Violin...

T

the_grudge

New member
Im about to record an acoustic song, which will have an intro and a bridge with violins' done by a girl friend of mine. I was wondering what the boards thoughts were as to which of my mics would be best. I have a sure SM57, a senhieser e609, an MXL 990 Condenser, and 2 samson large overhead condensers. Whichever mic it is, it will be sent to my yahama 16 channel mixer, and out to my EMU soundcard into Cubase. The room is also wall to wall covered in high density foam, with 2 bass traps on opposing sides of the room.

Which mic would you use? or combination of mics?
 
I would use the MXL and a samson...Condensors. youll have to play around to get the tone that you want.
 
be very careful with condensers, on a violin some condensers (esp cheeper ones) will end up being over bright, the sound of the actual bow on the strings can become annoying (like a hiss or sizzle on top of the actual desireable sound of the instrument)

and i'd personally just use one mic.
 
the MXL about 6" away from the bridge & the samson POINTING AWAY from the player

I recently recorded violin with a neumann KMS105 6" from the bridge & a TLM103 pointing away for room sound (assuming your room sounds good of course)
 
Your in a bit of a tuff spot on this. Good violin recording is very room dependent, and close micing is hardly ever a good idea...... very scratchy sounding. A room that is covered in foam isn't going to provide the difuse reflections and space that you generally want for violin, but you have to work with what you have to work with. The technique that Slidey recommended is good, but there's the foam again, sucking up the reflections that that pointed away mic is supposed to be picking up. I certainly recommend using two mics (a pair of SDCs, if you had them), and can only suggest you do a lot of experimenting, trying to fing the combo and positions that work best. If you don't find a good sound in that room, consider going elsewhere, recording just the violin in a place it really sounds good at. I've done this many times.
 
Walk around and listen to the violin with one ear plugged. When you find a spot where it sounds good, put one condenser there. I'd bet the spot will be several feet away. I'd use two mic's in a stereo config if I wanted to get the natural room sound in a great sounding room.

Tim
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top