One Mic - No Shit

We've been chewing the fat about how to record our long-awaited second album. I've become a fan of the 'one mic' approach to live performance, at least for concert sets. We played two such sets at Port Fairy Folk Festival this year and the sound was the best I've heard us play. The musicians create the mix by moving toward and away from the centre mic necessitating some deft footwork and choreography, all of which adds to the quality of the performance.

So we're going to try recording using one/two mics to try to capture the live quality of old style bluegrass. I've been Googling for articles about one mic recording, and found this excerpt from George Gruhn, one of the most respected purveyor of fine acoustic instruments in the US. I beleive he is the agent for Steve Gilchrist's famed mandolins, as well as instruments by other noted Australian luthiers.

It has long been my opinion that while mixing boards and stage monitors are a great technological advance, they can serve to stifle creativity on stage. Putting musicians in a straight line facing the audience rather than in eye contact with each other results in what I call the "sushi bar approach to musical conversation." If one goes to a sushi bar with one friend it is possible to sit and talk. If three people go, the one in the middle can talk to either of the others but the two on the end have difficulty communicating. If five or six people go it is virtually impossible to have a conversation with everyone arranged in a straight line. Conversation occurs best in a circle or semi-circle if there are multiple parties involved. Playing music is not unlike a verbal conversation in this regard. I have similar feelings regarding recording music in studio settings where each player is visually isolated or in which session musicians come in to lay down tracks without ever even meeting the other participants, but the studio setting is more forgiving than a live show in which miscues can't be redone. While it is obvious that some great albums have been made in this manner, they frequently lack the spontaneity of the old system in which players actually got together in one room and frequently were able to record an entire album in one day.

Bluegrass and old-timey acoustic musicians tend to be purists and have resisted the movement to place pickups or microphones in or on their instruments. Many of them, however, struggle to get good sound through PA systems. If they are lined up in the "sushi bar approach," not only are they out of eye contact with each other, but they must rely on a soundman to adjust their sound levels. All too often when a player takes a solo instrumental break, the soundman is out of sync and has the wrong mic turned up or has enough delay that a significant portion of the solo may be inaudible to the audience. In discussing this problem with my friend John Hartford over 20 years ago, we came to the conclusion that a good solution for him would be to carry one high-quality studio grade microphone with him and use it on all of his stage gigs rather than relying on a soundman or gear provided by the venues. John used one mic for himself and the entire band in an attempt to recapture the spontaneity and visual appeal of the old days. It worked beautifully. Today, many bluegrass bands have gone back to this system and find that it suits them far better than having 10 microphones for five players. Not only are the musicians able to be more spontaneous when they are in eye and ear contact with each other, but they are far more in control of their own sound. They control their balance within the group by their physical position with respect to the microphone, and they can be well assured that the soundman won't forget to turn on their mic when it comes time for their solo.

I'll keep you informed about our progress.