EIGHT COMMON MICROPHONE MISTAKES- Part 2.

5. Using too many microphones. The simpler your setup is, the better your chances of getting a good recording, obviously within reason. If you use three microphones to mic a guitar amp, you've got to deal with proximity effect between all three, and you've got to balance the equalization and panning just right to make sure that the guitar amp sounds absolutely perfect. It's much easier to do with a single microphone, placed properly. The golden rule of audio production is to keep microphone placement as simple as is possible.

6. Using the wrong type of microphone for the job. Realize that different microphones do different things; a large diaphragm condenser microphone is great for vocals, but it's usually not the right choice for a drum set because of the way its pattern is. A Shure Sm 57 is great on snare drums, but not on kick drums because it doesn't hear enough low frequencies. Know everything that you can about your microphones and pick the right one for the job.

7. Not experimenting. The essence of good production is a good ear, and you develop a good ear by trying out as many microphone placement alternatives as you can, Experiment as much as you can; if you're recording bands other than your own, don't do your experimenting on their time, but spend your own time trying to get the best sound that you can get out of guitar amps, vocals, pianos, whatever you can. Too many producers simply set up a microphone and press record. Good producers have a reason for putting a microphone in a certain location, and will experiment when necessary to get the right sound.

8. Ignoring or not understanding proximity effect. When you've got two microphones set up to record a sound source, if they're not matched 100% properly or are different distances from the sound source, they'll report back the audio information at different times. This results in a delay-type of sound that can be a huge issue on home recordings; it can hide certain frequencies and generally trash the overall sound of a song. Be aware of proximity effect, and fix it by buying hand-matched microphones and using your recording software to fix any difference between two miked recordings of the same sound source.