Building the Right Vocal Chain

Written by Dave Martin on October 6, 2020.

The first item in the vocal chain isn’t, as you might expect, the microphone. It’s the singer. Why? Because the singer is the source of the sound. Everything else in the chain is there to capture and...

How Many Mics on the Drums?

Written by Dave Martin on September 21, 2020.

As late as the 1950s, it wasn’t uncommon to record a group with no microphones specifically for the drums. At an Audio Engineering Society seminar in 2001, legendary engineer Bruce Swedien talked about...

Miking Your Acoustic Guitar on Live Shows

Written by Dave Martin on September 8, 2020.

There are a number of reasons to consider playing live gigs using a microphone to amplify your acoustic guitar rather than a built-in pickup and a DI. Perhaps you don’t care for the sound of the pickup...