mount is needed to minimize vibrations from tapping feet and the like.

In most cases,cardioids are the best choice for miking acoustic guitar.While you can certainly attain
good results with a large diaphragm mic,medium diaphragms are often preferred in order reduce
proximity effect.
1. Bridge.Miking the bridge yields a very sweet sound.Angle the mic either away from the sound
hole or tilted up from underneath.The difficulty with this position is that the performers hand can
obstruct the pickup pattern,yielding a fluctuation in sound.Working with the performer to find a
way to capture the bridge sound unobstructed can be well worth the effort.
2. Neck joint.The most popular position is where the neck joins with the body.This placement
yields a nice balance of warm body and bright neck, including natural fret and finger noises.
Deploying a matched pair with one mic at the joint and the other at the bridge can result in one
of the most satisfying acoustic guitar sounds.Panning the results hard left and right can yield a
dramatic stereo sound.
3. Nut.Miking the nut usually results in a bright jangly sound.Additionally miking the bridge and
panning the two mics hard left and right produces an extremely wide stereo effect.
4. Audience perspective.Close-miking techniques are often a bit too in your face for solo
classical guitar.In that event, try placing the mic three to four feet in front of the performer and
level with the sound hole in order to capture more room sound.To create more of a concert
ambience,deploy a matched pair left and right at even greater distances. You can also attain the
best of both worlds by using multiple mics to combine the aforementioned close-miking techniques
with this distance-miking technique.
Electric Guitar
The most common way to mic a guitar amp is to place a
cardioid four to six inches in front of the speaker.If it sounds
as if the microphone or preamp are overloading, try
engaging the pad switch on the condensertypically
providing a 10 to 15dB reduction in gain.Proximity effect
applies here, so closer positions yield more low mids.
Experiment with moving the mic from the center to the
outer edge of the speaker.The center typically has a more
edgy quality,while the outer portions are mellower. One
time-honored trick is to don headphones and move the mic
until the hiss sounds minimaland youll probably like the
sound at that spot.
As with most miking situations,moving the mic further away brings in more of the room sound.
Consider miking the cabinet in stereo at various distances.One popular technique is to use an
inexpensive dynamic mic tight on the speaker and an M-Audio condenser mic further back,panning
the two in stereo.
Grand Piano
The key to getting a great recording of a grand piano is to start with a great piano in a great recording
environment.That said, every instrument and situation is differentand the s ame piano can als o
sound different at the hands of different performers.Each situation has to be evaluated differently.
The extremely wide frequency range of the piano combined with the broad throw makes stereo
miking with one or more matched pairs the de facto standard.Large diaphragms such as the
M-Audio Solaris and Luna are excellent choices.The exact placement has a great deal to do with
the type of tonality you are desiring.In most cases, the lid should be all the way open. When
isolation is required,many engineers will adjust the lid to the halfway height, then enclose the
opening and mics with a moving blanket.
27
Choosing & Using Microphones
Close-miking the center and edge ofthe guitar
amp speaker yields different tonalities