L
littledog
New member
So much time is spent talking about Large Diaphragm mics - I thought I'd change the subject:
Last night I had to do audio recording for a video shoot of a live concert of a jazz vocalist + quartet. There was a concert grand there, and part of the deal was they wanted to keep the stage looking as clean as possible. In other words, they didn't want a forest of mic stands.
I had been considering one of the DPA stereo mic kits for a while, and this was the perfect excuse to get one. DPA tried to steer me towards their $3000 cardioid version, but I thought I'd try out the cheaper omni kit. (I've always preferred omnis for close mic'ing pianos anyway - no problem with proximity effect from the closest strings and minimal off-axis coloration.) It has two 4061 miniature omnis, plus a variety of mounting gear including magnetic mounts for inside the piano, boundary mounts for mounting directly to the lid, or adhesive mounts to hang the mics from benaeath the lid.
I fooled around with the different options on my Steinway the day before the concert, and decided I liked using the magnetic mounts directly attached to the inner frame, about one foot back from the hammers and about an 2 inches above the strings. I used that as a starting point on the Yamaha concert grand, and with some minor tweaking got some amazing results. All the musicians and other engineers in attendance agreed.
And here's the good news - I got the SMK4061 for about $800. Maybe not pocket change, but for me great bang for the buck. With the different mounting options, I will be interested to see how they sound on acoustic bass, violin, acoustic guitar, etc. But even if all I ever use it on is piano, they are well worth it!
I highly recommend these mics. And by the way, for close mic'ing, the 4061's are better than the more sensitive 4060's (which you can also get in a stereo kit), which will clip too easily.
Last night I had to do audio recording for a video shoot of a live concert of a jazz vocalist + quartet. There was a concert grand there, and part of the deal was they wanted to keep the stage looking as clean as possible. In other words, they didn't want a forest of mic stands.
I had been considering one of the DPA stereo mic kits for a while, and this was the perfect excuse to get one. DPA tried to steer me towards their $3000 cardioid version, but I thought I'd try out the cheaper omni kit. (I've always preferred omnis for close mic'ing pianos anyway - no problem with proximity effect from the closest strings and minimal off-axis coloration.) It has two 4061 miniature omnis, plus a variety of mounting gear including magnetic mounts for inside the piano, boundary mounts for mounting directly to the lid, or adhesive mounts to hang the mics from benaeath the lid.
I fooled around with the different options on my Steinway the day before the concert, and decided I liked using the magnetic mounts directly attached to the inner frame, about one foot back from the hammers and about an 2 inches above the strings. I used that as a starting point on the Yamaha concert grand, and with some minor tweaking got some amazing results. All the musicians and other engineers in attendance agreed.
And here's the good news - I got the SMK4061 for about $800. Maybe not pocket change, but for me great bang for the buck. With the different mounting options, I will be interested to see how they sound on acoustic bass, violin, acoustic guitar, etc. But even if all I ever use it on is piano, they are well worth it!
I highly recommend these mics. And by the way, for close mic'ing, the 4061's are better than the more sensitive 4060's (which you can also get in a stereo kit), which will clip too easily.
