microphone setups and placements

electric guitar 

 this photo shows how we normally set up a microphone to record an electric guitar. as you may notice there is a second amp underneath the one level with the microphone, this has been done to raise the level of the amp plugged in to the guitar because the microphone could not get any lower. the microphone we were using was a SM57 which is the industry standard , it had to be a dynamic mic because that type of microphone can clearly pick up the higher treble frequencies that an electric guitar can produce, however if the volume of the sound is to high it can distort the sound.  the microphone is placed pointing towards the middle of the amp so that the sound is clearer and it has to be quite close so that it doesn't pick up too much reverberation

bass guitar 

This photo shows how we normally set up a bass guitar with it plugged directly in to a DI box. a DI box or direct input box takes a high impedance signal and converts it into a low impudence microphone level input. it performs level matching, balancing, and active buffering to minimize noise, distortion and ground loops.  

drums 

this photo shows how we setup the drum kit, we used 2 c1000's to capture the snare drums and the hi-hat these condenser microphones will require 48 volt phantom power, we are using condenser mics because they are more sturdy and better at picking up a higher volume of sound with out distorting. for the kick drum we used a A D112 dynamic mic this gave us the detail in the bass frequency's we needed and was sturdy enough to pick up the loud sounds of the drum. for the  toms and snare we used  C518 M's these mini condenser mics allow us to get close to the drums with out getting too in the way of the performer, they still need 48 volt phantom power but the can pick up a higher volume than dynamic mics and we need the clarity of the higher frequency's. and finally the overheads (which i have cut out of the photo...sorryyyy D:) are  rode NT2000's in shock mounts, these condenser microphones provide a stereo image of the whole drum kit and make it easier to pan.

vocals

lastly for the vocals we used an SM58 which is the industry standard because it can capture a wider range of frequency's and the thing the headphones are resting on is a reflection filter, this stops noise from the other instruments and masking the vocalist which will be much ,much quieter.