Favorite Boundry Mic technique?

[Brett Siler]

So what is everyones favorite boundry mic technique?

[Punkity]

Toss it on the pillow in the kick drum. Closest to set and forget I've ever come across.

Never did much else with it except tape a couple to the walls of the practice space years ago.

[dynomike]

yeah.. inside kick drum, sometimes i leave it right on the wood. crazy snap. blend that with an outside mic and you're set for an agressive sound without eq. the outside mic can be right up on the resonant head to get lots of boom. i used to always do this.

also, taping one on each of the side walls surrounding a drum kit is cool for a wide stereo sound.

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i haven't found a good use for them that ain't drums.

[@?,*???&?]

Taped to the walls behind the drumkit has been effective. In front of a guitar cabinet with a towel thrown over it has been cool as well. We're talking Crown PZMs here too...

[Mzkguy]

I used to love the small Crown PZM's on piano. I'd either tape them to the lid of the piano or I'd slide them under the piano strings & let them sit on the soundboard of the piano. I also like them on acoustic bass. Just lay it at the peg of the bass (carefull they don't put the bass on it). Lot's of the bottom end...nice to mix in with other mics.

...and the monkey presses the button.

[MarcoPogo]

***Tracking drums with a kick drum and a PZM taped to the drummer's chest works very well sometimes. It makes mixing simpler when you have two tracks of drums- Alternatively it's fun to use a guitar amp/speaker on the bass drum, or a mic in a large water machine bottle in front of it. Acoustic filters are fun in general, meaning putting the PZM in a box, tube, bowl, collander...

Cheers,

-MR

Mark Rubel

[Professor]

I have a couple of the nice MBHO PZM mics with changeable capsules and all, and I really like placing the mic about 12-18 inches in front of a guitar, even a little further if it is a 2x or 4x cabinet so the amp sound can come together a bit before the mic grabs it. Very nice results.
Taped under the piano lid is always useful when you can't open the lid for isolation reasons - usually I'll use omni capsules there.
Never tried the fig-8 capsules on the PZM but I want to do that sometime - just haven't had an application yet.

-Jeremy

[Brett Siler]

***Tracking drums with a kick drum and a PZM taped to the drummer's chest works very well sometimes.

Seriously?! Thats awesome! That reminds me of my friend clipped a small mic to the drummers, cause" if it sounds good to him then it will sound good there"

He was happy with the results too.

[Catoogie]

cause" if it sounds good to him then it will sound good there"

I used to be of that thinking as well until I realized most times drummers are wearing headphones when they're recording. Plus, when they're not wearing headphones they're not listening through their chest, or from behind their head or what ever place people place mics to capture the "drummers perspective". More importantly they're not hearing in mono so that throws that out the window if that's what you're seeking. Having said that I LOVE mono drums but the sooner you stop trying to cature the drums from a drummers perspective the better off you'll be. Mic the instrument where they sound best to your ears.

[squizo]

i used to do inside the kick drum when i had a four-track....worked every time

now i put it on a 3' wood stool right in front of the kick for awesome one-mic-mono drums....through any decent pre and comp.....iit's the easiest way to get a HUGE sound Quick!!!

I've never used the crowns though....mine is a modified Realistic with the XLR and a major voltage increase

i've even used it on vocals,cello and bass guitar cabinet using the stool as well....

The stool makes a good resonator i guess

[rhythm ranch]

Taped to the walls behind the drumkit has been effective.

Absolutely. Got one of the most "real" drum sounds ever with two PZMs on the wall behind and to the left and right of the drummer's head and an RE-20 on the kick.

[Dot]

For drum OH's I'll take to music stands and put the in a V shape - sort of emulating a persons head facing the drum kit. Then I'll duct tape a PZM on each stand - roughly approximating where the ears on the head would be. Gives great space and detail.

I got the idea for that technique from watching a PBS program years ago about Pierre Sprey at Mapleshade who made these stunningly stereo recordings with a plexiglass pyramid with a PZM taped to either side.

I've also used PZM's taped to the wall as an aux return and fed aux sends out into the main studio through speakers for a natural room sound.

PZM's also make cool hai hat mics. Just put one on a stand smooth side down and stick it over the hat.

[squizo]

i totally forgot!!

I used to tape 2 pzms together back to back for some awesome stereo drum OH!!!

I haven't done that in years (four-track years)

I'm gonna try it now that i have some better pres n such

[rhythm ranch]

i totally forgot!!

I used to tape 2 pzms together back to back for some awesome stereo drum OH!!!

And I forgot I once did that for background vox. Had a circle of 10 singers around two PZMs taped back to back. Nice stereo track with just the right amount of room.

[squizo]

Posted: Sun 22.08.04, 2:48 pm Post subject: Re: Favorite Boundry Mic technique?
squizo wrote:
i totally forgot!!

I used to tape 2 pzms together back to back for some awesome stereo drum OH!!!

And I forgot I once did that for background vox. Had a circle of 10 singers around two PZMs taped back to back. Nice stereo track with just the right amount of room.

Hell yeah...i have a manual of operation for mine still and it recommends it for that use specifically.....i always wanted to try tracking some strings or maybe using them for M/S