How to Buy a Microphone
How to purchase a
mic to record
your Native American style flute
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How
to Buy a Microphone Of
all the emails I get with questions about Native
American flutes one of the most common is what kind
of microphone to use for the Native flute. Even if
you're not going to record your flute, a microphone
can be used for amplifying your it when you're
playing live and then adding effects, like reverb,
echo and delay. Therefore knowing a little about
mics and how you are going to use them will help
you decide what kind of mic to purchase
For
a Native American flute
There are two basic type of microphones but before
we get into them and how they are different, let's
talk about one way that they are the same. The
patterns in which they pick up sound. When I say
pattern I'm talking about the shape that we use to
represent the direction in which they will pick up
a sound. There are a number of patterns but we'll
look briefly at three: Cardioid, Bi-Directional or
Figure Eight, and Omnidirectional. Some microphones
will only use one of these patterns, but many have
a switch that lets you choose with one you want to
use.
Omnidirectional
Of these the easiest to understand is
Omnidirectional. Omni is Latin for all. So
an Omnidirectional mic picks up sounds from all
directions. No matter where the sound source is in
relationship to the mic, it will be picked up
equally.
Bi-Directional
Bi-Directional, or figure eight means that the mic
will pick up sounds coming from both the front of
the mic and the rear, but not the sides. This
pattern when plotted on a graph looks like a figure
8, with the mic being in the middle of the two
circles that make up the number 8.
Cardioid
A mic with a Cardioid pattern picks up sounds only
from in front of it and just a little to the sides
if the sound is near the mic. The pattern on a
graph for this type of mic looks like a heart, or
in truth more like a the outline of a plum. The mic
is by the two upper lobes of heart.
If you're interested in seeing what these patterns
look like on a graph you can find them
here.
You'll notice other patterns that we haven't
covered here. But these are variations on these
three basic types.
Native
Flutes = Cardioid
For the most part, when talking about Native
flutes, you'll want to use a mic with a cardioid
pattern. You'll be playing in front of the mic and
really don't want any other sounds to be picked up
from the sides or back.
Different
Types of Microphones
So now that we've looked at how mics are similar,
let's look at how they are different. There are
several different types of microphones but for the
Native flute there are really one two that you'll
need to worry about: Dynamic and Condenser. I'm not
going to go into how these two different types
work, but rather talk about how they are used. If
you want to know more there is a lot of information
out there. Let's look at dynamic mics first.
Dynamic
Microphones
Dynamic mics are the types of microphones you see
on a live stage. Singers use them on stage, as do
instruments that need to be mic'd. They are, for
the most part, inexpensive, can take a beating, and
don't feedback as easily as Condenser mics. A
decent, all purpose, dynamic mic can be purchased
for $100 - $150. Dynamic microphones generally only
come with a cardioid patter.
When
playing a Native flute into a dynamic mic you want
to get the flute's true sound hole, the one
in front of the block, right up to the microphone.
This is due to the fact that these mics don't pick
up sounds that are not right next to them. (This is
why they are harder to feed back) See photo to
the right.
One of the reasons why these mics will not pick up
sounds that are not right next to them is because
they are not as sensitive as condenser mics. This
also applies to the range of frequencies they will,
and will not pick up. As a general rule dynamic
microphones will not pick up sounds that are very
low in pitch e.g. low frequencies, or ones that are
very high in pitch, e.g. high frequencies. Where
they start to not pick up high and low frequencies
will give each manufacture's model it's
characteristic sound. (BTW when plotted as a graph
showing how a mic picks up certain frequencies this
is called a frequency response curve.)
For the most part this lack of sensitivity
really isn't a problem where Native flutes are
concerned, due to their limited range. Even if you
take into consideration low bass flutes and super
high flute, which are well within the average
dynamic microphone's range.
I use a dynamic microphone when I perform live. How
did I pick the mic I use? I didn't really. I just
use the mic that came with my Fender Passport PA
system. Why go out and buy another mic when the one
that came with the PA works just fine? In fact I
know that the mic's inability to reproduce really
high frequencies works in my favor in that it acts
like a filter on any high, breathy or buzzy sounds
coming from the flute. Junk that I would filter out
anyway!
Condenser
Microphones
Condenser microphones are more common for studio
recording. They capture sounds in a different way
than a dynamic mic and are therefore more
sensitive. This means that they will pick up sounds
from farther away, that are quieter and very low or
high in frequencies. Condenser microphones need to
be powered, either by a battery in the mic capsule,
or generally from the mic pre-amp. This external
power is known as phantom power. Most mixing
boards and digital I/Os have phantom power built
into their pre-amps.
Unlike
a dynamic mic, when playing into a condenser mic
the sound source, in our case a Native flute, does
not need to be right next to the microphone. In
fact anything closer then 12" - 18" will over power
the mic and cause distortion. It could even damage
the diaphragm in the mic!. For Native flutes the
best way to go is to have the mic in a shock-mount
front of the flute about 12" - 18 hanging above at
a 45û angle. I do this with my mic hanging upside
down. See photo to the right
I use an Audio Technica 4050 for 99% of my studio
recording work. I asked several audio engineers
what they would recommend for a good, reasonably
priced, all purpose instrument mic and this was one
of their recommendations. So far I've used it on
all of my studio recordings except for a few tracks
and have found it to be an excellent mic. When I
bought it they cost about $750. They seem to have
come down since then. But there are any number of
good, reasonably priced mics out there if this is
beyond what you're budget will allow..
You might be asking yourself, "What mic did he use
for the other 1% of his studio recording?" Well on
a couple tunes that used a double flute I used a
stereo mic, (which I'm not sure gave me the results
I was looking for) and on a couple others I used a
dynamic mic that was designed for drums! No one has
ever mentioned that they can tell the difference
and this doesn't surprise me. By the time you do
some filtering, a touch of compression and add all
the echo and reverb most people can't tell. But
leads to another question...
How
do you pick a mic for
yourself?
So now that I've throw all the information at you
how do you wade through it all an pick a microphone
for yourself? The truth is there are a few really
easy ways to pick. They aren't rules, they're more
like guidelines...
1.
Where will you use a mic the most? In the studio
or on the stage? If you're going to use it
mostly in the studio then you might strongly
consider a condenser mic. For anything else,
stage, flute circles, family outings, public
appearances, Madison Square Gardens..., then get
a dynamic mic. It would be wise to not take a
condenser mic onto a live stage. It can be done,
but It's not worth all the extra hassles and it
will pick up every little noise anyone even
close to you makes. And that includes your
noises as well...
2. What's your budget like? If you don't
have a lot of money you're better off with a
good dynamic mic. That way you'll have money for
a mic stand, cables and all the other gear the
mic plugs into.
3. If you plan to use a mic for only
studio recording and your studio is your
bedroom, how much unwanted noise is there? If
you can't record yourself in a very quiet place
then a condenser mic will pick up all sorts of
unwanted noise. Computer fans, cars, planes,
garbage trucks, neighbors yelling, dogs barking,
phones ringing, your spouse / roommate flushing
the toilet, the washing machine, birds, loud
bees... Better to use a dynamic microphone that
won't pick up all these noises. Unless of course
you're doing some "Avant-garde, urban noise
& flute recording".
I record my live instruments in a walk-in closet
with acoustic foam covering the walls. I
generally turn off all the phones (which, as my
friends know, I rarely answer anyway), and even
have my computer in an isolation box to damp
down the fan noise. Trust me, when recording,
not much sucks as much as unwanted noise that
you can't get rid of.
The
best mic vs good enough
Finally, the last thing to consider is that better
equipment doesn't always make for a better
recording. Why would I say that? Well what if you
purchased some $5,000 microphone (yes, some cost
that much) and when you record your flute you hear
all this ugly stuff coming our of the flute that
you don't like? Now you're just going to have to
figure out a way to get rid of it. Maybe a less
sensitive microphone wouldn't have picked up all
that junk in the first place.
Keep in mind that the flute sound we hear in our
heads is not the same as the flute sound the mic
hears. Our brains unconsciously and automatically
filter out a ton of buzz, fuzz, wind, air and other
junk from the sound. A microphone does not. It's
kind of like hearing a recording of your voice. You
like how much that sounds, right?
So if you aren't familiar with how sound works, and
how to manipulate it through devices such as EQ,
maybe you don't need that state-of-the-art
microphone. Maybe an inexpensive dynamic mic is
best for your needs and experience. You can always
upgrade later. Plus, with a "cheaper" microphone if
your playing sucks you can always blame the
mic...
Happy Recording!
2010
© Cedar Mesa Music. All rights
reserved.
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