Mic'ing Upright Bass Live in Really Live Room

[Whale Bone]

Pardon the live sound question in a recording forum, but it seems like there's a fair amount of live sound experience here.

Does anyone have a suggestion for mic'ing an upright bass in a small combo in an acoustically challenging room? The room is a large rotunda in an art museum, i.e. boomy and loads of natural reverb. It's a little too big to go completely acoustically, and I'd like to have a more natural sound than I get with the pickup.

I figured I could use the pickup and a small amp for monitoring but am still worried about finding a sensitive enough mic that won't just feedback. It's not going to be a particularly loud show (vox, bass, piano and stripped down drums/percussion), which should help.

Thanks for any thoughts/suggestions.

 

[mixsit]

You mean typical pa set, boomy room', omni directional bass further smeared by the need to have the speakers away from the mic..?

This might not be all the accuracy' / tone cat's meow' solution you're thinking. There's something to be said for a bit of low profile, appropriately lean and tighter cab nearer doing more or less a single source point. ..Lots of 'it depends there of course!

Other than all that I like RE's (20, 16-15's) for this sort of stuff in general in that they're fairly neutral to begin with (off axis a well, another big plus), plus they don't change tone as you work the mic or adjust distance.
..A few bands of parametric eq would be handy if you pushing it.

I was just thinking there's the '57 in a towel under the bridge thing. (I've only tried it once I think so I'm not up on it.

 

[moresound]

I was just thinking there's the '57 in a towel under the bridge thing. (I've only tried it once I think so I'm not up on it.

This has worked for me in numerous shows not the best but when you need just a little more than what you have acoustically this is the trick.

 

[Richard Monroe]

Yo Whale bone! Welcome to the board. Mixsit is referencing a series of mics by Electrovoice (EV for short) The RE20 is a standard for that application, but it is a little pricey. I would use AKG D112:

Akg D112 | 8thstreet.com | Call 1-800-878-8882 | Free Shipping on most orders!

You'll see it is referred to as a "classic bass drum mic". That is pure BS. It was designed for mic'ing double bass in an orchestral setting. It won't make the room go away- no mic will. Mics are made to record the sound that is there, pure and simple. However, it isn't particularly feedback sensitive. The key is the PA or amp that is used, and mic placement. You need to have a speaker array and an amp that can handle the low frequencies, including subsonic overtones. I like this:

Gallien Krueger MB210 | Sweetwater.com

Best of luck-Richie

 

[bruiser1964]

Credit for the pic to TALKBASS.com


A mic wrapped in foam or a towel is a common trick, you need to be very careful tho!

Keep the mike hidden from the speakers and you should get plenty of gain.

What pickup are you using? I use the Fullcircle with the Fishman Pre and it kicks plenty of volume and I use a 4x10 rig.

 

[witzendoz]

If you have enough money: DPA Microphones :: Patitucci

 

[Whale Bone]

Thanks, everyone for the suggestions. Yeah, I wish I had an RE20... I'd thought of it as a cabinet mic, but if it'd do an upright live, too, that's more incentive to try to get one. Our sound guy recommended the 58 in the bridge, too. After trying my bass with and without an Underwood pickup (2 transducers that slide into the wing slots on either side of the bridge) I'm leery of anything that touches the bridge. Having the pickup in the bridge deadened the acoustic sound of the bass considerably. I use a Gage Realist (very thin transducer under one foot) that's not perfect but good.

I realize I'm not going to fix the room, I just wanted to go for the least muddy/natural sounding/practical mic. I wish it were a smaller room that wouldn't need the mic.

Thanks again. I'm waiting to hear what other mics the sound guy might be able to scare up. A D112 is a distinct possibility.

 

[stevieb]

Alternative: Put a foam pop filter on an SM58 (or similar,) and put it between the two inner-most strings, below the bridge, the foam touching the top of the bass. May sound crazy, but that's what we did in my BG band, and it sounded quite nice, both live and recorded. Stays in place well, maybe even for the craziest of Rockabilly bassist.

 

[Whale Bone]

Thanks for everyone's help. Turns out the place filled to capacity and we had much less boom and wash than expected. The sound guy didn't get to grab whatever mic he was trying to get, and ended up using a DI from my pickup and I used my old fliptop for monitoring. People came up afterward to say how good it sounded, so all was good. Next time I'll figure out the mic... thanks again.