Setting Up a Multi-Mic Roundtable Recording

A roundtable with three or four voices is one of the hardest things to record cleanly. Every microphone picks up every speaker, and without a plan the result is a wall of bleed and crosstalk.

Set up the roundtable for clean separation.

1. Give each speaker their own cardioid microphone.
2. Space mics at least three feet apart and aim them away from each other.
3. Use the three-to-one rule so mics are three times farther apart than from the mouth.
4. Record each voice on its own track for later editing.

Proper spacing and cardioid patterns do most of the work. The rest is discipline at the table, keeping one voice at a time when it matters most.

The roundtable is where preparation pays off most visibly. When every voice is clean and separated, the edit is a pleasure instead of a puzzle, and the conversation keeps the energy that made you want to record it in the first place.