Microphone setup
Where the microphones stand is designed before anybody records, against the room they will be standing in and the voice they will be pointed at.
The short version
What starts working. Sources separated enough to balance independently, a room that can be quietened without hollowing the voice, and a placement written down with its reasoning for whoever sets it up next.
Is this for you? For recordings where room sound or source overlap makes the mix difficult. We start with your files and confirm the setup with you. Not if the only question is which microphone to buy; positions are settled before any purchase.
What leaves your plate. Placement advice, a written setup and checks on the next recording, with equipment recommendations only where they help.
Start with the Free Audit.
The voice is measured before the stand is placed
How many inputs there are, and what each one is there to give the mix, is settled on the multi-microphone setups page; this one is only about where those microphones physically stand, in the room you record in.
A recording can reveal a placement problem
On one partnership, instrument and teaching arrived too closely mixed. We listened to the files, proposed a likely placement problem and confirmed the setup with the partner before recommending a new arrangement.
Placement changes what can be repaired later
A stronger separation between the intended source and unwanted sound gives post-production more room to work. On that partnership, moving the stands made it possible to reduce the room sound with less damage to the voice.
Starting from the person in the chair
Somebody who projects and somebody who murmurs are two different acoustic problems in the same chair. A lesson that alternates between speaking and playing needs a position that survives both without a hand on a fader. So the design starts from the person and the material in front of them, and the equipment question comes last, if it arrives at all.
Two sources in one room is a geometry problem
Where an instrument and a voice share a space, the first question is never which microphone to buy. It is where each one has to stand so that each source arrives loudest where it is wanted and quietest where it is not. Distance and angle cost nothing and decide almost everything, which is why they are worth an hour of somebody's attention weeks before a shoot day.
From the files to the re-check
The sequence only. Distances belong to the room and the voice, and they are chosen per setup.
| Read from | the files already delivered |
|---|---|
| Confirmed with | whoever set the microphones up |
| Decided against | the room, the voice, and what the mix has to separate |
| Room advice | on a video call, before anything is bought |
| Re-checked | on the first batch recorded after the change |
Positions somebody can rebuild
What gets decided
Distance, height and angle for every input. What the spare input is doing. Which source is allowed to bleed into which, because some bleed is useful and some is fatal. Whether the room needs something soft in it before moving a microphone is worth doing at all. All of it written down as positions somebody can rebuild next month without ringing anyone.
How a room gets advised on from another country
The files come first and the conversation follows them. Where a space needs looking at, it gets looked at on a video call: what the floor is, what the walls are, where the noise comes in, and which of those can be improved with a rug and a closed door before anything is bought. Advice given to a room nobody has stood in has to be checked, so the first batch of files after a change is listened to specifically for whether the change worked.
What a room contributes whether it is invited to or not
Hard surfaces can add reflections; appliances can add hum. Microphone position changes how much reaches the recording, but room treatment or removing a noise source may also be needed. We listen for the problem before choosing the remedy.
At the bench
The work, demonstrated
Try a decision from the craft: drag, tap or toggle, then read the trade-off.
These are illustrative models; no partner’s results are shown.
More demonstrations at the bench →Room noise became removable once the microphones moved, and nothing in the software had changed.
What changes for you
Sources that arrive separated enough to be balanced independently, a room that can be quietened without taking the body out of the voice, and a placement written down with its reasoning beside it, so the next person to set that room up is not guessing at somebody else's decision.
Related: Multi-microphone setups · Noise removal · Shoot planning · Camera and lighting setup
Send recent videos. We will identify changes to the recording setup that could improve the next shoot.
Request your Free Audit.
Three fields, and a written reading back.
Your audit usually arrives within three working days. We use your details only to reply to your enquiry.
What you will get
What is working, what could improve and whether we can help.
Two or three priorities, with the reason for each.
A recommended next step, even if that step is not us.
There is no obligation to continue. We only arrange a call if you ask for one.
The work, written up
The case studies keep their dates, sources and limits visible.
See the casework →