I'm wondering if anyone here has experience miking a musical saw. I'm planning to lay it over an acoustic guitar track for some nice eerie overtones and I'm a little unsure of how to go about it. While quite loud, the saw has a rather exceptional range and I'm trying to figure out what would be best. Perhaps a small condenser?
Miking a musical saw..
- Thread starter rion
- Start date
hmmm... Intresting question, I don't think Ive ever read anything about miking a saw. A small condensor would probably give you good results. Micing it in stereo (if you can) would be good too. I actually don't think I'v ever seen anyone play a saw. I know I've heard one though, really cool sound.
-jhe
-jhe
I actually have recorded saws, hammers, as well as a variety of other "workshop" and industrial sounds. What I used was a stereo Audio Technica AT822. The AT mic is a good choice for general realistic sounds "in nature" --- I found it to sound pretty realistic on everything from saws to frog croaking to doors creaking to . . . ---- well you name it.
When I say saw, I mean a regular handsaw.. The kind that starts at about 5 or 6 inches at the handle and tapers to about 2 1/2 or 3 inches across over a distance of about 2 or 2 1/2 feet. It's played by placing the handle between you legs (sitting down) with the teeth of the saw facing you. Here's the important part: you sort of have to bend the saw into a subtle 'S' shape for it to work properly. This gives you a smallish curve at the top and a largish curve at the bottom. The pitch is controlled by the large curve. The tighter you make it, the higher the frequency. It is the played with a bow (as in violin type bow). The timber (pun intended) is controlled by where on the big curve you bow the saw. It creates a very eerie theremin-type sound. Very cool. I have a C1000 that I think will probably pick it up ok. What do you guys think?
Tapehead
Member
My guess is you're the pioneer here--I don't know too many people who have recorded this. Have you considered an e-bow? http://www.ebow.com/
I think this is one example of where we need you to experiment and tell us what works...I don't know too many saw recordists that I can think of. Most of my cutting takes place on the eq section of my board...
I think this is one example of where we need you to experiment and tell us what works...I don't know too many saw recordists that I can think of. Most of my cutting takes place on the eq section of my board...
The E-bow is definately a fun toy and some of the sound you get from an one might be compared to a saw as well but it can be a little harsh. The saw is increadibly smooth sounding.
BTW, there may not be a lot of us but I'm definately not a pioneer. People have been doing this for a long time. It works really well to accompany acoustic instruments of all kinds and it's really quite easy to learn. What's best about it is that a saw doesn't cost much over $12. A bow can run you a little more but you don't need a fancy one. A garage sale/flea market bow works just fine.
I like the idea of micing it in stereo. It would probably flow really nicely between right and left.. Thanks, guys!
BTW, there may not be a lot of us but I'm definately not a pioneer. People have been doing this for a long time. It works really well to accompany acoustic instruments of all kinds and it's really quite easy to learn. What's best about it is that a saw doesn't cost much over $12. A bow can run you a little more but you don't need a fancy one. A garage sale/flea market bow works just fine.
I like the idea of micing it in stereo. It would probably flow really nicely between right and left.. Thanks, guys!