Klarinet Archive - Posting 001147.txt from 1998/12

From: "Benjamin A. Maas" <bmaas@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] Recording clarinet
Date: Wed, 30 Dec 1998 01:06:25 -0500

>I've just set up a modest digital recording studio and was hoping someone
on
>the list might have some good suggestions for recording clarinet -
>microphone set-up (positioning, etc.) and EQ technique to get an even, full
>sound. I have been recorded in studios many times and have rarely been
>pleased with the results.
>Thanks for the help. mike

Clarinet is an instrument that people always complain doesn't record well.
(French Horn is another) I could give an extensive post on techniques,
microphones, etc. to record a clarinet well. BUT, I need to have a bit
better idea of what sort of gear you are going to be working with. Roger
Garrett made a couple of comments and brought up several important
questions, although I could take issue with a couple things he said.

The most important thing for you to do is to use your ears. I could lead
you to several books on stereo recording techniques, but ultimately it
doesn't matter what it looks like, but what it sounds like.

If you are recording somebody else, try walking around and listening to
where you think it sounds best. That is where the microphones should go.
When you start dealing with more than two mics, the rules change quite a
bit.

You will find that with better quality equipment, it will be easier to get a
good sound. If you are using a couple of SM-57's and a radio shack "mixer"
and record to cassette, you won't get a good sound, even if you have great
microphone placement. On the flip side, if you are using quality
microphones (Neumann, Brauner, Coles, B&K, Schoeps, etc...), quality
preamps, and you are recording to a high-end digital format, you will have a
lot more room for error in your placement of the microphones.

I do more work as a recording engineer than as a clarinetist. (so much for
$150,000 in clarinet education!!) I routinely record recitals, concerts
and do work in live sound reinforcement here in Los Angeles. I can give you
some tips that I have learned from recording in my early days with two Shure
SM-81 microphones through a Mackie 1202 into a DAT recorder to t running 45
microphone mixes in orchestral jazz/pops concerts.

Get back to us and I'll be ready to go....

--Ben

Benjamin Maas
Clarinetist and Digital Recording Engineer
Student, University of Southern California
Executive Director, Digital Renaissance Consort
bmaas@-----.net
bmaas@-----.edu

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