Recording Unusual or Difficult Instruments

Djembe, violin, trumpet, piano… in this lesson we wil go over the factors that influence microphone choice and microphone placement.

Choosing what mic comes down to 4 factors.
1- frequencies of the instrument.
Most instruments emit frequencies over 100 hz, and most microphones excel at capturing frequencies over 100 hz, so this is only really an issue with low bass instruments such as kick drum or stand up bass.
2- room acoustics
The room acoustics drastically change the sound a microphone picks up, and your microphone choice can pick up more of the room, or less of the room.
3- volume of the instrument.
Some microphones can’t handle high spl (sound pressure level) very well, such as snare drum and high watt guitar cabs. and some microphones aren’t well suited for quiet sources, such as whispering.
4- sound dispersion from the instrument.



1- volume of the instrument
2- room acoustics
3- sound dispersion of the instrument
4- frequency range of the instrument.
5- the style of sound you want.


1- volume of the instrument.
Options: Condenser, dynamic Ribbon

Condensers- best for quiet and medium volume sources. Small diaphragm condensers can handle higher spl than large diaphragm condensers.
Most condensers do not sound good with high spl.

Dynamic- dynamic microphones are less sensitive than condensers. Best for high spl applications.

Ribbon- ribbons perform poorly on very quiet sources. They can handle high spl, such as loud drum overheads, but not super high spl, like close mic’ing a kick drum.
They are good on medium and high volume sources.

2- room acoustics
Options: close mic/far mic. Cardioid, omni, figure 8
If you are in a church or large hall, maybe you want to capture more of the room. If you are in a small room, or somewhere with poor acoustics, you’ll want to capture less of the room, with more focus on the instrument.

Close mic’ing will pick up less of the room, more of the source, and far mic’ing will pickup less of the source, more of the room.

Cardioid pickup pattern will pick up less of the room, omnidirectional Will pick up more of the room. Figure 8 is in between.


3- sound dispersion of the instrument.
Options: close mic or far mic.
Some instruments emit different sounds from different parts of the instrument. In these cases you need to place the microphone a bit farther away to capture a nice blend. If you measure the 2 farthest distances on the instrument where sound is being emitted, your minimum microphone distance will form an equilateral triangle.

A piano is a good example of this. If you close mic, then you will disproportionately capture whichever strings the mic is closer to. So you have to place the microphone at least 4-5 feet away to capture a nice blend of the full instrument., but being farther away from the source will pick up more of the room.
There are many instruments that project different sounds from different parts of the instrument. Reed instruments emit sound from the reed, from the key holes, and from the bell. An acoustic guitar emits more bass from the sound hole, and more treble and high frequencies from the neck.

Some instruments emit sound from a single small area. Such as a trumpet, or vocal. I’m these cases, microphone positioning is a lot easier, and close mic’ing is an option.

4- frequency range of the instrument
Options: low, med, high

Low- below 100 hz. check the frequency response chart of the microphone, or test the microphone to learn it’s low frequency response.

Med- almost all microphones perform well in this range

High- condensers perform best, ribbons perform the worst, dynamics are in the middle.
5- style you want.
Options: vintage or Modern.
Vintage is associated with smooth midrange, and Rolled off high frequencies. Ribbon microphones are best for this, and farther mic placement also helps.

Modern- this is characterized by good definition in the high frequencies, which often gets boosted with an eq. Condensers are best for this, and dynamics are not bad.