Audio Engineering & Music Production
Course 6: Microphone Placement

In course 5, you learned how polar patterns affect how and where microphones pick up sound waves. In course six, you’ll use that information to place microphones around the studio for different sessions. Microphone choice and placement play a huge result in the final recording product.

Everything you have learned in prior courses will play a role in how your signal is captured. In this course, you’ll learn common practices of the recording process with regard to mic choice and common microphone placement techniques. You’ll see there is no one way to place a specific mic for every session–it all comes down to the type of sound you’re looking to capture.

String instruments will require different mic placements than vocals or percussion instrument placement. You’ll learn how the distance from each source will play a part and how to use the room to your advantage. Because no two rooms are ever the exact same, you’ll learn how the capabilities of your microphones, the acoustics of the room, and other variables (mono, stereo, and other miking techniques) all play a part.

When you’ve completed this course, you should understand how setting up for a session is much more than plugging in a mic and counting down. Setting up for a session is just as important as the session itself. After a course review, you’ll take a quiz on mic placement, complete a blog entry on what you’ve experienced, and prepare for the next course.

Objectives

• Microphone Choice and Mono Miking Techniques
• Stereo Miking Techniques
• Miking Specific Instruments
• Chapter Quiz
• Blog Entry