Microphones

Microphones. One of the most interesting subjects in sound reinforcement. Books have been written about its history, development and usage techniques. Talk to anyone involved in audio and you're bound to get a swell of opinions and suggestions on the type of mic to use on a particular situation. Well, I'm not here to deal with the usage or technical aspects of mics, rather, I'd like to just touch on some of my thoughts on mics in general.

Sound reinforcement, like other industries, is driven largely by the consumer market. In this market, similar products compete for attention mainly because of the consumer dollar. Well, let's face it...microphones are big business. My point in all this? There is a consistent drumming of messages in magazines and the web that say that your gig or recording will sound better if only you had 'X' mic or 'Y' mic.

Pondering over this, my thoughts turned to mic technology past and present. I've heard some pretty remarkable recordings from 1960s that rival some of the stuff I'm hearing in this decade. Mics then were pretty crude compared to today's sophisticated production techniques. I'm kinda left with the conclusion that it's more a question of technique and engineering skill rather than the gear. Besides, any recording is only as good as the talent - you can have fantastic mics, but if the talent is less than talented....there's nothing much the gear can do.

So based on the above premise, we could assume then that the type and price of the mic does not really matter if the mic sounds pretty decent. Hence then, if we had only one mic which sounded decent, and if we knew of its limitations, we could use it for almost any sound reinforcement purpose. Now, I hear a couple of alarm bells sounding here... hence, my qualifier on knowing a mic's 'limitations'. I once came across a church that kept destroying their fairly expensive condensor mics; upon further investigation, I discovered that their sound operator was stuffing these delicate mics into the kick drum! I asked why they would do such a thing and the sound operator said that he had seen me use condensor mics on the drum kit! Now, talk about lack of knowledge and misunderstanding... I usually put condensors on the overheads and hihats; never in the kick drum. Now, I have to confess that I've put a condensor mic into the kick drum for one of my recording sessions - this was a DPA 4004 high SPL mic that was capable of handling levels well above 150dB; not some normal condensor mic with a peak SPL handling of 130dB. In this case, the operator obviously had a lack of knowledge of the mic's limits and was destroying them one after another!

Anyway, back on track.... let's use the common Shure SM57 as an example. It's a dynamic mic that has a fairly frequency response and is considered decent sounding by most folks. Used most of the time as an instrument mic, it's most popular use is on snare drums and guitar amplifiers. The other popular use of this mic is as the main lectern mic for the President of the United States (pictured above). I was fortunate to be the audio operator during the President's visit to Singapore in 2006 and worked closely with the White House Communications Agency with regards to the technicals in getting the event off the ground. One of the questions that I asked the technical director was the choice of mic - surely, there are lots of better mics out there for a lectern? The TD replied that they have considered other options over the years, but one mic that has gone through all kinds of conditions from snow to rain, from scorching heat to freezing cold, and have never had an issue was the SM57. I've used the SM57 on vocals, drums, horns, pianos, guitars and even flutes and recorders. Is it the best mic for all of these situations? Nope, but it'll get the job done.

So, I guess my message to you folks out there with limited budgets, pick a mic that sounds decent, get to know its pros and cons, and you should be on your way. It doesn't have to be a Shure SM57, it can be any of the numerous mics out in the market - Sennheiser, Audio-Technica, Audix, Superlux......get out there and audition them, pick one within your budget and use the heck out of it!

Now, I've personally got a bunch of mics that range from a hundred dollars to over a thousand dollars. Believe me, you do get what you pay for most of the time. But my point is that if you only had a limited budget, almost any mic will be able to do the job. Once again, is there a mic that will do a better job? Yes. But will the cheaper mic get the job done? Most probably.