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So I thought for the purpose of fun and learning on the topic of mic technique, that we could have a thread that would give everyone to chance to say how they would record and instrument or scenario.

The idea is that someone makes up a scenario, and you the pro has to make a quick decision on how to mic the scenario or instrument, and which mic you would use and if necessary why. Just easy descriptions, and short answers.

Maybe we'll all learn some new tricks.

The rules are:

1) Only one person can answer the previous post.

2) And that person must post a new instrument or scenario for the next person to answer.

Example:

Person 1:

Q: The drummer shows up without a front head on the bass drum, how would you mic it?

-----
Person 2:

A: I would build a tunnel 4 feet long from the bass drum using small mic stands and a heavy blanket to a Beta52 on the opposite end. I would also have a SM57 beside the beater switched out of phase to capture the attack of the
beater.

Q: The vocalist refuses to sing with headphones and wants monitor just like when he plays a show. What do you do?

-----
Person 3:

A: Switch the monitor for the vocalist out of phase and a sennheiser. .

-----

So here we go:

Q: The guitar player wants a big sound but his amp is a tiny practice amp with decent distortion, how do you attempt to give him that big sound?

Comments

JoeH Fri, 07/11/2008 - 07:06

This one's too easy, nowadays...the cell phone is history with reNOVAtor from Algoritmix. Pricey, but it works in exactly this sort of thing; like Photoshop for audio. (Sequoia's spectral cleaning is a close second for whatever reNOVAtor misses, too...)

Q: You're doing a live radio remote, all set up and ready to go, with full orchestra, 12 soloists, live announcer, video feeds to the control room (Choir room, actually) and 1200 people in the church/hall audience. It's 1 hr from air time, and the radio station tech hasn't arrived yet with the ISDN box. It's St. Patrick's Day, and the city is jammed with Parade traffic and many streets are simply closed off. You're getting minute by minute status reports from all parties involved.

The tech finally arrives 15 minutes before air, feverishly sets up the gear, and finds the ISDN box (which worked fine two days ago when tested) isn't working NOW. He can't get a dial tone, can't reach the station digitally with any audio.

What do you do? (This actually happened to me last year, and I'll tell you how it went afterwards....)

JoeH Fri, 07/11/2008 - 07:11

For Jeremy's question:

Factor in a couple of grunts for these gigs for your cost, then sign the contract and re-learn German. Return the compliments to the old geezer and show up with a big bottle of peppermint Schnapps.

Get him passed-out hammered and then chain him up in the control room with you so he can't go out and sing or curse at you. He may even piss himself while he's out cold, adding to the overall experience.

I once had an old custodian cursing at us in German while we were packing up: "Rouse! Rouse! Schnell! Schnell!" I'm not proud of what we said back to him in return..... :roll: