 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: beejay
Date: 2001-03-19 15:18
Can anyone give me an idea of where to place the mike for a minidisk recording?. I have a good mike with two settings, one focused and the other general -- which setting should I use? What kind of room is best -- with resonance or more neutral, with carpet and drapes? I tried to get a decent result, but was very disappointed with the sound. I was ready to give up clarinetting, but even my wife agreed that the recording sounded nothing like me. I thought these things were supposed to be so accurate.
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Author: Ken Shaw
Date: 2001-03-19 15:46
Beejay -
Go to the Klarinet archives and search for postings by Ben Maas, who is a recording professional and clarinetist. You'll find extensive information from an expert on Minidiscs, microphones and recording techniques. He knows more than the rest of us combined.
Best regards.
Ken Shaw
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Author: Dee
Date: 2001-03-19 21:36
Also clarinet is a very difficult instrument to record and have it sound like a clarinet.
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Author: joevacc
Date: 2001-03-20 01:21
beejay,
Don't give up yet! Move the mic around!... Try different rooms, clarinets are very hard to record. In a lot of cases two mics are used but I never use two mics when one mic will do! Try setting the mic up in the corner of the room and play into that corner. The dynamic range of a clarinet is great as you know, if you have a small diaphragm microphone it may not be able to translate all of the low frequencies that are being produced. Try placing the mic at an angle just above the bell and about 35 cm away from the horn. Try variations. Below the bell, to the side of the bell etc. Minidiscs are very good these days but they are not going to sound like the best record you have ever heard BUT you might get lucky so keep trying! A great book that has taught me much in my recording career about mic technique is "The Recording Studio Handbook" by John M. Woram (ISBN 0-914130-01-3) It is an old book but the fundamentals of recording have not changed in 90 years.
Best of luck,
joevacc
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Author: Daniel Bouwmeester
Date: 2001-03-20 09:29
The position of the mic depends on what situtation you're recording in, and what mic you're using.
If you are not going to edit, you are using an ambience mic (such as the usual stereo mics provided with minidisk) and you want a good sound, you have to record in a good acoustic, such as a large room with wooden floor and ceiling, or a church. Place the mic at a good distance, I would say 2 or 3 meters.
If you have good recording equipment such as a DAT, condensor mics and good mic preamps and editing equipment, you can record in a dry room (carpet walls ..etc) but the editing can be very long and very difficult (especially when working on reverbs, and stereo expanding). In this situation the mic has to be close to the middle of the clarinet /
The best result for classical clarinet is usually to do a live recording in a very good acoustic, using cardioid or ultra cardioid condensor mics at a reasonably short distance (~1m). The difficulty in this situation is the position of the mics, the compression and the mixing. If you are recording solo, it will be easy, because you'll have only one or two mics to handle. But, if you are recording an accompanied clarinet then good luck.
The first method is usually very easy, and the result is reasonable. If you don't have good recording equipment don't try other methods. Remember the quality of the recording depends mainly on the quality of the mics not on the recording medium.
Good luck
Daniel
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Author: Anji
Date: 2001-03-20 22:37
SONY makes a really nice, inexpensive Condenser mic with an internal battery.
This pipes directly to the "LINE-IN" of the MD.
It has a few selections for sensitivity patterns on the stalk.
MICing the clarinet probably should be done with two things in mind;
If you want to include the room, set the MIC above head level and away from room boundaries.
If you want to get the tightest sound of the horn, close mics will get the most info, but you will need to "Ride" the mic (move the horn, depending which tone hole is currently venting).
I like putting the mic about 2 feet overhead, 3-6 feet away from the player.
I divide the room into thirds and put the mic 2/3 up from the floor, 1/3 away from the back wall and 3/6 (okay, half) from either side.
MD will rob you of some dynamics and ambience but it is damn near bullet proof.
Like DB said, a good DAT will give you more to work with later.
anji
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