 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: beejay
Date: 2000-06-19 16:54
Well, following an exchange on this bulletin board some little time ago, I finally splurged and bought myself a digital minidisk recorder and a decent microphone. My teacher is going to record one part from the Mozart wind instrument duets so that I can practice the other part during the summer vacations. Can anyone give me some advice about where to place the mike for best effect, and also whether I need to record in a room with lots of carpets and drapes, or should there be some echo? Many thanks.
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Author: Contragirl
Date: 2000-06-19 17:22
My teacher records in a room that doesn't echo, I believe. He has lil carpets in his room, and it's a little room. He said when he finishes his basement studio, he will be putting up more carpets. And he uses a minidisc recorder, I just dont know what kind of microphone.
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Author: S.Koumas
Date: 2000-06-19 21:52
It all depends on the type of recording u want!
Do you want a very dry solid sound? or a free soft sound etc...
The best kind of room to record in is an acoustic room, one with jagged edges and new faces sides coz u will get lots of echo!
Any more info? Just ask!
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Author: Ron D
Date: 2000-06-19 22:28
Its best to reduce excessive reverbrations. the amount of echo will depend on the total areas that have hard surfaces. Its a try and see type of project. A trick we used in broadscasting from a small station was to staple cardboard egg containers to the wall and celling until we got the balance we desired, just keep adding carpeting and other sound dampning materials to the wall floor and celling until you are satified with the sound. If you want to go all out you can buy a product called studiofoam made by Auralex acoustics it costs about $200.00 US for 96 sq. foot and is glued to the surfaces you want to reduce the bounce back from. Usually available in charcoal, but I beleive other colors are available.
A good source for this product is Musician friend in Medford Oregon USA. they have a web site www.musiciansfriend.com . they are heavy on electric guitars and keyboards also have a great selection of recording gear and mikes. This is not a commercial for them but I use them for many of my electronic recording needs and they do understand the needs of musicians.
Dont get carried away with this project, if you overdo it the sound you produce will sound dead and seem to fall away from your horn. When I was involved with testing speakers the engineers used a room that was completely muffeled in order to test the quality of speakers without any outside reverbration, Standing in that room and speaking was a strange experiance.
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Author: RonD
Date: 2000-06-19 22:59
Sorry but I forgot to address the first part of your post. The placement of the mike should be about 6 inches in front of your horn for the best effect,but the problem is that as you play you tend to move the horn from the optimal recording position and it's going to be very hard to not have some degree of movement. This will degrade the sound quality.
A good solution is to use a microphone that attaches mechanically to the instrument and keeps the sound at a constant angle and distance from the mike.
This type of system is available from International Music Suppliers and The Woodwind and Brasswind of Paris They are called system instrument microphones you can see them in the ww@bw catalog on page 154 of the US catalog.
Since i beleive you said at one time that you lived in paris this should make it easier for you to get information.
the address in Paris is
11-15 avenue du Noveau Conservatoire
Parc de la Villette, 75019 Paris
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2000-06-19 23:09
You may want to contact Ben Maas at 5th Circle (he's a sponsor - check the Sponsor's pages). Ben records music for people for a living, and has been helpful to me when I asked a few questions. He's posted a bit in the Klarinet archives - you might want to check for his postings there first.
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Author: Willie
Date: 2000-06-20 05:39
The recycled cardboard (not styrofoam) egg cartons are what my dad used for years as echo busters. Another advantage of these is you can take them down and stack them im a small space. You can also take them with you and either tack them to a wall or hang them from one another with string if you want to do recordings at a different location. One other product that works good too is the foam rubber cushions used in hospitals for bed ridden patients. These have little pyramids all over one side and can some times be found at sporting goods stores for campimg. Myself, I prefer the 18 egg cartons as I get them free from my neighbors (I'm cheap).
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Author: Bob Gardner
Date: 2000-06-20 15:40
Willie wrote:
-------------------------------
One other product that works good
too is the foam rubber cushions used in hospitals for bed ridden patients.
Willie: would you believe that they are called egg crate mattress
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Author: Willie
Date: 2000-06-21 05:51
That does sound a heck of a lot more logical than some of the fancy medical and technical names I've seen on them.
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Author: beejay
Date: 2000-06-21 12:41
Well, I have found after some experimentation that placing the mike on the music stand about one foot away from the instrument in a carpeted room is giving quite nice results. My usual audience (my wife) says she can't tell any difference between the recording and the original. It sounds different to me though, just the same as my voice sounds differently on tape than when I hear myself talking. Just goes to show how we hear the sound in our heads and the projected sound in different ways.
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