Microphone Selection and Placement Flashcards
7 cards from real Music & Audio Advice practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Microphone Selection and Placement flashcards as text
In the XY stereo miking technique, the two microphones are positioned so their capsules are:
Answer: Nearly coincident at about a 90-degree angle
XY uses two coincident cardioids angled around 90 degrees, giving good mono compatibility.
A high-pass (low-cut) filter on a microphone or preamp is most useful for:
Answer: Removing low-frequency rumble and handling noise
A high-pass filter rolls off subsonic rumble, hum, and handling noise below the source's useful range.
Recording a singer in the null (side) of a cardioid mic while it points at a guitar is a technique used to:
Answer: Reject the unwanted source via off-axis rejection
Placing an unwanted source in the mic's null exploits off-axis rejection to keep it out of the recording.
A microphone's self-noise specification is most important when recording:
Answer: Very quiet sources like soft acoustic passages
Low self-noise matters most for quiet sources where the mic's own hiss could be audible.
Overhead drum microphones are typically chosen to be:
Answer: Condensers for capturing cymbal detail and the full kit
Condenser overheads capture the transient detail of cymbals and a balanced picture of the whole kit.
If a recorded track sounds thin and hollow after combining a close mic and a room mic, the likely cause and fix is:
Answer: Phase issues fixed by flipping polarity or moving a mic
A thin, hollow combined sound usually signals phase cancellation, fixed by polarity flip or repositioning.
A boundary (PZM) microphone is designed to be placed:
Answer: Flat against a hard surface like a floor or wall
Boundary mics mount on a flat surface to avoid phase problems from reflected sound.