So.. I’ve been asked to write a little column on field recording it seems. I’ve also been asked to try and make it entertaining. Now forgive me for saying so, but generally anything to do with technology (even super-exciting sound gear) tends to be quite boring. So be warned…

I think before I enlighten you all about amazing little shiney boxes with knobs and flashing lights which you can waste you student loans on, I should probably go through some (perhaps useful) basic information.

First things first: microphones. If you want to record something you’ll need one of these and they generally come in 2 different types (for the tech geeks reading this, yes that’s not entirely true, but please don’t tell anyone, it’ll only confuse people.)

First off you have dynamic microphones, these generally include any built in microphones in laptops or portable recorders. They’re called dynamic not because they’re really good in awkward social situations (sorry, they asked for humour) but because of the volume they can handle. If you’re recording an exhaust pipe, a snare drum or a particularly loud djembe this is the kind of mic you’ll go for. They’re not so good for capturing subtle nuances but they’re usually very hardy and so you seen them a lot in live gigs and so on. A good example would be a Shure SM57 or SM58.

Next we have condenser microphones; these are generally the ones used in recording studios and on the whole give a must more detailed sound than dynamic mics. In order to ‘sound better’ condenser microphones require a power source which is provided in the form of ‘Phantom Power’. It’s nothing to do with ghosts or anything (although I think that’d be far more exciting. Maybe that’s how they record ghosts and things? Have you seen White Noise? Anyway.. where was I..) basically whatever you’ve plugged the microphone into (recorder/mixing desk etc) will send 48 volts back up the microphone cable to make it work. You might see a button somewhere labeled ‘+48V’, you can translate this roughly into an ‘on’ switch for condenser microphones. Some mics (usually those designed for field recording) will take batteries so they can power themselves (check out the Rode NT4). Some newer USB microphones will power themselves from your computer (Samson CO10 was one of the first to do this).

A note about volume: Because they are powered, condenser microphones tend to produce a louder signal than dynamic mics (sometimes people call a loud output ‘hot’. If you hear someone calling a microphone ‘hot’ they’re not perverted, honest. Well, probably not anyway). A common misconception is that you can plug in a nice microphone into a computer and record this easily. Whilst you can do this, it probably won’t sound great. First you’ll need a weird cable to go from your computer’s input to the microphone but even if you have this, if you’re using a dynamic microphone it’ll be really quiet and boosting the signal from the computer will usually just make everything crackly and sound rubbish. If you try using a condenser microphone it just plain won’t work as the computer won’t provide any power for it. If you want a simple computer recording solution you need to go for a USB microphone, they’re a relatively new invention but are rapidly gaining popularity as they’re so easy to use.

Right, now I seem to be running out of words here and I realise I’ve not actually recommended anything specifically and you’re certainly no closer to being able to actually record anything. So in a sentence: Go buy a USB microphone (from www.dv247.com), plug it into your laptop, load up Reaper (www.reaper.fm), point it in the general direction of something, cross your fingers and hit record…

Tweet This Post Plurk This Post Buzz This Post Delicious Digg This Post Facebook MySpace Ping This Post Reddit Stumble This Post