Adventures in straying from the norm

Some of the most innovative recordings come from daring to be different from the norm Not that the "norm" doesn't work - doing what is typically done is safe and almost always guarantees good sound.

What is the "norm"? Almost every recording engineer I know who was trained in the late '60s or early '70s (like myself) learned standard basic microphone techniques. In the '60s, what was typically done was dictated by the lack of tracks available and therefore, distant miking techniques were used. For example, Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham was recorded with three microphones. By 1971, we started using 24 tracks. So now, the distant miking techniques of the '60s were overshadowed by …