Anyone got Violin/Viola/Cello Recording Tips?

[shackrock]

I'll be recording some violin/viola/cello (all 3, seperately) real soon.

anyone got some tips?

mics:
Studio Projects C1
sm57/58 4 total..ha
mxl 603s (2)

those are basically it....


On one song, it will be a lot of overdubbing of violin/viola, to make a orchestral sound - any suggestions for THAT micing? and WHERE to mic it?

On the other songs, it will be like a violin and cello SOLO kind of going on, overtop of just acoustic guitar, possibly i'll add some percussion. How about micing THIS setup?

THANKS PEACE!

[distortedrumble]

violin and viola......if you dont want alot of room acoustics then get the mic right up on them and tell them not to move....I recorded a violinist that moved too much.....remedy for that is to stick them in the bathroom like a vocal booth. (close the shower curtain and hang towels all over the place to dampen the sound.... the cello i liked 3/4 down the neck and about 15 inches away from it. your idea may be different. to me theres nothing like the sound of having them all in the same room together.

[petimar]

If you mic the violin on axis, you will probably get a lot of bow noise, espicially with a SDC. I mic over the headstock at the height of the top of the players head, pointed at their chin. I always use ribbon mics as well. Great combination for natural sounding violin, viola.

[Son of Mixerman]

Use the 603's in an x-y about 36" from the violin and about 5 feet off the ground with the mics angled down towards the violin, use the C1 above the 603's facing the same direction and make sure the diaphragms are coincident. Always sit them down because it limits their movement, if they try to move use duct tape. I usually explain phase problems to them. For figuring out where the mics should be, if the 36" doesn't work just move the chair and artists around until you hear the bloom of the instrument that sounds balanced.

SoMm

[apl]

See http://www.prorec.com/prorec/proreco...D?OpenDocument

and

http://www.prorec.com/prorec/proreco...7?OpenDocument

[Robert D]

Big room, spaced pair up in the air, or better yet an M/S config. If you don't have a big room, use the room you have as best you can, standing on a chair and listening for the sweet spots while they warm up. The last thing you want is to mic up close with an X/Y pair. Too much scratchy bow sound, and a shifting stereo image unless you make the player sit perfectly still, which won't net a very inspired performance. The spaced pair will let the players move a bit and evoke more in the process, with no image shift. If you have a big room, the M/S config will net you the big time string sound and let you control the amount of ambiance during the mix.

Cheers, RD

[mattyc]

i was hoping to record some strings as well. i am getting in a pair of 603s soon. i am wondering how these perform on strings as i havn't really seen any strong review for or against. if i plan to record more strings in the futur is it worth getting another sdc (or whatever) specificly for this purpose? what are some some good options for getting nice clean strings? - not in the $market for ribbon just yet...one day (unfortunatly, $ is always a factor) any opinions would help loads. thanks.
-matt

p.s. i know room, placement, instrument, etc. are everything but just some guidlines would be nice. thanks.

[rayc]

I've been battling to record my cello for a couple of years.
Wolf tones aside the range of volume the thing can produce is astounding & annoying.
At present my efforts are focussing on whether to compress during or post tracking.
I don't have a very good outboard compressor (Alesis cop/limiter 1/2 rack) so haven't had too much luck during recording as I get more noise with the little thing.
Using compressors from within cakewalk has been more successful - eats up some processing but there's more control.
To keep out of nasty distortion I've found using tape better than straight into the comp. Also, for me, riding the faders is required during mixing.
In terms of micing one reasonable close one further off & out of the way of elbow & bow - harder than it sounds.
'Cello spikes & floor noise can be an issue as well. Whether bumping the mic stand or scraping/bumping on the floor.
You also have to decide how much bowing noise you want in the recording when it comes to placement. I have a great recording that deliberately involves all extraneous noises from fingers sliding, thumping down, grunting, bow clacking against body etc - I just went to get it as a reference for you but can't lay my fingers on it - too many CDs out of place. As I said brilliant recording of the 'cello BUT the noise are SO apparant that it's almost unlistenable. Some see this as a virtue others as a pain in the ears.
I've actually started using a few mics at once & then combining the best - cheating I suppose.
There's a LOT of leakage if recording 2 or more instruments at once in the same room.
Hard & fast rules - tune up, plug in & play. Sorry

[Alexbt]

I've always wondered if multitracking strings will get you a good string ensemble sound... I'd like to know how this turns out. Generally speaking, it is the variation of players and instruments that produces that orchestral strings sound. Having the same player on the same instrument perform it may not be varied enough and won't be as lush.

But I'd love to know if it does work.

[giraffe]

because most people don't have very good rooms, and close mic'ing a violin or viola will often sound like ass, it helps to have a dark mic.
like a modded oktava 319, or my current favorite violin mic, my oktava mkl 2500, with the hf discs removed.
i can actually get on the instrument (if i want to) without getting that crappy bowing sound.

[giraffe]

Originally Posted by Robert D

Big room, spaced pair up in the air, or better yet an M/S config......

i love this idea.

[XLR]

Originally Posted by mattyc

i was hoping to record some strings as well. i am getting in a pair of 603s soon. i am wondering how these perform on strings as i havn't really seen any strong review for or against. if i plan to record more strings in the futur is it worth getting another sdc (or whatever) specificly for this purpose? what are some some good options for getting nice clean strings? - not in the $market for ribbon just yet...one day (unfortunatly, $ is always a factor) any opinions would help loads. thanks.
-matt

p.s. i know room, placement, instrument, etc. are everything but just some guidlines would be nice. thanks.

The 603s is a very bright mic. Could be OK on strings if the instrument and room tone is mellow, but better to use a mic that doesn't have a big high frequency rise like the 603s does. The KEL HM1 has a pretty flat frequency response. I've got both - the HM1 is a very nice sounding mic for bright sources.

Tim

[SouthSIDE Glen]

Originally Posted by Alexbt

I've always wondered if multitracking strings will get you a good string ensemble sound... I'd like to know how this turns out. Generally speaking, it is the variation of players and instruments that produces that orchestral strings sound. Having the same player on the same instrument perform it may not be varied enough and won't be as lush.

But I'd love to know if it does work.

Oh, done right it can sound pretty impressive. A couple of months ago, DavidK came on here asking for some advice about his rendition of Stravinsky's Firebird. This incredible one-man mix consisted of a stereo mixdown of something well over 100 tracks, 39 tracks of which were violin tracks that he laid down himself with electric violin. The rest of the tracks were MIDI tracks of the rest of the orchestra that he also built up himself.

Even though (I think) that piece has gone on to be grabbed up by an indie classical record label, I think you can still find a demo of it here if you want to hear it for yourself.

G.