Recording an oboe??

B

Bloomington

New member
I have been asked to record 2 oboe songs for a Christmas program at my church.

Does anyone have any recommendations - the 2 songs will be played thru the sound system as backup to some live strings.

I have a Roland 880, 2 C-1000S condensor mics, an AT4047 mic and and 57. I also use a Mackie 1604 for pre's.

This is not something that will be published but I would like it to sound as good as I can with what I have to work with.

Any tips or thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Brad :)
 
I would stay away from the C-1000's for this - noise, sibilance, not a good combo with oboes.

The 4047 or the 57 would be my choice. You might place BOTH mics about 12-16" from the TWO bells, one right above the other, and track both mics. that way you'll get both mics on every take, and can choose which works best on playback. The 4047 should be brighter and flatter, but the peak in the 57 just might be the cutting tool that makes the track.

If the strings are to play live, good monitors are a must in order for the string players to stay in sync. that part could get tricky for the string players... Steve
 
If I understand your post, it's two songs, but only one oboe... or did you mean two oboes?

Anyway, with one oboe I'd use the 4047 on a boom stand set up so that the mic is above and angled parallel to the oboe about 2 feet away (on a perpendicular measurement) from the middle of the horn. The sound on an oboe, like most woodwinds, comes out of the whole instrument (all the key holes as well as the bell) and the most natural sound is gotten from mic positions that capture the whole body, not just the bell. If you have a fantastic sounding room, you might even back it up another foot to get more room ambience.

When checking the sound, if you are getting too much mouth/air noises, aim the mic more towards the bottom of the instrument or lower the entire mic position away from the mouth.

Don't even think about using the C1000's. A C1000 with an oboe might be the combination of which nightmares are made.

If, in fact, there ARE two oboes, borrow a second large diaphragm condenser or a tube condenser. I've had excellent results with an AT4060.
 
Hey LD, ya got me - guess which one of us records more woodwinds? Also, I DID read that as two oboes (obai?)

At least we agree on the C1000's...:=( Steve
 
Hey, Steve...

Even Ted Williams struck out once in a while. I'm sure your batting average is still way above mine!:D
 
I would agree. Flute and clarinet are the same way.

The lower notes are about the only thing coming out of the bell, but the sound holes are still most of the source.
 
Thanks for the quick replies!!!!
It is one oboe recording a pair of songs - sorry for the confusion.

I will put this to good use.
Thanks again

Brad
 
I would just like to say that I messed up on the mic positioning part of this thread ON PURPOSE, because I understand that PERFECTION really scares some people, and I wouldn't want to do that - I'd LIKE to say that, but then EVEN I would know how fulla crap I was, and THAT would be an EVEN SCARIER thing, at least for me... :=(

hehehehehehehehehehehehehehephooey... Steve
 
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