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Hi all,

Hoping someone can answer a question I have about where to place the microphone for you to sound best.

I'm first of all talking about a large, decently resonant room. Is it best to place the mic directly in the middle of the room, halfway between the ground and the ceiling? Looking for lots of answers/tips/discussion

Additional info: The room is asymmetrical, with furniture, some hardwood, some rugs, some tile etc.

Any advice is helpful. Thank you.

This was from another thread, but it's the best setup I've found. Spaced pair, about 6 feet away.

harrisonreed wrote: ↑Sat Feb 13, 2021 7:15 pm

This was from another thread, but it's the best setup I've found. Spaced pair, about 6 feet away.

Wow. This is great!

The room is such a big part of it though. Are you talking about a room in your house? It is possible (how did you do it Jim Nova?? How???), but you'll really have to play with the placement to get the best sound.

harrisonreed wrote: ↑Sat Feb 13, 2021 7:39 pm The room is such a big part of it though. Are you talking about a room in your house? It is possible (how did you do it Jim Nova?? How???), but you'll really have to play with the placement to get the best sound.

Actually a medium sized "practice" room outside of my own home that i'm not used to. I figured instead of waste hours trying to test mic placement, I can at least get a basic set of advice and then just fine-tune it myself.

What kind of mic are you using? Phone mic, pretty much wherever sounds best, those can vary so much. If it's like a handheld recorder or a condenser, you might want to be 10-15 feet away, probably a little higher than the bell. If it's a dynamic, then no more than 2 or 3 feet.

I agree with the 2-3 foot distance (my rule of thumb is 3 feet). Also, place the mic 45 degrees off axis, not directly in front of the bell. Placing the mic directly in front will bring out the transients of your attack and make you sound brighter than in real life.

This goes for auditions too. Don't point your bell directly at the jury!

USB Condenser Microphone

The farther from the bell, the more of the room sound you will get, so if it is a nice sounding room, 6 feet may be good. If not the 2-3 feet space may sound better. Think of the mic as the ears of the recording. Most of us do not listen at ceiling level.

jeffalbert wrote: ↑Sun Feb 14, 2021 10:22 pm The farther from the bell, the more of the room sound you will get, so if it is a nice sounding room, 6 feet may be good. If not the 2-3 feet space may sound better. Think of the mic as the ears of the recording. Most of us do not listen at ceiling level.

This is generally what I've found. I've been recording in my bedroom and living room both of which aren't set up for such a thing and have found that while using a condenser mic a few feet from the bell and slightly off center has produced the best sound for those spaces. Hopefully at some point I can afford a nice dynamic mic and maybe a house with space...

Creed Taylor, who did those OMG Urbie recordings, put the mic 18" in front and off center a bit. The 18" was to get the open horn sound. The off-center was to minimize the wet mouth noises. I think it was a ribbon.