In the last issue of The Broadside, I talked about some general aspects of recording, the new digital technology which has made recording so widely accessible and some issues to consider when recording the music you play. Now I will focus on the receiving end of the recording process – the microphone.

In these days of acoustic pickups and fully electric instruments, most instruments can be plugged in. But the sound of an instrument pickup never quite matches the real sound of the instrument. My passion is acoustic recording – capturing and enhancing the true sound of real voices and instruments played in a real room. It takes a microphone to do this. Whether your heart beats most wildly to the sounds of traditional folk music, blues, jazz, rock and roll or some variety of world music, as soon as you step into the recording situation, you will likely be dealing with microphones.

It is important to understand what they do, how to make the best use of them, and especially what factors control the quality of the sounds you record.

There are two types of microphones: high and low impedance. These terms refer to the type of signal the microphone puts out. Most stage microphones are high impedance; they put out a signal that is strong but won’t travel far without degradation. Low impedance microphones, especially those that rely on a condenser for amplification, create signals that can travel farther without loss of quality, but require power to do so. This power is provided by an external source in the preamplifier or mixing board that sends a small DC voltage back to the microphone.

Microphones used for performance may be of either type, but typically they are high impedance microphones, designed to pick up sounds close to the mic and eliminate or minimize feedback. The standard workhorse among stage microphones is the Shure SM58, which works best when the instrument or your lips are almost touching it. Good vocalists sing directly into such a mic, only pulling back on their highest, loudest notes.

Studio, as opposed to stage, microphones are designed differently. Using phantom power to amplify their signal, they pick up sounds from near and far away, with a range of response that is wider and richer than a stage microphone. The initial amplification is mediated by a condenser that uses electric power to boost the signal. Some condenser mics have a very narrow pickup area, while others have a very wide “pattern,” but they all share the general quality of responding to a wider range of frequencies and levels of volume.

Good studio mics have come down in price in recent years. It’s now possible to buy microphones that used to cost $1000 or more for a few hundred dollars, especially if you hunt for privately sold equipment through e-bay or local advertisements.

Microphones are also classified as large or small diaphragm; the diaphragm is the thin barrier within the microphone that responds to the pulses of sound or puffs of air created by your voice or instrument. Small diaphragm models are narrow and cylindrical; they are generally used for higher pitched instruments while large diaphragm mics (thicker and oval in shape) are best for vocals, lower-pitched instruments and anything requiring a full frequency response.

Assuming you have found good microphones for your project, how can you make the best use of them? Here are the basics.

First, think in terms of signal-to-noise ratio. Anything you can do to eliminate or minimize noise is good. This is especially true when working with less expensive equipment. The best signal sent through a cheap preamplifier to your recording deck or board will be clouded with background hiss, unless you adjust the settings to eliminate or minimize that noise. A good microphone picks up even the smallest background noise; make sure any equipment that adds background noise is isolated, screened out or turned off. If you do this, you won’t need a special room with sound baffling for your studio. The kitchen will do fine. Just turn off the fridge!

When you are setting up your microphones, positioning is a major factor. Each mic has its own pattern and response characteristics. Don’t assume that all you have to do is to point the mic roughly in the direction of the singer or instrument. Play with its position, and keep playing until the sound you are hearing is as glorious as it should be. This will be the number one major factor affecting the quality of your recording. So don’t settle for anything less than exquisite sound.

While working on Ed Kavanagh’s Celtic harp album, Weaving the Wind, we used three microphones for the harp alone – one for the treble, one for the bass and one for the overall sound of the harp. The result was a stereo image of the harp “turned on its side” with bass notes on the left, treble on the right, a sound that entirely surrounds the listener.

Once you have captured the true sound of a voice or instrument by effective microphone placement, you have to get that sound to your recording medium. Once again, it’s a question of signal-to-noise ratio: keeping the signal as clean as possible is a matter of passing it through a good preamplifier on its way to your tape machine, digital recorder or computer.

Many people don’t realize that preamps make a big difference in frequency response, and allow you to shape the sounds you record into a final mix which is rich, clean and clear. Preamps range from relatively inexpensive models to units that cost a thousand dollars or more, but which provide lovely clean sound, rich bass and treble, and which allow you to boost the signal without adding distortion or noise.

Over the years, as this equipment has become less expensive, many musicians have found that even readily available preamps can be tuned to maximize their effectiveness. Just as with microphone placement, be prepared to play with the input and output settings of your preamps to get the most signal and the least hiss.

Remember that higher frequencies give presence and definition to the sounds you record. Even though later steps (modifying sound frequencies, mixing and then mastering the final recording) will give you many opportunities to fine tune and enhance the sounds you have recorded, you can only work with what has been captured. What you do in the first place with microphones is absolutely critical.

Find the right microphone, play with it until it’s in exactly the right place, and run the signal through the cleanest preamp you can find. Once you do that, you will definitely have something good to work with.

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Dan Rubin is a musician, writer and arts promoter. He lives in Pouch Cove, where he has established Spirit of the Islands Recording Studio.