Professional Mastering - Analog & Digital
Professional Mastering
250K+ subscribers
Written by: Logan Pollak
The recording industry 50 years ago was a much more exclusionary place. In order to get high quality recordings, you needed access to expensive studios and talented audio engineers. In contrast, today anybody with a couple hundred bucks can purchase basic audio recording equipment and get some decent results in their bedroom. The world of music has never been so accessible, and as a result more recordings are being made than ever before.
Today’s article will be a discussion of simple recording methods using nothing but a cheap dynamic microphone and a cheap audio interface.
The microphone and interface we’ll be using for the length of this discussion are as follows: A Shure SM58 dynamic microphone and a gen 2 Scarlett Solo interface. You can find this combination (or something similar) for around $100 used.
Let’s talk through considerations when tracking a song piece by piece using single inputs. We’ll start with vocals, since they tend to come out favorably with basic setups like this.
There are many options in mic placement afforded by the nature of a microphone’s response to distance. Often, if your microphone sounds very de similar from a desired tone, you can usually get close to the timbre you want by making changes to your microphones physical location. The distance you record relative to your microphone changes the mic’s frequency response. This phenomenon is called “Proximity Effect”, and it’s a very helpful tool for someone trying to change the timbre of their voice when recording.
A pop filter or windscreen would be helpful at this stage, but if that’s not an option a thin sock can actually be very effective for handling some lower-amplitude plosives without significantly dampening the highs (I would suggest a clean sock though).
Take a vocal recording with your microphone a moderate distance from your mouth (about a fist length away). SM58s and similar microphones often act very directional in how they represent a sound source, so to begin make sure the capsule of the microphone is directly facing you directly. Try recording 3 takes of the same vocal idea/melody. One at a neutral distance (fist length), another directly against the microphone, and one a forearms length away from you. You’ll likely need to change the gain on your preamp for each of these distances. Next, compare the three to find the one you think best suits your voice for this song. If you’re stuck between two options, or think one is very close to being great but not quite right, experiment with different distances using the information you have!
Another useful thing to know about microphones in the benefit of Off-axis placement. When a microphone is pointed down at an angle as opposed to facing a sound source straight on, some of the higher frequency overtones will be captured differently. This can be very helpful when dealing with an overly sibilant vocal, or a screechy guitar. If your vocals are sounding too sibilant, try angling the microphone!
Next, let’s discuss recording electric/acoustic guitars. For the sake of this article, we’re going to assume your electric guitar is running through an amp into your room. The anatomy of your room is very important to the sonic character of your recording, so while playing try walking around the room and listening for any changes to how you perceive the guitar tone. Are there pockets in the room where low end builds up? Places where the reflections of the room sound particularly good? All of this can help you decide where to place your amp before micing it up.
Once you’ve found a spot you like, there are a few options for how you place your microphone. The most common methodology would be to center your microphone on the speaker cone of the amplifier. If the amplifier has a grill obscuring the speaker, you can try and feel the edges though the grill. Once you’ve found it, try aiming your microphone directly in the center to start, and then experiment with other placements to see what works best in your room.
Something interesting to try with more distorted tones is aiming your microphone at the outer-edge of the speaker cone off-axis about 45 degrees. This will represent the midrange very well, and pull out both high end (off-axis) and low end (decreased proximity effect).
Acoustic guitar is a lot simpler than you think. Place your microphone about 1 foot away from where the neck of your guitar meets the body, and try different positions in your room until you find a favorable angle. If you’re strumming your guitar and not happy with the timbre, a small change you make could be as simple as the shape of your guitar pick. You can soften or sharpen the perceived behavior of your guitar by just changing how sharp or smooth the edge of the pick you’re using is. It likely won’t be a drastic change, but little improvements add up.
Well stop here for today, but the largest takeaway from this would definitely be to experiment. Every room is different, every guitar and voice have characteristics individual to them, and even different copies of the same microphone model sound slightly different! The weird things about a space are often what make it unique, and if you can find a way to harness that through experimentation and exploration you’ll have a sound that’s all your own!