Klarinet Archive - Posting 000014.txt from 2011/03

From: Nitai Levi <clarnibass@-----.com>
Subj: [kl] Clarinet & bass clarinet pickup - conclusions
Date: Sun, 06 Mar 2011 08:43:27 -0500

For anyone who is interested...

A while ago I asked about clarinet pickups. One person wrote to me:=A0"I'd =
be =

interested to hear about which solution you eventually adopt."
So here is what I found.

The pickup I'm using is mounted to a hole in a soprano clarinet barrel or i=
n the =

same way to an extension connected ot the bass clarinet neck. For the purpo=
se it =

works great and actually better than I expected. It was made for soprano =

clarinet and response is very even for this. On bass clarinet there is a =

slightly louder response around 130Hz but this is a very minor issue. The t=
one =

is not as natural as some other options, which is not especially important =
for =

the purpose of this pickup. There a little bit more key noise than other mi=
cs =

which is a small issue most of the time and sometimes an advantage and anot=
her =

option to use. I would use this pickup when I want the most even response, =
to =

use with effects and/or through a computer, with other amplified instrument=
s, in =

loud concerts, etc.

I use clip-on mics sometimes. I=A0prefer the AMT double mic personally, but=
have =

tried ones by Shure, AKG, SD Systems. These give a=A0sound more similar to =
the =

"normal" sound of the instrument. These can be great in a lot of situations=
, but =

with very loud (which doesn't meant too loud) concerts they can=A0cause fee=
dback =

and it's problematic. Although response is very even with these, it is stil=
l not =

as even as the pickup, with notes coming directly under the mics a bit loud=
er =

than ones coming from tone holes further away (even with the double mic). F=
or a =

lot of situations this is not an issue at all since it;s a small difference=
, but =

for some it is, which the pickup solves.

Sometimes=A0two dyanmic mics are good and can get pretty good volume withou=
t =

feedback.=A0Most of the time=A0it won't work for being equal to the electri=
c =

instruments, or using the effects, but can be a good option sometimes (used=
this =

in an alternative/rock band with a 3-person woodwind section).

For chamber music or "classical" type music that does have amplification =

(e.g.=A0pop/musical) where the overall sound is still like a classical ense=
mble, =

it is most common to use some type of (condenser)=A0microphones not too clo=
se to =

the instruments (Neumann, AKG, Gefell, Shure are common ones). I've had sou=
nd =

engineers use these for small orchestra or even very small groups (e.g. tri=
o of =

clarinet/piano/contrabass). These are completely impossible to use in the =

situations the pickup is for.

Of course this is only for situations that need/want amplification.

Overall the pickup does what it needs to do and for this works better than =
any =

other options I've tried. Here is a short (and almost random) sample when I=
just =

started experimenting with it. It isn't connected to a correct input, which =

would improve signal. The effects are delay, a little reverb and a tiny bit=
of =

overdive (all free ones came with the software, not great ones).
http://soundcloud.com/clarnibass/1st-pickup-exp

=

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