Let’s talk three to one rule, because first of all, not a rule, more of a back of the napkin guideline. And it’s designed for recording two instruments with two microphones. And the idea is simply that the microphones should be three times farther away from each other than they are from each source.
The objective being to minimize the potential phase problems that could happen when this signal also gets picked up by that microphone. But you can sometimes see this applied kind of incorrectly, but also sort of usefully to larger instruments, particularly ones that sound different in one place than they do in another. And one of the reasons I think of this as a guideline and not a rule is there are lots of instances where it’s not really clear what is one instrument.
Think of stereo miking or drums. So understand the three to one rule. It’s useful.
Misapply it and apply it with a grain of salt and show this with someone who belongs in a Beat Kitchen class.
