Yamaha AW2816 Manual page 10

vocalists do use dynamic microphones for recording vocals a large diaphragm condenser or tube
microphone is more common.
Acoustic Guitar
For mono recording, a small condenser microphone placed 8-12 inches from the guitar at about
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the 12 fret will give a nice bright acoustic guitar sound. For a more open sound use a large
diaphragm condenser or tube microphone placed 8-12 inches directly in front of the guitar.
Moving the microphone towards the bridge will provide lower end while moving the microphone
up the neck will provide a brighter sound. For a stereo recording the most common method is to
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use a small diaphragm condenser at the 12 fret as mentioned above and also a large diaphragm
condenser about 12 inches directly in front of the guitar or towards the bridge.
Electric Guitar
There are many different approaches to recording the electric guitar but the most basic is to
simply connect the guitar to an amplifier and use a dynamic microphone on the guitar amp. The
microphone should be fairly close to the grill cloth of the amplifier and a little off-axis from the
cone of the speaker. For a more open sound, place a large diaphragm condenser microphone a
few feet back from the amplifier and mix it with the signal of the dynamic microphone.
Electric Bass Guitar
The most common approach to recording an electric bass guitar is to run it through a DI box and
then into the mixing console. On the AW4416 there is a High Z input. This allows the electric
bass to be connected directly to the mixing console instead of going through the DI box. If
desired it can instead be connected to a bass amplifier and the amplifier would be recorded in the
same manner as described above for recording the electric guitar.
Drum set
There are two basic approaches to recording the drum set. One is to close mike the drum kit.
This involves having microphones close up on each individual drum, a stereo pair of overhead
microphones, and possibly distant room microphones also. This will provide a nice, tight sound
and the individual drum levels will be much more controllable. The drawback is that this
requires many microphones and will take up a large number of tracks on the multi-track recorder.
The second approach is to only use a few microphones. This will produce a more open, roomier
sound. If done correctly this will provide a very natural drum sound with a minimum number of
microphones. This will take a little more practice and more attention to microphone placement
than the close mike approach. A basic setup would be to use a separate microphone on the kick
and the snare drums, and also a stereo pair of overhead microphones. A distant room
microphone can also be used if desired.
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