ribbon mic for violin/mandolin $350 - 400 range

kjb

New member
I did a search and it looks like for violin and mandolin there are some options , from what I got from them was a ribbon mic would work well , for a studio situation. I have a dedicated space , but is pretty dead about 10 x 10. I have been using a baggs pickup for recording , but would like to get a mike.
I also have my house where I do some recording if it only the violin ;, I have an old tascam 788, and a tps 2 pre going into it. I am currently using a large condenser a mk something I think it was about $90 bucks at the time .
the threads that came up mostly were old and some of the suggestions are no longer available or have become more expensive.
any help would be appreciated. thanks kevin
 
I actually like a small condenser, but you need some space away from the violin. It does not sound good close mic'd (IMO) because of the bow and finger noises, and probably the player. this means you need a seated player or a good ceiling.

I'm not sure that a ribbon brings anything that a good SDC would not be able to do, though I've not got a ribbon, so might be biased :). It's hard to get a good acoustic violin sound in a small space, TBH.
 
thanks , it seems the recording of violin is pretty complicated and lots of ways to get there
 
The violin itself makes so much difference. the one thing I learned years ago was that some instruments are formulaic - find the best place on one, and all the others will be close, but violins defy rules. Some are warm and full sounding while others are nasty screechy things. Oddly - some very old ones are pretty resistant to being recorded. Using different mics on guitars and voices can often make very little difference, but it does on violins. A Beta 57 and an SM57 can sound very different. Cheaper condensers of all sizes can be really flattering. I've had a couple of original Oktava 319s, and they often mellow a nasty one usefully. I'm lazy now I'm old. I go to the friendly mics first, make a decent enough (but probably not perfect) choice and run with it. Violins mean trying a few. Cellos are much nicer beasts, and violas come in between, pleasantness wise.
 
I've had most success recording violin with an SDC, in this case an Audio Technica 853.

With the recording of the violin in the track below, I was interested in the bow-across-the-strings sound, so the mike was quite close.

The video itself is a bit primitive. The violin starts at 24 seconds in.

 
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