mixing mics

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garf

New member
I wanted to solicit some opinions on whether for recording an acoustic instrument (harp) with 2 mics if it is important that both mics be the same, or only that they be complimentary in how they sound. The reason I ask is that after purchasing a used Blue Blueberry, I was thinking of getting another used Blue mic that would hopefully have a similar sound to the Blueberry.

Sorry if this is a rather basic question. I have been doing alot of reading in the various threads & both upgrading equipment and being more critical in how I do my mic placement. I wished I had known about this group when I first started attempting to record. It would have saved quite alot of aggrevation.
 
If you are trying to capture a true stereo image, the mics need to be the same. If you are just trying to capture more sonic information for you to sculpt into one big sound, then you need mics that compliment each other. For example, You can get 1 mic that is good at picking up the low end resonance of your instrument and another mic to pic up the high end transients. You can mix the 2 together to get a better result than either mic could give you on its own.
 
Thanks Jason, this makes sense. I have been reading Gerst series here explaining mic's (great series) and slowly I am getting a better picture of how all this comes together.

Gerst had a comment about stereo mic-ing as well:
'The mics should be pretty closly matched otherwise the stereo image can shift as you play different notes'

This reminds me of a problem that I had with my previous mic preamp, where for unknown reasons some notes got boosted more than others
 
I don't know much about a harp. I don't know if the sound comes from just the strings or if the body is a resonator of some kind. My first though would be totreat it as a mono instrument, adding stereo ambiance. If you mic it in stereo, I would think you would run into the problem of certain notes jumping out because of the proximity to the mic. I could be completely wrong, however.
 
I have mic'ed it as mono. It took a full day & 30 different mic placements (all measurements recorded). This was a good learning experience. I used 2 different mics, a neumann 184, and a blue blueberry, both excellent mics in my opinion. The blueberry wanted to me done in a close mic'ing facing the strings, whereas the neumann needed to be up, just under the height of the harp, and facing the soundboard of the harp, about 24'' back. Farther back & the neumann lost detail. One interesting difference between the blueberry & neumann is that the neumann was far more sensitive to positioning. I was definitely considering a different mic before i found the 'sweet spot' for the neumann. I did all my recordings as single channel until I found my placement for both the mics. Then to compare the sound, I recorded on both channels & then played it back, listening to it on channel a, then flipping to channel b. What really struck me is how close both these mics sound. The blueberry has as much detail as the neumann (surprising), and adds just a slight amount of coloration. I can't decide which sound I like best. One of the interesting lessons was that I could not assume what was a good position for one mic, would work for the other.
 
garf said:
I have mic'ed it as mono. It took a full day & 30 different mic placements (all measurements recorded). This was a good learning experience. I used 2 different mics, a neumann 184, and a blue blueberry, both excellent mics in my opinion. The blueberry wanted to me done in a close mic'ing facing the strings, whereas the neumann needed to be up, just under the height of the harp, and facing the soundboard of the harp, about 24'' back. Farther back & the neumann lost detail. One interesting difference between the blueberry & neumann is that the neumann was far more sensitive to positioning. I was definitely considering a different mic before i found the 'sweet spot' for the neumann. I did all my recordings as single channel until I found my placement for both the mics. Then to compare the sound, I recorded on both channels & then played it back, listening to it on channel a, then flipping to channel b. What really struck me is how close both these mics sound. The blueberry has as much detail as the neumann (surprising), and adds just a slight amount of coloration. I can't decide which sound I like best. One of the interesting lessons was that I could not assume what was a good position for one mic, would work for the other.
Click to expand...
I've said this same thing probably several dozen times now: "Microphone placement is often more important than microphone selection."
 
garf said:
This reminds me of a problem that I had with my previous mic preamp, where for unknown reasons some notes got boosted more than others
Click to expand...

That could actually be a problem with the room you're mixing in! Next time you hear a note that seems to resonate more than others, try bringing a guitar/keyboard into the room and see if that resonance happens without the preamp or even your speakers engaged.

If it's your room, go here:

http://acoustics101.com
 
When i coughed up the dough for some Grace101 mic preamps the problem went away. (I had believed before this group that the word 'professional' in my Mackie mixer model meant I had nothing to worry about, oh-well)

However, I am doing this in my living room, so I have done the standard using a corner for the harp & not aligning to any walls. I would love to use some baffles. I went to put up a wool carpet as a test when my wiff protested loudly...

--thanks for the link, interesting reading & an area I would like to explore
 
Garf... for a quick temporary booth... you could drap thick blankets over some boom stands. ;)
 
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