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Preparing for a recording

Author: LeWhite
Date: 2004-09-26 07:44

Hey everyone
I have to do a recording for an upcoming audition (read my other post and you'll know which one) and I've been doing a bit of recording myself on my MiniDisc with an awful mic and I think I sound pretty terrible. For one, it picks up my breathing and key sounds and I sound generally yucky!

I'm going to pay for studio time (my uni studio is only $50 an hour) which should be much better than my cheap mic on an MD, but has anyone got some advice on getting the best possible sound onto a recording? I know that my usual orchestral set-up will NOT work in a small studio.

Thanks in advance everyone!

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Re: Preparing for a recording

Author: msloss
Date: 2004-09-26 20:50

#1 -- don't change your setup!

#2 -- those small cheap electret condenser mics will make anything sound like crap up close. Move it a few feet back from your instrument and try again.

#3 -- Your engineer should know how to record a clarinet properly, but just in case he has been tought only "pop" technique -- ask for a pair of ribbon microphones, or tube condenser mics (or solid-state condensers with tube mic preamps), to give you a sweet and clear presentation of the clarinet. Do NOT close-mic. Back the mics at least 3 feet off the instrument or they will pick up every click, slurp, leak, and gurgle you make. Aim one at the top of the bottom joint, and the other downward toward the bottom of the barrel (so it doesn't have line of sight with your face). This will give you a fairly even representation of the full length. Don't point a mic into the bell or you will get a lot of sizzle in the sound, and the E/B will jump out much louder than anything else. The room will likely be pretty dead, so have the engineer sweeten it with a little reverb -- not soupy, just enough to let the sound ring a little.

Good luck.

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