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[Craig Leerman]

Hi all,

Let’s do a thread on unusual or different microphone practices and techniques that you may have discovered that work well in certain situations, or that you have adopted as standard. I’m not talking about using an SM58 as a hammer, I means like using a vocal mic on a certain instrument, or micing up an instrument in a weird or strange way that seems to work well.  I’ll go first.

I like to use a gooseneck podium mic for an underside cymbal microphone.  I stumbled upon this by accident years ago on a corporate event when I had to mic up a band with just a limited amount of inventory from an A/V company. During sound-check I noticed that I could barely hear the ride cymbal, and we had depleted the limited stock of instrument mics and microphone stands that the A/V company had on hand. I saw a gooseneck podium microphone that was not being used and decided to see if I could get that to work.  I attached the base of the mic to a cymbal stand with gaff tape and adjusted the gooseneck to place the pickup head about 4” under the ride cymbal just under the bell area. This worked well, and allowed me ample room to adjust the position to get the best sound.  As a bonus, it was out of the drummer’s way and was well protected from any errant stick hits.

I have used this technique many times since then, but now I clamp the gooseneck mic to a cymbal stand, or use a shorty boom to get the mic into position if the cymbal stand transmits too much vibration into the mic.


Here is the way I do it now, using a drum clamp to hold the mic.

[g'bye, Dick Rees]

Hi all,

Let’s do a thread on unusual or different microphone practices and techniques that you may have discovered that work well in certain situations, or that you have adopted as standard.

SM91 slipped under the strings of a hammered dulcimer, added a 57 at the top for the highest treble tones.  Finally.......usable level of sound from a difficult instrument.

Placing a mic at just the right distance from the line directly under a center cluster to cancel the standing wave.

[Jay Barracato]

Hi all,

Let’s do a thread on unusual or different microphone practices and techniques that you may have discovered that work well in certain situations, or that you have adopted as standard. I’m not talking about using an SM58 as a hammer, I means like using a vocal mic on a certain instrument, or micing up an instrument in a weird or strange way that seems to work well.  I’ll go first.

I like to use a gooseneck podium mic for an underside cymbal microphone.  I stumbled upon this by accident years ago on a corporate event when I had to mic up a band with just a limited amount of inventory from an A/V company. During sound-check I noticed that I could barely hear the ride cymbal, and we had depleted the limited stock of instrument mics and microphone stands that the A/V company had on hand. I saw a gooseneck podium microphone that was not being used and decided to see if I could get that to work.  I attached the base of the mic to a cymbal stand with gaff tape and adjusted the gooseneck to place the pickup head about 4” under the ride cymbal just under the bell area. This worked well, and allowed me ample room to adjust the position to get the best sound.  As a bonus, it was out of the drummer’s way and was well protected from any errant stick hits.

I have used this technique many times since then, but now I clamp the mic to a cymbal stand, or use a shorty boom to get the mic into position if the cymbal stand transmits too much vibration into the mic.

N/D 468 mounted in the circular hole on the bridge of an upright bass. Turn the swival head up towards the fingerboard to control the amount of slap.

Balancing instruments versus vocals in a one mic setup by tilting the microphone to leave the instruments more off axis.

[Curt Sorensen]

When I'm faced with a kick drum [sorry] that has no hole in the front head, I drop a Sennheiser MKE2 lavalier in one of the little ports. A lot of people have been quite surprised by the results, assuming the drum is tuned at all well. What else could those little 'ports' be for anyway?

[Scott Helmke]

Shure 12" gooseneck (MX412, cardioid) on upright bass.  You know how you can wrap a mic in foam and stuff it in the tailpiece?  I work with a bassist who just uses the Shure gooseneck with the body (the XLR part) taped to the bottom of the tailpiece, and the rest is free to move around so it can be position in the best place.  Best place for a mic on upright bass is under the bridge or a near a soundhole, but pointing across the body instead of into a soundhole.

Vibraphone or similar mallet instrument - single figure-8 mic from above.  Works best without a low ceiling, of course.  Gets a surprisingly good sound because there's no weirdness in the spot between the usual pair of mics, and the side lobes of the figure-8 reject a *lot* of the surrounding sources.

[Hayden J. Nebus]

Awesome thread, Craig!

dancing tuba player? tie a 50' xlr to his belt loop and drop a 58 with clown nose about 8" into the bell. it wont go anywhere and needs
next to no gain.

For piano, a 421really tight under the soundboard (sheet of paper close) adds a warm body to the instrument. This is similar but not identical to a 57+ hand towel in the #2 hole. Most lid and over string micing can be a little thin with an unpleasant attack, IMO. Sticking a good dynamic underneath rounds out the timbre anda adds some low end. I try to make it reject the pedal action unless that means pointing it at a drum kit.

For tapdance, you can use that barcus berry that is collecting dust to supplement PCCs, at least if there's a sprung hardwood floor.

[Nick Pires]

2 Beta 98D/S in somewhat traditional high/low locations onto piano. Great for more contemporary styles. Right now I'm using a small diaphragm omni in the 4th sound hole of a 9' Steinway for a symphony Christmas pops show. Takes a little eq, but offers a nice fat sound and plenty of GBF.

[Doug Fowler]

PZM 30-D on a shortened lanyard, around the neck of a percussionist when having limited inputs. The mic is pointed wherever the percussionist turns to play.

[Mac Kerr]

PZM 30-D on a shortened lanyard, around the neck of a percussionist when having limited inputs. The mic is pointed wherever the percussionist turns to play.

I've also done lavs on the chest of percussionists, as well as on the wrists of a Marimba player.

PZM on the floor, directly under the foot of a harp. Who knew they are open on the bottom? Works great.

Mac

[g'bye, Dick Rees]

Wireless lavs clipped to the collar behind the head of a "human mic stand" for theater or chorus.

[ProSoundWeb Community]