Recording Harmonica?

[Nalencer]

Ok, I'm recording a harmonica. I'd like to know what people's thoughts are on recording them. My idea is to do it like a vocal, just set up my B-1 and play it? Or is there another way to do it.

This is one of those questions where I admit I can't see what other answers anyone might give, but I'm gonna ask anyway. So, tips, methods, or anything else on recording harmonica.

 

[SouthSIDE Glen]

Ok, I'm recording a harmonica. I'd like to know what people's thoughts are on recording them. My idea is to do it like a vocal, just set up my B-1 and play it? Or is there another way to do it.

This is one of those questions where I admit I can't see what other answers anyone might give, but I'm gonna ask anyway. So, tips, methods, or anything else on recording harmonica.

What style and type are you playing?

If you're playing a diatonic in a cross-harp style, I'd switch to a mic type that you can hold in your hand (a typical dynamic or better yet a bullet condensor), then practice playing while being able to hold the mic and the harp in your hand at the same time.

For example, if you normally hold the mic in your left hand and cup with your right, here's the position you take:

1.) Sandwich the harp between your left thumb on the bottom and your left index finger on the top as normal.

2.) Drop your left middle finger straight down vertically in front of the harp.

3.) Use the remaining two fingers to get a grab around the head of the mic (a ball mic like a Shure58 or a bullet mic like an Astatic JT30 or Shure520 are best for this). Use your dropped middle finger as a "buffer" or "padding" between the harp and the grille of the mic so that they stay close and the same distance from each other, but don't rub up against each other and make noise.

4.) Then bring up your right hand to cup both the harp and the mic with your whole right hand.

This may feel a little awkward at first, but you get used to it real quick. This allows you to use the cupping to create your "wah" sounds as you wish, it also gives a good proximity effect for the mic and enclosed space for the harp to give that gritty, bluesey sound.

Also, I would not recommend for this type of playing/sound recording the mic direct (through a pre, of course.) I'd instead run your hand mic through a small amp/cabinet and then in turn micing the cabinet with something simple like your B1 or better yet a 57. This will give you that real James Cotton/Paul Butterfield sound. If the cabinet has a tube-driven preamp, don't be afraid to overdrive it to get that "dirt" in there.

If you're playing a more melodic or eastern-European style music or playing a larger chromatic harp, then the handheld technique may not work so well. In that case then yes, mounting your B1 (or a dynamic like a 57) in front maybe 3 inches or so will work (pop filter recommended). The key here is to mount the height of the mic to match your most comfortable position for playing the harp. If you get the best sound/wind with your chin slightly elevated, then mount the mic a little high so you elevate your chin to point at it. If you play with your chin in your chest, then mount the mic low accordingly.

HTH,

G.

 

[Nalencer]

Wow. That's a long description. Thanks. I'm finishing the guitar, then I'll either overdub the harmonica or the lead vocal. When I'm ready to do the harmonica, I'll read over it again.

I am playing a diatonic, a C if it matters. The song is Love Me Do by The Beatles. It's a sappy song I know, but it's a long story why I'm recording it. If that helps any, I'll be glad for any more tips you've got. You sound like you know a thing or two about harmonicas. If you can tell anything about the methods from the song, I'd be glad to hear it.

 

[SouthSIDE Glen]

I am playing a diatonic, a C if it matters. The song is Love Me Do by The Beatles. It's a sappy song I know, but it's a long story why I'm recording it. If that helps any, I'll be glad for any more tips you've got. You sound like you know a thing or two about harmonicas. If you can tell anything about the methods from the song, I'd be glad to hear it.

The key doesn't matter, but the harp type and playing style do.

Yeah, I play some harp myself, trained under Joe Filisko at the Oldtown School here in Chicago up until a couple of years ago or so. I still have a loooong way to go and intend on heading back to Sensei Joe to get better when I can get my personal schedule back in order .

I'm fairly familiar with the harp line in "Love Me Do", though It's been a long time since I've listened to it or played it. On the C harp you're actually playing it in G (second position), if I remember correctly. This is cross-harp style and you do want a somewhat bluesy feel to it, though real grit is not that necessary if you're looking for thet "bouncy" feel of the original Beatles rendition.

I'd still recommend the hand-held technique, but for that recording probably either way would work. Experiment around with everything I have described (using the mounted B1 and going through the small amp might be a nice hybrid choice for that song.) But if you plan on playing harp for more than one song in your repitiore, learning that hand-held technique will come in very handy both for recording and for live performance.

Let me know how it goes, I'll be happy to try and help out a fellow harpist as much as li'l' ol' me can; there are too few of us around here and it feels good to talk about something other than extreme compression for a change .

G.

 

[Nalencer]

K. I've got a couple of pencil condenser mics. Will they work for the handhelf method? They're Apex190s.

 

[SouthSIDE Glen]

Can't say I've ever tried anything like that. It might be kind of tough holding on to the pencil and your middle finger might block a majority of the diaphragm, but it couldn't hurt to give it a try. Maybe if you fashoned something around the mic barrel to give you a bit better of a grasp and still keep the mic off the harp itself, it might help, but that's a bit of a stretch in thinking . As to how the Apexes would sound in such an application, I can only say, "there's one way to find out."

G.

 

[Nalencer]

I did it. I tried just playing it in front of the B-1 first, and it sounds quite nice. So the simplest method turned out to work. I was gonna say be the best, but since that worked I haven't tried the other way. I don't have anything smaller than the pencil mics, so it might be tough to find anything I can hold between two fingers while playing.

The intro was good, the middle bits were nice, the solo was STUPENDOUS and the closer was good. Overall, a very satisfying session.

 

[SouthSIDE Glen]

I did it. I tried just playing it in front of the B-1 first, and it sounds quite nice. So the simplest method turned out to work. I was gonna say be the best, but since that worked I haven't tried the other way. I don't have anything smaller than the pencil mics, so it might be tough to find anything I can hold between two fingers while playing.

The intro was good, the middle bits were nice, the solo was STUPENDOUS and the closer was good. Overall, a very satisfying session.

Hey, sometimes we get lucky, right? Makes life worth living...

Yeah, that song is not exactly a Little Walter blues dirge, the gritty sound is not so necessary (though it does make me wonder just what it would sound like to slow the tempo down, dim the lights, as a bunch of cigarette smoke and really make it dirty )

I think you did misunderstand on the grip, though. What worried me about the Apexes was not that they weren't thin enough, but that they might be too thin. The mic doesn't go *through* the last two fingers, but rather the last two fingers wrap around the mic. If you have a ball or a bullet mic, there's something to actually hold on to and to pull the mic to the harp.

Anyway, that's academic now, I guess . But definitely a technique to keep in your toolkit for when you might need it later.

G.

 

[Nalencer]

I will. Thanks for the help.