Have You Maxed Out Your Microphones?

You know what intrigues me about the top dog recording engineers? They know their microphones inside and out. They know how certain mics work well on certain instruments or types of voices. They also know how some great mics just don’t match well with certain sound sources. Either way, they know what their mics can and cannot do well. How about you?

Via Incase Flickr

Pushing The Limits Of Your Microphones

So the question I tend to ask myself is this: have I personally pushed the limits of my microphones? Have I used them in enough situations on a multitude of sources to see where they shine and where they fail to impress? Have I maxed out their potential? Often times the answer is “no.”

The way I see it, if you get a new microphone (or only own one) you owe it to yourself to use it like crazy. Use it on drums. Use it on guitars and vocals. Mic up a piano with it. Just use it on everything you can think of. All the while you should be taking note of what you like and don’t like about it.
 

The One Mic Challenge

Something I like to do from time to time with a new mic is embark on a one mic challenge. As the name suggests I simply take the microphone in question and use it on every single instrument/voice on a given song or project. It will be my vocal mic, my guitar amp mic, my percussion mic. If tracking a full drum kit I’ll maybe use it on overheads for a song, then on kick drum for the next, then on toms the next. You get the idea.

The challenge is to put your microphone to the test. Every mic can capture audio. But not every mic is amazing on every source. You will however learn a ton about what your mic can do. This will give you confidence to know where this mic can shine in your “recording bag of tricks” for future projects.

Making Informed Gear Purchases

The other great benefit to maxing out your microphones’ potential and discovering their limits (or lack thereof) is you can make better informed gear purchases. If when you’re itching to buy a new vocal mic because the reviews are awesome it just looks so darn cool, you think back to the fact that you already own a great mic that has given you fantastic and dependable vocal recordings, you can pull your finger way from the “Add To Cart” button with peace.

The same is true if you are in the market for a kick drum mic because your current line up of mics just hasn’t given you the kick drum results you’re after. If you’ve truly pushed the limits of your mics on kick drum with sub par tracks each time, then you’ll feel less guilty when you go looking for something to replace it for that duty.

Respect Your Money

In the end, this is (usually) your hard earned money we’re talking about. If you’ve spent it on some microphones, don’t you owe it to yourself to actually take stock of everything those mics can and cannot do for you? You should respect your hard work and your money enough to get as much value out of your gear as possible before you go buying your way to (hopefully) better recordings.