Klarinet Archive - Posting 000097.txt from 2010/02

From: "Benjamin Maas" <benmaas@-----.com>
Subj: RE: [kl] Clarinet EQ
Date: Thu, 18 Feb 2010 16:45:43 -0500

Been meaning to respond here, but life and work has kept me busy...

The answer to all of these questions are "it depends."

There are no set EQs that will work for a clarinet- the sound you have on
tape (figuratively speaking) is a result of a combination of factors that
change on every recording made. These include, the mic position, the
microphone itself, the preamp and last but certainly not least, the room it
is being played in (never mind the player issues such as reeds). Even with
the same mic in the same room through the same preamp, you'll find different
sounds. Why? The positioning is never exact and the sound of a room can
change with the relative humidy.

That being said, here's a couple guidelines that may help you get started.
A wide boost in the range of lets say 200 Hz to 350Hz will give a bit warmer
sound. A cut in the 3KHz to 6KHz range will take off some of the edge- but
be careful, too much of a cut there will make the sound rather dead and
lifeless. A shelf in the 10-12 KHz range will add "air" to the sound and
open things up a bit without making it too bright sounding. A narrow cut in
the range of 400-550 Hz will help tame a "boxy" sound. A cut in the range
of perhaps 800Hz to 1.5 KHz will help tame a nasal sound.

Beyond that, as I said, ever situation is different. What I usually
recommend to those trying to learn to EQ is to do drastic moves. Raise or
lower a frequency by 15 or 20 dB. Go extreme and you'll hear very clearly
what you're working with. As you sweep the frequency, you'll begin to
notice magic spots for given sounds that will really help you out. At that
point, move the gain of the cut to only a couple dB and you should be in
pretty good shape.

As for ribbons vs. condensers... Apples and oranges. Both can be good, but
both have massively different sounds. A ribbon will generally be a bit more
mellow and take to EQ better. But, like all mics, there are quality ones
and crappy ones. I recommend highly Royer, AEA and Coles. I also recommend
Beyer, but not as much as the previously mentioned mics. I do not recommend
the Chinese-made ribbons out there that appear under a slew of different
names. Some have been modded out by replacing the ribbons, transformers and
such and they can be ok. The stock ones are really not great, though, IMO.
A good ribbon will be in the same price range as a good condenser. For
condensers, I recommend Schoeps, Sennheiser MKH8000 series or MKH40, some of
the vintage Neumann and AKG mics, some Microtech Gefell, and such... There
are plenty of good mics depending on what sort of sound you're looking for,
but rarely do I find mics that I really love under about $1000 new.

--Ben

Benjamin Maas
Fifth Circle Audio
Long Beach, CA

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Tom Puwalski [mailto:tski1128@-----.com]
> Sent: Sunday, February 14, 2010 11:22 AM
> To: klarinet@-----.org
> Subject: [kl] Clarinet EQ
>
> Does anyone have any eq ideas on what seems to be "normal" for close
> miced clarinet? Have you noticed diffences between ribbon and
> condensor mics?
>
> Thanks Tom Puwalski
>

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