Trying to get a Big Djembe sound

  • Thread starter Thread starter NZK
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NZK

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Hi there.
We've got a 3 piece raw funky hip hop style group; Guitar, Vocals and Djembe - the live sound is relatively easy to get right with such minimal instrumentation.
However, getting a phat and warm recorded sound is proving tricky.

Any tips on getting the sound of a guitar and djembe banging?

Here's a link to a video of us busking - THE FUNKY NORTH 'Mad Life' 9-10-13 - YouTube

its just camera audio but it will give an idea of the style . we actually get a pretty good sound acoustically but yeah, translating that into a good audio only recording is hard!

I have a 16 input Firewire mixer so able to do multi-track live recordings

For the Djembe I've tested a recording with a dynamic mic in the bottom and a large diaphragm condensor over the top and although the sound is decent enough I'm struggling to get it to really impress sonically!
 
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I have recorded a lot of djembe over the years, and the easy 1st set up is a Dynamic (SM57) top and a kick drum mic (D112) bottom. I have used a Large condenser top (a bit further away from the drum head than a dynamic) and a kick mic bottom, and this works very well.

When doing this set up you may have to reverse the phase of the bottom mic, see what sounds best. Remember the bottom mic is only really to extend the lows a little to get a natural sound.

Alan.
 
Maybe even try duplicating the djembe track, applying a crapload of compression to it, and mixing it back in at low levels.
 
cheers for the suggestions!
I'll definitely try the duplicate tracks idea and see how it sounds - i also recorded 2 room mics and im told compressing the hell out of room mics can produce some good results too?
 
NZK said:
im told compressing the hell out of room mics can produce some good results too?
Click to expand...

Unless you have a dead quiet room, this will produce a whole lot of ambient noise, and should be avoided.
 
Why is it people make things so complicated, a 57 top D112 bottom, put some compression on the top mic if you need it, just to even out the initial hit. It would really help if the room sounds good.

Alan.
 
Yeah, a dead room will sound terrible amplified. If you have a good sounding bright room with a natural decay, the parallel compression thing might work. But I'm with witzendoz, keep it simple and follow his micing instructions.

Cheers :)

EDIT: By the way, the AKG c418 or c518 (the newer ones) are great for the top mic. Nice and bright attack. Combined with a D112 or any other LDD it'll sound huge.
 
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I would find a good sounding nice sized room. Try the mentioned close mic techniques and a room mic.
Also as an alternative, try a stereo pair and a room mic. Basically an overhead mic set up and a room mic. Room has to be good as mentioned.
I just did aux percussion today. Congas and bongos with the second set up. Worked great.
 
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