Electric Violin?

[Somnium7]

Alright this is proving quite the challenge. I am attempting to get a good clean sound from an electric violin. So far the instrument is proving extremely difficult to tame.
What I am finding most difficult is compression. Can anybody shed some light on how to compress this thing?

Thanks!

 

[danny.guitar]

Do you mean compress on the way in?

If you mean post-compression then it would help to hear it...

 

[rayc]

I bought a bug pickup for my 'cello in an attempt to do just that - didn't work at all. I now use a little bit of limiting on the way in & then Blockfish inside the box.

 

[rayc]

I bought a bug pickup for my 'cello in an attempt to do just that - didn't work at all. I now use a little bit of limiting on the way in & then Blockfish inside the box.
Check with david K - he's the king of the violin thying.

 

[Somnium7]

I bought a bug pickup for my 'cello in an attempt to do just that - didn't work at all. I now use a little bit of limiting on the way in & then Blockfish inside the box.
Check with david K - he's the king of the violin thying.

I had the compressor set for 12dB threshold, 8:1 ratio, 1ms attack and 20ms release. This just barely controls the signal level. Problem is, with this much compression I get too much of the "player noises".
Maybe limiting is what I need. The attack transients are off the hook and clip like crazy. If I turn down the signal level then I have almost nothing during the softer parts.

I have a feeling recording this thing will make vocals seem like a walk in the park afterward.

 

[Cosmic]

Maybe whoever is playing the violin needs to "play for the recording" more; i.e. smooth out the dynamics with techinque. Then, if there are peaks, a little limiting.

I have not recorded a violin, but with the general noise of the strings/bow a violin produces, I imagine compression should be the last choice.

Just my thoughts,

C.

 

[DavidK]

What do you mean by "electric violin"? Is it an acoustic with a pickup? A solid body with amp? Pod? DI??

I have not recorded a violin, but with the general noise of the strings/bow a violin produces, I imagine compression should be the last choice.

An acoustic violin probably shouldnt be compressed. An acoustic with a pickup is an acoustic with a pickup.

Maybe whoever is playing the violin needs to "play for the recording" more; i.e. smooth out the dynamics with techinque.

A wise idea, especially for non-classical. Violins are incredibly dynamic. For country or something, you dont want that. Indeed, the player can deal with the dynamics so the engineer doesnt have to. Violins are noisy buggers, compression will bring out the noise more.

If it is a solid body with amp, treat it like a guitar. My guess is you are talking about an acoustic with a pickup.

 

[Somnium7]

What do you mean by "electric violin"? Is it an acoustic with a pickup? A solid body with amp? Pod? DI??



An acoustic violin probably shouldnt be compressed. An acoustic with a pickup is an acoustic with a pickup.



A wise idea, especially for non-classical. Violins are incredibly dynamic. For country or something, you dont want that. Indeed, the player can deal with the dynamics so the engineer doesnt have to. Violins are noisy buggers, compression will bring out the noise more.

If it is a solid body with amp, treat it like a guitar. My guess is you are talking about an acoustic with a pickup.

The instrument is one of these cheapo electrics:
http://www.greatmusicproductsonline.com/proddetail.asp?prod=SEV4WD

I think you are right about the player's dynamics. I think the performance could be a little smoother in the interest of getting a decent recording.

I will be trying to use a limiter on it tonight though to dampen those bow attacks. They are just huge when watching the meters.

 

[mrface2112]

a cheap instrument, a not very good player and lots of compression will make for a horrible sounding recording. the compressor will bring out all of the wrong things in the sound, as you're discovering. get the player to learn to play evenly and the need for compression will be minimal to nil.

i've recorded electric violin on several occasions (albeit with a good player and instrument). the answer is "very little compression, some reverb and a healthy amount of delay". maybe some chorus too.


cheers,
wade

 

[Somnium7]

So here's the setup that is working for me now. Instead or running this instrument direct into a preamp I am running it to a small amp and micing that. The amps speaker doesn't have the dynamic range to reproduce the attack transients so they aren't as harsh now. Now I am getting a usable signal that doesn't require any compression/limiting at all.