back. Ringo’s drum kit was in the room at
Abbey Road and George’s amp was just to
the right of the kit. Glyn asked me to place the
mic on the guitar amp; then he said, “What
problems will we have with this mic?” I replied,
“Spill from the drums?” and he said, “Exactly -
so, point the mic away from the drums.” And
that always stuck with me.
[Tom] So… using a cardioid mic?
[Alan] Right - of the 3 basic microphone
types, cardioid, omni, figure 8; cardioid “hears
on the front and is deaf on the back”.
but sometimes there is that magic moment get a natural sound before you start with the
Tip #3. “Capture as many of the players as you that you just can’t recreate, so you want that EQ. Is there a rule of thumb about where to
can at the same time” - That’s when the spirit of initial recording to sound as great as possible. place the mic, in relation to the soundhole to
collaboration comes shining through in the feel Obviously microphone technique is important. get the best balance?
[Tom] What microphone tricks would you use? [Alan] I always start 6 to 8 inches directly
of the music. So many records sound sterile
because they’re done one track at a time. It’s
much easier to figure out what is best for the
out from the soundhole. If I feel the sound is
song when everyone is there in the same room. [Alan] The first obvious one is to use cardioid slightly boomy, I’ll move it towards the bridge
You can listen to each section and fine-tune the mics because of their directional characteristics. to brighten the sound up a bit. There is a photo
arrangement; you can adjust each part so they Point the vocal mic up at the singer and the showing the precise mic placement in Chapter
complement each other. It is so much more guitar mic down to minimize spill. You’re not 20 of the ASSR.
musical than doing it on a screen cutting and going to isolate one from the other entirely, but pasting with a mouse... in certain circumstances you might be able to [Tom] Would you ever consider using the
completely replace the vocal, or completely guitar pickup, if one is installed?
Tip #4. "That old classic phrase, 'Fix it in the
replace the guitar.
mix' is a death trap." Record your tracks so
[Alan] In this day and age it is certainly
they sound amazing already. You should be [Tom] For acoustic guitar, what is your worth listening to the sound of the pickup; I’ve
able to throw up the faders to unity gain and “go to” microphone? recorded a Taylor where the installed pickup
have a pretty great sounding rough mix; ready
to fine tune.
sounded really good.
[Alan] I’ve always favored the Neumann
KM84 for acoustic guitar, a small diaphragm [Tom] Have you ever tried putting any baffling
Tip #5. "Trust your ears and not your eyes." If cardioid condenser mic. It is slightly artificially between the guitar mic and the vocal mic?
it sounds great and it grabs you emotionally… brightened, which is what makes it attractive. keep it! It doesn’t matter what the waveform Even with the brightness, I generally add about [Alan] I think I did try once to put a layer of
looks like or what some plug-in tells you. Great 3 or 4db more around 10k. And I almost always sponge rubber bet