Question regarding mic recording of percs...

[matthews]

This might be a really stupid question, but I'll give it a go anyways, as I'm sure someone will be able to point me in the right direction rather quickly.

I've always used samples / midi when making music before. However, I've recently purchased a microphone in an attempt to humanize things a little. It's an AKG Perception 220 Condenser Mic. It's being used primarily for recording things like Shakers, Tams, Guiros, etc.

When I record in as Mono, everything functions as expected. When I record in as stereo though, the input recording is picked up hard to the left (~-2db), but the right side is barely there, it's only picking up a few decibels. Channel pan is set as center. Should recording in at Stereo not pick up Left & Right at the same(ish) level? The source in question is being recorded in at the centre of mic, not hard to either side....

[matthews]

bump?

[grunzlaut]

Is your mic a stereo mic? I suppose not. If you route a mono signal into a stereo input one channel will receive this signal (in your case the left channel), the other one won´t receive anything.

[matthews]

^^^^
Fuck I never even thought about that, but it would make sense. I'll have to check the specifications, but its a standard XLR input so I guess it must be mono then?

As I said earlier, I bought it just to be able to use with shakers, tams, etc., to humanize my tracks a bit. Can/Should this type of thing be done in mono anyways, or is it really best to do it in stereo? Do I potentially need to be looking for a new mic now?

[fishmonkey]

don't panic, 99.9% of mics are single-channel. stereo micing is usually done with a pair of microphones.

i wouldn't worry about stereo micing for now, experiment and learn how to use one mic first. in particular, try different sounding rooms, try moving the instruments to different parts of the rooms, and experiment with mic placement. get someone to play while you move the mic around while monitoring through headphones so you can hear how things change...

[matthews]

Thanks for the reply, looks like i'll be experimenting for the next couple weeks

If anyone else has some tips or good techniques that would come into play here, please share