Help with mic placement for upright bass?

[leavings]

What's up everyone,

I'm recording a song right now that involves an upright bass, and as the time to track approaches I realize I don't have much knowledge about mic placement for it. I sifted through the archives and found a bounty of information, but a lot of it was conflicting and intended for use with different mics than my own. I'm hoping some of you can give me some pointers on where to begin. Naturally, I'm going to have to experiment and find the right sound on the spot, but I thought some of you could at least head me in the right direction.

I have in my arsenal a few SM-57s, Rode NT1, NT1a, and NT3, AKG D112, AKG C1000s, and a few other cardioid dynamics (AKG D790 and some cheapo Eco-88's). The space I'm recording in is a smallish living room (about 12x18) with hardwood floors and generally pleasant, warm acoustics. External noise isn't much of a concern.

The sound I'm looking for is very much like the upright bass in the song '39 by Queen. For those of you who don't know the song, the bass has a deep, full, fat sound with enough snap in it that it sometimes sounds like a kick drum. There aren't any drums in the song (neither the Queen tune or mine), so the bass is really by itself in the low range, and needs to be the foundation for the beat and rhythym.

I hope that makes clear what I'm looking for. Please give any questions or suggestions you may have!

Thanks!
Peter

 

[SouthSIDE Glen]

I'd bet the Queen stuff was heavily processed in the mix, and possibly recorded through an amp.

One standard micing technique for a full-sounding acoustic upright bass is 15-20 degrees off-axis, even with the middle of the sound hole, maybe about 2 feet away. However this varies greatly with mic slelection and desired sound.

If you want to mic it acoustic, actually move your head around and listen for a sweet spot. Stick your mic there. If you want to record through an amp, standard guitar amp miking techniques would apply.

G.

 

[bigwillz24]

If the room sounds like shit you can try this...

If you have a mic that has an omni pattern wrap it in some foam and place it in between the strings and the the front resting on the bridge.

 

[easychair]

If the room sounds like shit you can try this...

If you have a mic that has an omni pattern wrap it in some foam and place it in between the strings and the the front resting on the bridge.

Old soundguy trick-

Wrap a 57 in something soft with the capsule sticking out, drop it under the tailpiece facing up towards the bridge.

 

[AGCurry]

Old soundguy trick-

Wrap a 57 in something soft with the capsule sticking out, drop it under the tailpiece facing up towards the bridge.

This is okay for live sound, but for recording it's not good.

Glen has it right.

 

[Ethan Winer]

Peter,

> I'm hoping some of you can give me some pointers on where to begin. <

The key to capturing a full, natural sound from any large acoustic instrument is to place the microphone far enough away. A string bass radiates different parts of the frequency spectrum in different directions. So there's no single close-miked position that will get it all. I record my cello all the time, and I keep the mikes at least 3 feet away. Now, this may not be practical for you, especially if your recording room is not good as Willz suggested. When the room is poor you'll get that boxy off-mike sound no matter where the mike is, due to reflections from all the nearby walls. In that case the best you can aim for is to put the mike closer, but then you have to experiment to find a location that sounds the least "affected" and hollow.

--Ethan

 

[leavings]

Hey everyone,

I tried the SM57 and the D112 together, both about 2 feet away and 15 degrees off axis from the soundholes. I haven't finished mixing it, but I'm pretty happy with what I got.

Thanks!

 

[bigtoe]

Old soundguy trick-

Wrap a 57 in something soft with the capsule sticking out, drop it under the tailpiece facing up towards the bridge.

i've done this and it works well! i keep it in the bag for when i need it recording for sure.

i've also used a 451 in the bridge in foam pointing up capsule exposed. fab.

check out: http://www.up-ensemble.com/ they may have clips...451 technique in their loft. basically a home recording...

ooooooo the gt44 out front though...really, really nice.

pax.

Mike

 

[Zetajazz44]

I record a lot of bluegrass which 99% of the time requires upright (doghouse) bass... I've tried a lot of different mic placements and the one that I use is:

I use 2 large condenser mics. In my case 2 Rode K2's...

1. I put one of them above the "F Hole" approximately 5 inches, and away approximately 12", beside the bottom end of the fingerboard, opposite the side the player stands on.

2. The other mic I place behind the bass at a distance of about 12" and aim it where the sound post of the bass meets the back. Of course you'll have to invert the polarity on this one...

I'll agree that you don't want to try the SM-57 wrapped in foam under the tailpiece... I don't even like this for live sound! A lot of people at festivals I go to use it, but it is way too boomy for my taste...and what looked like a Fishman pickup in one of the pick posted earlier in this post; I've tried those for recording too... I get way too much finger/string noise with those... The bass player in my band uses one of those live, but we've never been able to record with it...