Micing congas

[mgiles7]

Anyone know some good ways to mic a pair of this in stereo?
I have tried one at the bottom right inbetween the holes, and one on top to capture more of the high's, but didn't get the best sound I think I can get. I know it is pretty much experimental with these but if anyone knows some good basic tricks I would appreciate it.

Matt

 

[DigitMus]

I would try a pair of small diaphragm condensers in XY config. about 18"-24" above and slightly in front of the conga pair. In my experience, close micing congas almost never sounds good.

Scott

 

[Jonkan]

when you put on mic top and one bottom, did you phase reverse the bottom one..`?
that would prob help alot, otherwise they´re effectively cancelling each other out.
/Jonas

 

[mgiles7]

I did not phase the bottom, so that is probably one of the many reasons is sounded quite shoddy. Thanks for the tips, I will try the x/y trick you mentioned, Digitmus.

 

[NoFO]

I did not phase the bottom, so that is probably one of the many reasons is sounded quite shoddy. Thanks for the tips, I will try the x/y trick you mentioned, Digitmus.

I've never been happy with close micing them either, and never had a pair of small condensors, but i'd like to know how the xy does on congas, i did an acoustic guitar session the other night and after 4 or 5 other positions, i went back to the good ol' xy with two octava 012's and was happy calling it a day!

 

[mgiles7]

I will let ya know how it turns out, I would just post a sound clip or something, But I have not got all that figured out yet.





Matt

 

[subspace]

Last couple of conga sessions, I used an X-Y pair of SM81s about a foot over the player's head to catch the overall picture, and filled in the thump with a pair of 421s about a foot out in front, pointed right where the skin meets the body. Moving the Sennheisers any closer tends to lead to wild dynamics, but a foot out gives a nice bottom end missing from the overs. 57's work too, usually with 414s overhead. HTH

 

[octoruss]

I'll use an XY pattern also over the player's head, but mix in a SM57 on each conga, positioned much like a snare drum. Mixing it all in gives a good overall sound with good stereo separation (if wanted).

 

[mgiles7]

Sounds like some great suggestions guys. I appreciate it.
I only have 2 ecm8000's and a couple dynamics to work with, But I will try the ecm's over the head, and a dynamic a footout and see what happens. Thanks again for the tips!

Matt

 

[DigitMus]

Do you have a Jecklin disk or some other kind of baffle to put between the 8000s? That will help with stereo seperation.

Scott

 

[Fed]

great stuff in this tread guys I was just thinking about how to get that bass from the conga and here you are discussing it. gotta try that 57 at pointed to the rim thing
thanks

 

[Harvey Gerst]

Why mic the congas in stereo? Only the conga player ever hears them that way, and even then, it's not very wide stereo at best.

Failing to convince you to give up on the stereo bit, put the conga player in a corner of the room, facing out into the room. Use the ECM8000s about 6" out from the drums, 12" to 18" above the heads.

If you can put an isolation baffle between the mics (even a couple of mouse pads, held in place by a mic clip will do fine), that will give you some separation. Adjust for minimum phase cancellation by adjusting the mic positions in very tiny increments, and you're good to go.

The corner placement will give you about 9 dB of bass boost, so that shouldn't be a problem anymore.

Conga drums in stereo, indeed... hmmmpphh.

 

[Fed]

Harvey,
I don't have the ecm but I do have a mxl2003 would it be same starting point? Should it point to the head?

Actualy I can see where stereo could be cool if you want that sweeping from side to side conga effect.
Just a thought. Thanks for your input.

 

[Harvey Gerst]

Yup, 6" out, about 18" above, pointed at the center of the heads. Adjust height till it sounds the way you want it to sound (which is usually somewhere between 12" and 24").

 

[mgiles7]

WOW

Now I have all sorts of things to try!

Harvey,

If i did decide not to go stereo, what is your suggestion? Same thing exept with one ecm8000? Thanks so much for your suggestions. I am really excited about trying this stuff out! Unfortunatly I will not get to try it untill next week because of a camping trip this weekend, to Devil's Den Arkansas!
But I will make sure and give some feedback on how it turns out.
Thanks again!



Matt

 

[octoruss]

I'm a stereo addict... I record nearly everything in stereo, including my little chicken shake maraca.

But that's not the point of my post.

Make sure when recording that the congas are sitting on top of a pice of wood, not carpet. Even if the congas hang from a metal rack, ensure the rack rests on a piece of plywood for proper resonance. Carpet will muffle the sound.

 

[Harvey Gerst]

Re: WOW

Now I have all sorts of things to try!

Harvey,

If i did decide not to go stereo, what is your suggestion? Same thing exept with one ecm8000?
Matt

Yup, same thing. Point the mic at the spot where the two conga rims are the closest together, and move the mic up and down till you find the spot where everything kinda snaps into focus.

 

[mgiles7]

Harvey - Sounds good, I might go ahead and do mono, cause I only have 16 tracks to work with.

Octoruss - Thanks for the tip. I will have to try that, seems to make sense to me that it would make quite a difference on wood than on my shag carpet.

Matt