I had to record myself improvising on some recycled percussion for a class on rhythm that I am taking this quarter. I set-up 32 vessels, 4 lids, a glass plate, a pair of beaters, and seven microphones.
I then recorded a take (and went over the 5 minute limit for the assignment):
After recording a take in Logic Pro X, I dragged the video I took with my iPad into the DAW, balanced the faders, fixed a couple of issues with volume automation, utilized a little bit of dynamic compression (and gain staging), panned a few microphones (as if you were listening from where I was standing in the video), and used a limiter on the master channel to preserve the loudness of the production.
I used the following microphones:
Audio Technica Performer Series Pr325 Unidirectional Lo-Z Dynamic Microphone
Two Bietrun SY-WXM-2 Battery-Powered Dynamic UHF-Wireless Microphones (w/ 1 Receiver)
Sony F-98 Cardioid Lo-Z Dynamic Microphone
Two Comica BoomX-D2 Lavalier Microphones (w/ 2 Transmitters & 1 Receiver)
Apple iPad Air 2’s Microphone (Recorded w/ the Camera App)
I placed the Microphones Accordingly:
Pr325: On a K&M 21090 Microphone Stand over the Chinese tin banks slightly right* of center (over between the cocoa tin & Chinese tin bank “4” (the red one)), angled ≈20° (compared to the wall)
SY-WXM-2 #1: On the conga drum (bottom right) facing between the snowflake tin and the popcorn tin’s lid
SY-WXM-2 #2: On a stack of three boxes (bottom left), facing the glass plate
F-98: On a vintage mic stand next to the cup with the Diet Pepsi can, pointing ≈10° away from the ground
BoomX-D2 #1: On a music stand over the blue alcohol tin
BoomX-D2 #2: On another music stand hovering near the skinnier jar (& the mint tea tin)
iPad: On the left a couple feet away from the card table. The mic is facing towards the Manhasset Music Stand that the iPad is held by.
*Left & Right refer to the sides of the image above
Before I moved around the microphones to use them for other purposes, I took some measurements and sketched some of the placements. What I wrote-down is cryptic to understand without an extensive explanation, but I can use it to create a better sketch if anyone is interested:
