Microphones!!

Eight years ago an instructor of mine said to me, "one of the things that's changing the recording industry drastically is the abundance of high quality, inexpensive microphones". At the time that made me feel pretty good considering I was too broke to pay for vintage tube mics. During the 50's and 60's microphones were developed for a specific purpose; Pick up everything. For a long time, two to three tracks was the most you could record. So one microphone really had to do it all, and the rooms they were set in had to be stellar as well. Acoustics, in my opinion, were probably much more important in those days. Not that they aren't now, but there are ways around it these days.

Today, things are quite different. Having a Telefunken or an AKG C12 is great, but really not necessary. They are wonderful mics and there is truly nothing like them, but I don't find them to be must have microphones in this day and age. Today microphones are tailor-made for very specific purposes, and the ability to record 24 or more tracks simultaneously is the catalyst. A colleague of mine once called it "Highlight Miking". Today microphones are made specifically for vocals, toms, snares, overheads, guitar amps, and all sorts of acoustic instruments. Some are even made for a specific timbre of vocalist, or even style of music.

Some of these less expensive microphones, however, are actually not at all that great. My least favorites are CAD, MXL, Nady, and Behringer mics. They sometimes make a decent product, but in my experience I haven't found there mic's to be worth having. However, if your on a tight budget they do the job. My last boss, told me, "you should never sell or get rid of microphones no matter how crappy, you never know when you might find the perfect use for it". Some of my favorite manufacturers are Audix, Shure, AKG, Sennheiser, and Audio Technica. There are many other manufacturers that are great, but I leave them out because they haven't really made any microphones that I feel are really great and yet not overpriced. For instance, Neumann. I love Neumann mic's, however, I feel that AKG makes microphones that are every bit as good and nowhere near as expensive as Neumanns cheapest microphones. I have great respect for AKG. One of their most popular, studio-workhorse condenser mic's is the c414. There are a couple of versions, and they generally run about $1000. AKG recognized that they could make an identical mic, sans a polarization switch, and sell it for half the price. I bought a stereo pair, and they sound every bit as good as the original. It really is basically the same mic. My next favorite would have to be Audix. The D-series and Fusion series of drum microphones are by far the best in my opinion. For kick drum the D6, for rack toms the D2 or F10, for a floor tom either another D6 or an F12. Though, snare top and bottom I generally stick with the Shure SM57.

Of course all engineers have different opinions about different mic's, but it can't be denied that newer microphones are getting less and less expensive and sound really good. In the end, equipment like mic's, preamps, and other types of gear can only do so much. Sometimes it's placement, or trying a different preamp, or mic for that matter; and sometimes it's just the player. If your recording something and it doesn't sound good to you, keep in mind that the mic's don't lie.