Practice Workshop: The right structure

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The microphone is the most important link in the signal chain. In the following, you will learn what to consider when selecting, connecting and positioning the studio microphone. When recording vocals in the studio, condenser microphones are most often used because of their clear and detailed sound.

Pad circuit

For particularly loud signals, the sensitivity of a microphone can be reduced with the help of a so-called pad switch in order to avoid overdriving the built-in preamplifier. Values between -5 dB and -20 dB are quite common here. The pad function should be activated when miking drum sets and guitar amps; you can deactivate it for most vocal recordings.

Spider mount

The spider mount has the task of acoustically decoupling the microphone from its connection to the stand and the studio floor. The microphone is suspended freely with the aid of rubber bands, thereby decoupling it from impact sound and vibrations. In any case, a spider should be preferred to a clip mount that is usually included with the microphone and should be purchased separately, if necessary.

Connection

Microphones are connected to a mixing console, preamp or audio interface via an XLR connector. They provide a very low level, which is very susceptible to interference. That is why the signal is transmitted symmetrically, i.e. normally and phase inverted, which makes it easy to remove interferences.

High-pass filter

Most studio microphones have a built-in high-pass filter to filter out muffled background noise such as impact sounds even before recording. It usually operates with a slope of 6 dB/octave below the lowest frequency of the human voice, that is, at about 80 Hz. When miking acoustic instruments, the filter should be set to 40 Hz or remain switched off.

Pop shield

Microphones are connected to a mixing console, preamp or audio interface using an XLR connector. They provide a very low level, which is very susceptible to interference. That is why the signal is transmitted symmetrically, that is, normally and phase inverted, which makes it easy to remove unwanted interference.

Directional character

Unlike dynamic models, condenser microphones require a bias voltage of 48 volts for operation, which can be activated at the preamp or audio interface. There are three main directional characteristics: omnidirectional, figure-of-eight and cardioid. The latter has proven itself to be the most useful for vocal recordings.

Recording direction

The direction from which the microphone has the highest sensitivity is called the zero-degree pickup direction. It is usually indicated by a mark on the microphone or the manufacturer‘s logo. When recording, this side of the microphone must face the instrument or the singer. Any deviation from the ideal position will result in clearly audible sound coloration.

Positioning

If possible, you should suspend the microphone, in other words, point it at the singer from above using a large stand, so that the singer can express themselves more freely. The capsule should point slightly tilted towards the upper lip so that the upper jaw acts as a barrier and sibilants do not hit the microphone directly. The singer should sing straight forward, never frontally into the capsule.