Triple your Mic Locker without Tripling your Budget
Today I want to help you double or even triple your current mic locker for free. Check this out.
For years I thought that by building my microphone locker I’d be able to achieve dozens of different tones and get different sounds out of my instruments, which is completely true. I found myself on a microphone shopping spree. I just wanted to grow my mic locker as big as possible. As I continued, I noticed that I never had the chance of learning what each mic could do, only what they couldn’t.
There lies the key to doubling or tripling your mic locker: LEARN your microphones. Before you get mad at me and say that’s cheating, think about this.
Different Microphones have different pickup patterns. Understanding your microphones pickup patterns will change the way you record in two ways;
- It will help you understand where it is capturing different frequencies. Simply turning the microphone one inch, you can dramatically change the tone and sound of the source audio. This could end up making a bigger difference for your recording than a different microphone or preamp. If you turn a microphone off axis when you’re recording something that is overly bright, like a tambourine or bright shaker, it will instantly shave off some of those harsh highs and, depending on the mix, fit better. I used to waste hours trying to de-ess and EQ harsh tambourines to make them more pleasant to listen to. Don’t fall victim to that, try moving a mic off axis when recording percussion, backup guitar, backup vocals, or whatever you see fit. You may be surprised how well it works!
- It will help you know how to capture sounds with the way it “sees” the sound. Microphones can have various ways of capturing sound. Whether that’s cardioid, hyper-cardioid, figure-8, omni, etc. it behaves differently depending on what it’s set up on. Understanding how it captures sound will help you know how you can move it around to change the EQ capture curve (see number 1), and also help you capture sources in a unique way. If you’re recording a group of vocalists, rather than have them crowd around a mic in a weird position, you can set it to omni pickup and have them stand around in a circle, giving all vocalists a clear path to the microphone, resulting in a more even recording.
So how does this double or triple your mic locker? Because understanding your microphones helps you know how many different ways they can capture sound, letting you get more creative and get better recordings. Take the time to learn the gear you have, and you will save time and even more money.