Transcription of the video above
The mic you already own is probably fine. Where you put it makes a bigger difference than what you paid for it — and placement is free. The 3:1 rule is one of those back-of-the-napkin tools that teaches you more about how microphones actually hear a room than any gear review ever will. It’s not really a rule. It’s a starting point for thinking about phase, distance, and what happens when two mics pick up the same source at different times.
The full lesson: Our Hardware Recording guide covers mic types and selection, mono recording technique, and metering, levels, and phase — all free.
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.
