Live Recording Bass,Guitar, Keys & Vocal Recording Methods

After selecting the microphones for recording drums I focused my attention on the approaches I would take for recording bass, guitars and keys in my live recordings. White (2000) suggests that bass guitars and keys are mostly D.I'd for this purpose. This is to ensure the signals are completely clean and refrain from any spillage/bleed from other microphones. The bass amplifier has a direct out on the head itself, eliminating the need for a D.I. box whereas I will have to utilise a D.I. box to record the keys.

When recording guitars I originally opted for using Shure SM57s however these were in use when I had arranged to record the live session and I have to compromise and opt for another suitable option. After much deliberation I decided to use the Sennheiser E906 dynamic microphone. 

The E906 (Sennheiser, 2016) is designed specifically for the recording of electric guitars, percussion and brass. It features a super-cardioid polar pattern and a flat diaphragm allowing the microphone to be placed directly in front of the amplifier. These two factors suggest that the microphone will be apt for this application, placing a super cardioid microphone close to the sound source should pick up a relatively clean signal from the source with little spill. Below are the polar pattern and frequency response diagrams of the E906. 

Finally, I decided to opt for a large diaphragm condenser microphone when recording vocals in order to try and capture as much detail as possible. For this I used the sE 2200T combined with a pop shield and reflection filter to attempt to minimise spill from other sound sources. 

The above diagram details the polar pattern and frequency response of the SE2200T and further information is available to view via the following hyper-link  https://www.scan.co.uk/images/products-extra/ProAudio/Microphones/condenser-mics/LN51384/2200t.pdf  (Scan Computers International Ltd., 2016). If positioned correctly I feel that the SE2200T would be particularly efficient in the live recordings.