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Mic an Instrument From Behind

October 11, 2024 · Beat Kitchen · Recording Engineering

Hardware & Recording

Full transparency, I’ve never mic’d an elephant. Consider softening the attack of an instrument by mic’ing it from behind: the back of an upright piano, the underside of a cymbal, even the back of a violin. It can suppress some of the abrasive qualities, the clicks, hammer noise — and capture a surprisingly round, full picture of the instrument.

Remember: there are no rules, people. Also, you’re doing it wrong. Just kidding.

Tags: microphone, recording, mic-placement

Photo of an elephant from behind with overlaid text about mic'ing instruments from the back to soften the attack

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Recent Resident Gyms
- OFFICE HOURS: Went through a mix of Alee's and talked about arrangement, distribution of frequencies and lumping in mixes
- THEORY-GYM: We dug into Al Jarreau's "We're in This Love Together" as a live analysis vehicle, unpacking its deceptively simple harmonic language — predominantly plagal motion, super sus chords, and bass-line-driven pseudo-chord changes. From there we traced a sophisticated turnaround section that flirts with a Giant Steps-style modulation before resolving differently, and closed with a brief but rich look at vocal formant production and how great singers physically shape tone without needing the engineer to fix it.
- PRODUCTION-GYM: Breakdown of "Time Moves Slow" by BADBADNOTGOOD, production style, tempo push/pull, song structure, drum texture and keyboard sound
- OFFICE HOURS: We talked about picking monitors and acoustic treatment
- THEORY-GYM: We used Nina Simone's "I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free" as a masterclass in arrangement, mix balance, and harmonic construction. Explored how a song with minimal formal structure can build enormous intensity through restraint, dynamic layering, and the deliberate elevation of a single voice above the ensemble. Worked through the chord progression in B-flat, covering secondary dominants, the plagal cadence, sus chords, and invertional analysis (6-3 and 6-4 voicings) in relation to the harmonic series.
- OFFICE HOURS: We talked about producing for other artists and some of the steps required to practice doing so, artist residencies, and going from thinking to doing.
- WEEKLY-BEAT-CHALLENGE: Reviewed beats and tracks submitted by students for the Weekly Beat Challenge. Covered topics ranged from animated/interactive audio installations and code-driven visuals to detailed mix critique — examining dynamics, compression, drum bus treatment, stereo imaging, and the concept of "overworking" a mix. Closed out with some DAW workflow tips including creating click tracks from recorded guitar, using separate drum channels for verse/chorus treatment, and a quick-action loudness tool for macOS.
- INSTRUMENT-GYM: Piano hand independence with basic boogie-woogie piano exercises and blues patterns
- OFFICE HOURS: Bouncing stems in pro tools stems vs track outs Bouncing a track in pro tools Mastering compressor basics signal flow in pro tools
- THEORY-GYM: Bewitched!!! Vintage TV music is the greatest! We explored suspension chords and their relationship to 2-5-1 progressions, using the Bewitched TV theme as a live listening and analysis example. Covered how a C suspended 4 chord functions similarly to a G minor–to–C motion, and how bass lines can imply either a "in two" or "in four" feel over the same harmonic material. We also touched on how the theme evolved across the show's run — changes in instrumentation, orchestration, and swing feel that reflect both budget and era.
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- Office Hours: Nathan
  Mar. 15, 1pm (PT) | 4pm (ET) | 9pm (UK)
- Office Hours: Nathan
  Mar. 15, 5pm (PT) | 8pm (ET) | 1am (UK)
- Weekly Beat Challenge: Nathan
  Mar. 16, 7am (PT) | 10am (ET) | 3pm (UK)
- Office Hours: Jam Phelps
  Mar. 16, 9am (PT) | 12pm (ET) | 5pm (UK)
- Production Gym: Ben Krueger
  Mar. 16, 9pm (PT) | 12am (ET) | 5am (UK)
- Instrument Gym: Kallie
  Mar. 17, 7am (PT) | 10am (ET) | 3pm (UK)
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Upcoming Courses
- Apr 02, 2026 Comprehensive Program
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- Apr 18, 2026 Harmony 1-Day Intensive
- Apr 19, 2026 Musician Basics Elective
- Apr 22, 2026 Effects, Synth, & Mixing Primer
- May 7, 2026 Hardware & Recording Primer
- May 11, 2026 Vocal Kitchen
- May 23, 2026 Logic Pro 1-Day Intensive
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