Help! Mic'ing Double (upright) bass...

[Phildo]

Hi guys. I'm recording a friend playing double-bass on one of my band's tracks tonight, so I'm looking for a bit of advice.

I was planning to use my AKG Solidtube and point it somewhere near the bridge from about a foot away. Does this sound OK?

We also have quite a few other mics - would any of these be better suited to the job:

EV RE-20
AKG D12E
Groove Tubes GT-55's
Auto Technica 4033
AKG c-451's
Shure Beta 52
Behringer ECM 8000's
Shure PZM
...and all the usual suspects: 58's & 57's (both beta and normal)

Any input will be most appreciated.

Or do I just get him to bring his Steinberger electric upright and plug it into the Bass Pod?

Thanks.

 

[littledog]

I like using brighter sounding mics on double bass - there's usually more than enough bottom end and it's nice to pick up as much finger articulation as possible. I'm not familiar with the Groove Tubes, but I might try the 4033 (althugh to be honest I've never used it for that, so i'm just aking an educated guess as to how it will sound.)

Your positioning sounds okay, unless there are other instruments (like piano) in the room, in which case you might need to get closer to maximize the signal from the bass vs. the ambient bleed.

You may also want to try your pair of 451's- one down in the bridge area and one up near the fingerboard - you can blend to taste later at mix time.

 

[Freeform]

I'd reccomend the 451's as well. I'll second littledogs placement advice. You'll be amazed at how two different positions can sound so radically different. I'll also throw in the idea of putting a mic about 5 or 6 feet away from the player around 2 or 3 feet up from the ground. Mix this in with the other signals for a bigger sound. I think this is too late for your "tonight" plans, but best of luck.

 

[zbert]

I'm too late but here's another option. I did a session in a high end jazz studio (I play drums) What the owner did with the uprite is wrap a sock around the body of the mic amd put a wind screen over the top. He used a neumann for this. He then took this wrapped mic and placed it in the bridge of the bass against the body. The sound was great. I've used that idea with a SP B1 and have been happy too. A full woody sound. Maybe not for everyone but I just love the sound you get. I haven't had a chance to try it with my 4033 yet. Should be even better.
Good luck

 

[DeadPoet]

I know it's too late, but anyay:

Had following stuff done with my upright:
[styles range from jazz to folk to light classic to dance-pop]

- use elastic rubbers or foam to put a mic between the legs of the bridge - had a B&K on that, don't remember which model (I was told that's the old jazz recordings-way of doing it...)
- put a ribbon (the BBC-'disc' type) in front of the bridge and an AKG C451 1-2 feet away, pointing between bridge and F-holes
- put a Neumann U87 (old one) in front
- clip on a AKG C419 SDC - mainly in live situations.
- Neumann KM184 in front, between bridge and F-holes

If you use a piezo pickup, be sure to have a GOOD di to handle the +1MegaOhm impedance !!! (you'll know when you're wrong if the bass sounds like cardboard with no lows and only mid & high)

In general F-hole= boom, Bridge=attack.

I tend to mark the position of my endpin on the floor so that I always get in the same position when playing. Unfortunately for most AE's I tend to move around a lot


Herwig