-
-
-
- Thread: How to Mic a Flute and How
to Mic a Violin
-
- From: Dan Evans (Lake in the Hills, IL)
- Subject: Flute miking
-
- Any one with the experience of miking a flute for PA?
- 1 mic at the mouth piece?
- 1 mic at the end?
- 2 mics at the keys?
-
- Dan Evans
- Fox Valley Church
- Algonquin, IL
-
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- From: Gary Welker (Glenwood Springs, CO)
- Subject: Re: Flute Miking
-
- Dan,
-
- What I do is take mic and put it about halfway down the
tube, from the
- top. I don't get the breath noise but I get the fullness
of the
- instrument.
-
- Gary Welker
- First Assembly of God, Glenwood Springs, CO
-
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- From: Jim Brown (Chicago, IL)
- Subject: Re: Flute miking
-
- <"Any one with the experience of miking a flute
for PA?">
-
- My experience is with a jazz flute, which absolutely
- DEMANDS a variable-D mic with a very good windscreen,
like
- an RE-11 or RE-16. Jazz flautists will invariably blow
- straight into the mic, hence the need for the RE-11/16.
It
- has never occurred to me (partly because of the
- hard-headedness of many musicians on the subject of mic
- technique) to try any other placements, and their desire
- for a lot of monitor.
-
- Another consideration is that flute is a relatively quiet
- instrument, hence we are often going for gain. If it's
a
- more classical form of music and still needs amplification,
- I would consider giving the instrument some space (like
a
- foot or so).
-
- Most reed instruments, like soprano sax and clarinet
(which
- the flute is not) sound much better if you go for the
- middle of the horn and stay away from the bell. It might
- be worth playing with if you have a cooperative player
and
- some time.
-
- Jim Brown
- Audio Systems Group, Inc.
- Chicago
-
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- From: Thundercraft (Chilliwack, BC, Canada)
- Subject: Re: Flute miking
-
- <"Any one with the experience of miking a flute
for PA?">
-
- I generally use a Peavey condensor (not sure of model
right now) aimed
- toward the mouth. I try to have it between the mouth
piece & no more
- than 1/3 the way down - but usually the flute player
ends up moving a
- bit & it is about 1/2 way down. The sound is produced
at the mouth
- piece.
-
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- From: Ray A. Rayburn (Boulder, CO)
- Subject: Flute miking
-
- Dan -
-
- For sound reinforcement I have rubber-banded a small
condenser lavaliere
- mic about an inch or two from the mouthpiece of the flute.
The sound was
- reasonably natural, and the gain before feedback was
outstanding.
-
- Ray Rayburn
-
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- From: Steve Harper (Norfolk, VA)
- Subject: Re: Flute miking
-
- Dan-
-
- Like most woodwind instruments, sound comes out the whole
thing. With a
- flute, much of the characteristic sound comes from the
mouthpiece. At
- the mouthpiece is lots of breath noise also, and for
inexperienced
- players it more exaggerated. I put a Neumann KM84 about
1/3 of the way
- down from the mouthpiece and about 8-12 inches away.
Sometimes it
- doesn't matter where I set the mic, when the orchestra
comes in they
- move them out of the way to sit down. At least woodwind
players are
- easier to work with than string players :-)
-
- Steve Harper
-
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- From: Thundercraft (Chilliwack, BC, Canada)
- Subject: Re: Flute miking
-
- Speaking of strings... how do you mic a violin (as part
of a worship
- team).
-
- Rob
-
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- From: Jens W. Skov (Denmark)
- Subject: Re: Flute miking
-
- <"Speaking of strings... how do you mic a violin
(as part of a
- worship team).">
-
- Depending on music style, I would use a clip with a small
gooseneck (AKG
- C419) placed on the violin at the shoulder. Or I would
use a condenser
- placed on a stand about half a metre over the violin
from the back
- pointing at the upper middle of the body of the instrument.
-
- Jens W. Skov
- St.Sc.E.E.
- Technical University of Denmark
-
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- From: Thundercraft (Chilliwack, BC, Canada)
- Subject: Re: Flute miking
-
- Jens W. Skov wrote:
-
- <"Depending on music style, I would use a clip
with a small gooseneck
- (AKG C419) placed on the violin at the shoulder. Or I
would use a
- condenser placed on a stand about half a metre over the
violin from
- the back pointing at the upper middle of the body of
the instrument.">
-
- I should point out that at the moment our speakers are
behind (L/R) &
- about 10ft (3M) above.
-
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- From: Jens W. Skov (Denmark)
- Subject: Re: Flute miking
-
- Thundercraft wrote:
-
- <"I should point out that at the moment our speakers
are behind
- (L/R) & about 10ft (3M) above.">
-
- Then I'd definitely go for the close-mic method.
- --
- Jens W. Skov
- St.Sc.E.E.
- Technical University of Denmark
-
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- From: Jim Brown (Chicago, IL)
- Subject: Re: Flute miking
-
- <"Speaking of strings... how do you mic a violin
(as part of a
- worship team).">
-
- When I'm going for gain, I've clipped an omni lav (MKE-2
is
- a very good one) onto each string player's bridge. I've
- done this on a string section with a big band behind
or
- along side them, and it's worked nicely (and with a lot
- less leakage than with 451's on booms overhead). The
451's
- had somewhat sweeter string sound, but the leakage was
a
- killer.
-
- When you're miking a lot of players in a section, you
can
- generally Y identical mics on like instruments in pairs
- into an input.
-
- Jim Brown
- Audio Systems Group, Inc.
- Chicago
-
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- From: Ron Hagelganz (Vancouver, WA)
- Subject: Re: Flute miking
-
- <"Speaking of strings... how do you mic a violin
(as part of a
- worship team). When I'm going for gain, I've clipped
an omni lav
- (MKE-2 is a very good one) onto each string player's
bridge.">
-
- I have also used that method (usually with a uni tho...)
with good success,
- although I have had a couple players who did not want
anything clipped to the
- bridge because they felt it muted the resonance of the
instrument. So in
- those instances I used a 451 on a boom stand behind their
chair with the mic
- next to their cheek aiming at the instrument.
-
- My favorite trick is putting a big foam windscreen on
an AT-831 and dropping
- it down the top open end of a bassoon and then putting
a rubber band around
- the top to hold the cable in place.
-
- Ron
-
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- From: Thundercraft (Chilliwack, BC, Canada)
- Subject: Re: Flute miking
-
- <"When I'm going for gain, I've clipped an omni
lav (MKE-2 is
- a very good one) onto each string player's bridge.">
-
- You don't experience any vibration problems by doing
this? As the
- bridge supports the strings, it is also transmitting
the sound
- (vibrations) of the strings to the instrument. Also,
is the rozen (sp?)
- that comes off the bows a problem with the mics (that
stuff is awfully
- sticky)?
-
- However, I do like the close proximity that this gives.
Must give
- excellent gain before feedback.
-
- Rob
-
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- From: Thundercraft (Chilliwack, BC, Canada)
- Subject: Re: Flute miking
-
- Ron Hagelganz wrote:
-
- <"I have also used that method ( usually with
a uni tho...) with good
- success,although I have had a couple players who did
not want anything
- clipped to the bridge because they felt it muted the
resonance of the
- instrument.">
-
- That may have some validity to it. When a violin player
wants to mute
- the instrument, they put a Mute (small wooden clamp)
onto the bridge.
- It is very effective in killing the sound. I'm not sure
if the small
- spring loaded metal mic clip will make that much of a
difference.
-
- I wouldn't worry about any 'damage' that the mic clip
would cause to the
- bridge (as a bridge is as cheap as borscht).
-
- BTW I do play violin on occasion with some of the worship
teams
- so that is why I was asking.
-
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- From: Jim Brown (Chicago, IL)
- Subject: Re: Flute miking
-
- <"You don't experience any vibration problems
by doing this? As the
- bridge supports the strings, it is also transmitting
the sound
- (vibrations) of the strings to the instrument.">
-
- Generally when you are going for this much gain, it isn't
- a solo situation, and the other stuff in your
mix will obscure
- these second order effects. This is true of close
miking in
- general -- the close mic techniques we've talked
about for
- piano, for example, will pick up more hammer and
action sound
- than you would like for a solo recording, but are
the only way
- to do it when the piano is playing with a rhythm
section around it.
- Again, the leakage from the rest of the band
obscures the second
- order problems of the non-ideal mic placement.
-
- If I were doing a solo recording of a piano, I would
use a
- stereo mic or a stereo pair out in front of the piano
in
- the curve. For strings, I'd be overhead or in front with
a
- good condenser pointing at it. But with these instruments
- in the middle of a contemporary ensemble, all you would
get
- from these positions would be trash -- "pure"
string and
- piano sound, but tons of leakage from the rest of the
band.
-
- Jim Brown
- Audio Systems Group, Inc.
- Chicago
-
-
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