Al Schmitt on Tracking Acoustic Guitar

Al doesn't stereo mic acoustic guitar very often so instead he prefers to place a single mic, pointing down at the sound hole about 18 inches away.

For these he's known to use either an Audio Technica 4080 or Royer 122.

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Al Schmitt on Tracking Jazz Upright Bass

This one will be really short and sweet. But Al is known to mic the f-hole of the bass about 18 inches away with either a Neumann U47 or Neumann M149, and he mics the fingerboard where the player is fretting at about 9-10 inches away with either of the same two microphones.

He sets the mics to cardoid to combat leakage from the drums.

And then sends that signal to the Summit Audio TLA-100 compressor for a dB or less of compression. He uses the compressor for color not actual compression.

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Al Schmitt on Tracking Drums

Kick: AKG D112
Snare Top: AKG 452 (aimed at where the stick usually strikes most)
Snare Bottom: Shure SM57 (as close to the snare wire as possible and out of phase)
Toms: AKG 414 (with 10 db pad enabled)
HH: AKG C525 (pointing down at the hi-hat)
OH: A pair of Telefunken C12's or AKG 5045's. (placed a little bit higher than the drummer's head)

You can also use Neumann M149's, Royer 121's, or AKG 451's for your overheads and get a comparable sound.

Note: The majority of the sound is the overheads and the other mics are blended in for a balance, but the main drum sound is the overheads.

Reverb: Lexicon 480L "Small & Stage" preset.

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Combatting Vocal/Piano Bleed

My preferred way of recording a piano/vocal performance is to use two condenser mics, preferably a 3 inches from the strings or if it's a upright piano, just mic the back of the piano.

It's a good idea to use some baffling.  A large piece of foam or anything that blocks the path of the piano bleeding into the vocal mic is preferable. Simply place it where the sheet music would go.

Then use a directional mic, something like a dynamic mic which will reject more of the piano bleed.

Keep in mind that this is a live performance, so treat it like a live performance. And most importantly...it's about capturing a great performance before everything else.

Joe Barresi on Rock Drums

Kick In: Sennheiser MD421 or Shure Beta 52
Kick Out: Neumann 47 FET or Beyer 160 (three feet away)
Snare Top: Shure SM57
Snare Bottom: Shure SM57 or Sennheiser 441
Hi-Hat/Ride: Shure SM57 (for something sloppy) or a condenser (for something tighter)
Toms: Sennheiseser MD421 or Neumann U87
Overheads: Neumann U47, Neumann U67, Sony C37, AKG 414
Room: AKG 414, Neumann U87, Coles Ribbon Mic;

Note: For room mics, he likes to use M/S (midside) or Blumlein and set those mic(s) in the middle of the room. And then compress the room mic on the way in. 

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Joe Barresi on Rock Vocals

He tries different mics for different singers. He never knows prior to the session which he should use.

He then compresses the vocal on the way in, sometimes using an LA-2A, but more often than not a Urei 1176 peak limiter.




For the Queens of the Stone Age, he used different mics on [blank] for different songs.

For pristine vocals he used the Brauner VM1.

And for other tracks he used the Neumann M149, Shure KSM44, BLUE Ball or even the Shure SM57.

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Dead Weather: Drum Sound

Kick Out: Coles 4038 at floor level in front of kick.

Kick Out: AKG D12 on kick as well as a SM-10 (sub kick).

Toms: Coles 4038 overlooking the floor toms.

OH: AEA R88 (mono) overlooking the kit as an overhead.

Snare: Shure SM57 on snare as a spot mic.

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