Live sound question-Micing a stand up bass

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bouldersoundguy said:
Way back in my early years of live sound I had some success with a pair of headphones clamped around the body. You put it at the bottom of the cutout opposite the player. Connected to a mono 1/4" input just the left ear cup is picked up so you can flip the phones around for two slightly different sounds.
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+1 on headphones as mics. It sounds weird that it would work, but it does. I remember reading how EMI engineers would use the loudspeaker as a mic back in the 60s to get a bass sound that for a short while was the envy of the recording world. I can't remember if I read about the headphone as a mic or if I just tried it one day to see what would happen but either way, I use it, rarely, but once in a blue moon. No idea what it would be like on double bass but I recently used it on amplified mandolin. I was doing a layering experiment so I had a few tracks of it but I was surprized how well it picked up and how it sounded. I was after a raw sound and I certainly got that !
 
Used headphones once as an isolation microphone on a cell phone. We transmitting an interview to a studio at the BBC (Ireland?) from our studio. worked very well! To everyone's surprise - including myself.
 
well ...... headphones are usually pretty lightweight diaphragms ........ just a big huge dynamic mic element.

I hadn't ever thought of using them like that though.
 
sdc in bridge

Yes, use the sdc in the bridge with foam padding. If they are using a cab, mic that too. That is exactly how I recorded the Atlantis Quartet's live album "Lines in the Sand." (google it and you can hear it - I did not mix it though, that was done by the guys at the Terrarium in Minneapolis) I hate to say it, but I forgot what mics I used (maybe Schoeps or Oktava or a Neumann TLM 103)
 
Ha, this is my first post on homerecording! How many years have I been reading this? 4 or more? Congrats on being the first.
 
moresound said:
That's what that microphone was made for.




That's what I've had a few double bassist come through with - a 57 rolled in foam stuck into the tail piece.
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Thats how a local stand up bass player mics the bass for live shows at a bar near me..not sure what it`s rolled in exactly, just some kind of cloth material it looks like..anyway, it seams to work really well from what I can hear...

FWIW...
 
ooooh... I can contribute to this one......

Pickups suck, mics on a stick suck (live), and high end clip on mics feedback way to easy. So, (for now) ive settled on a Radio Shack $33 clip on mic in the fhole. :wtf: It works - go figure.

Here's a recording with this mic direct to the recorder. (the guitar is also using one)

Edit- i cant post a direct link but here is the copy and paste......


soundcloud.com/rbarn-2/live-at-harrys-part-1-4
 
bouldersoundguy said:
...Way back in my early years of live sound I had some success with a pair of headphones clamped around the body. You put it at the bottom of the cutout opposite the player. Connected to a mono 1/4" input just the left ear cup is picked up so you can flip the phones around for two slightly different sounds.
Click to expand...

Ok I just tried this- It totally works! Maybe way better than a mic in the tail - Way more gain before feedback I think- didn't do a comparison' just my impression live monitored in the room, and fairly flat! Down a little with a low shelf, and didn't have to dump a bunch of useless high end like some of the 'pickup/transducers I've heard.
AKG 240's. Tried the Sony 7506 too, sounded more like, well 7506's- scooped, a little more bottom, some funny high mid peak. ;)
 
mixsit said:
No one's mentioned rolled up in a pad tucked in the tail piece.
I'd want some eq (1/3 oct or parametric if you can swing it) to tune it in some too.
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This is the way and the light.
 
Farview said:
This is the way and the light.
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I don't know now. That ear pad over the F hole seems like next best thing to a direct injection.
To be fair I guess a direct comparison with a tail mic is in order-
 
mixsit said:
I don't know now. That ear pad over the F hole seems like next best thing to a direct injection.
To be fair I guess a direct comparison with a tail mic is in order-
Click to expand...
Admittedly, I've never tried this.
 
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