Tambourine

Lomas

New member
I'm trying to record a tambourine, and it's crazy. I can't figure out what to do. No matter how much I bring the level down when trackin, it peaks like crazy (visually).

I'm using a condenser microphone and I'm guessing that might not be the way to go? I've got the tambouring faaar away from the microphone too.

Anyone know what to do?
 
I've tracked tampborine through a condensor. I find that I had to stand about 5 feet away from the mic. But it still sounds fine. What I ended up doing was tracking with a dynamic and a condensor and mixed the signals.
 
Here's my hand percussion trick. I have a condensor in another room (my tracking room) and I sit in the control room and play it from there. I've found it always sounds better and it's easier to get it to sit in a mix. In this case, distance is the trick.
 
This may sound a little weird but it works for me. I've used a cheapo dynamic mic, placed about 4-5' away from a tambourene and had good results. I don't often recomend cheap mics (most are really lacking) but sometimes for recording something "jingly or tinny" sounding they work surprisingly well. I don't know if this will work for you but it is worth a try if you have a cheapo hi Z mic laying around.
 
Ribbon mics work great for all types of percussion with lots of high-end energy . . . tambourine, triangle, sleigh bells, cabasa, etc.
 
Yeah, a condenser should be just fine. A tamborine generally only needs a touch of input gain on the pre, and like you've been doing, don't stand so close.

I've used a C414 with some nice results.
 
Put the mic above the tamborine pointed down. That way when you play side to side you aren't going towards to the mic. I like using an omni condensor to get some room sound.
 
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