this true?
 
Small diaphragm microphones generally have better (more accurate) off-axis response. Large diaphragm microphones are too big to get out of their own way, and color the sounds coming in from different directions.
 
last

Thanks Harvey. That makes a lot of sense. I really identify with the idea of a microphone staying out of the way. With some mics you record classical and you "hear the mic". It may be really good but you can tell that the mic is adding its own flavor. With another mic the mic doesn't seem to be there. It is as if you are just hearing the instrument. It makes a lot of sense. It really helps with making buying decisions for mics for classical.
 
Harvey Gerst said:
If you liked that, also read the next sticky down, "Some Thoughts about "Better", "Best", and Mic Recommendations". You might find it useful.
Click to expand...

First and foremost, thank you (again) Harvey for sharing your professional
knowledge with most of the home-grown basement punks (like myself).

From the fifteen pages I've read thus far, a few things have popped out
which never occurred to me - mainly why we pan instruments/signals; it's not
all about sounding cool...

Before I get too involved in my response, is there a source which holds all of
the diagrams and PDF's used in your earlier examples? I'm no longer able to
see them.

I never really paid much attention to microphone design; most of my selection
preference comes from trial and error, and/or respsonse profiling of my limited
stash of mics. Your lesson about near and far field placement may indeed
solve some of my issues with dynamic range of specific drums and vocals.

I've noticed that my overhead microphone often sounds much better than
'near-field' snare/tom mics with respect to reproducing the natural sound
of the drum.

The obvious negative to overhead recording is isolation between drum channels/tracks.

Another bit of information you presented earlier will help during the mix down.
The idea of giving each instrument a place in the audio spectrum is very
intriguing.

I can't wait to try another session with better mic placement and eq. using
your suggestions. At the moment I'm having difficulty getting the vocal
"in your face" when listening out from a set of stereo speakers.

I'll have to pay close attention to my spectrum analyzer when mixing down
to see the difference between hard panning guitars vs. centered.

Awesome help. Keep on 'rawkin' :D
 
Thank you for all the time and information you spent and provided on this thread. It was definitely one of the most useful threads I have read in regards to capturing sound and the actual disign differences and purposes. You are a wealth of knowledge. All of the comments and questions were excellent too.

Anyone that is interested in acurately recording sound needs to read this thread. It will drastically improve your results with any equipment that you have.

The most interesting was the M/S technique and I do understand electrically how that works and is a real neat trick. I bet you can derive pretty cool 90º out of phase surround with that too.

All of the placement techniques are very informative. Again a great thread. i will be reading this one through a few times and using it for reference. Thanks for the pdf version. That is now tucked away for future use.

I have made pretty good recordings over the years starting on analog but alot of it was trial and error and just used what gave good results but the info you provided definitely will take alot of the guesswork out of placement and mike choice in the future.

A must read.
 
Brian,

After a quarter of of a million views (on several sites), and considering that this thread has now passed the 8 year mark, I'm gratified and humbled that so many people have found this thread useful for so long.
 
Dear Harvey,

I had a question for you in regards to how to use properly a certain mike. Here is my current situation. I have a couple of recording programs but no hardware as of yet. The only thing that can be considered as hardware is the mike that I have witch is a Guitar Hero mike. Now I've been reading your previous posts and threads and they say that in order to get the best out of your mike you need to take into consideration the surroundings and the capability of the mike.

Currently I'm recording with an acoustic guitar with steel strings, with a really high action. My set up is in a small room. I've been thinking of making a box in witch I can block out any other sounds and keep the sounds that I make in and near the mike.

What do you think I should do? Should I get a new mike because the capabilities of this one are not that great, or should I continue to use it but in a different way?

If you have any questions to ask me please feel free to ask them?

Currently I'm trying to decide what to get in order to get the best quality I can get without using so much money.
 
Your Guitar Hero mic has a USB output, so it should be ok to start out with. I'd try removing the grill from the front of the mic; it should unscrew. Then, just try moving the mic to different positions and make short recordings of each position you place the mic in. Listen to the recordings back and determine which placement gives you the best sound.
 
Harvey Gerst said:
Your Guitar Hero mic has a USB output, so it should be ok to start out with. I'd try removing the grill from the front of the mic; it should unscrew. Then, just try moving the mic to different positions and make short recordings of each position you place the mic in. Listen to the recordings back and determine which placement gives you the best sound.
Click to expand...

I actually tried removing the grill before, but the dam thing doesn't unscrew. I would mess around with it but the mike is not mine. What's another good cheap mike that could help me in recording an acoustic and amp.
 
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