All in all, if you want to use a ribbon mic, it will be an investment - albeit one worth the cost.īuying Guide: Electric Violins Find Your Perfect Instrument Placing Your Mic Single Mic Placement with a CondenserĪ string instrument can sound great with a single condenser mic that’s well placed. Ribbon mics take a level of detail to build, and not all manufacturers have the same level of quality control. A ribbon mic may not work well in a less–than–ideal reverberant room since it has a figure 8 polar pattern that will pick up those reverberations happening behind it.Ĭheap ribbon mics, for that matter, are inconsistent. A ribbon mic needs a good quality mic preamp that can provide high gain (which comes at a cost). There are a couple issues working with ribbon mics, though, such as low output. Strings sound warm through a ribbon mic and are capable of being mic’d closely without some of the extraneous noise of a condenser. These do not have a flat frequency response and naturally taper off on the high end. Ribbon microphones can also sound fantastic on strings.
Some pick up 360 degrees ( omnidirectional), mostly in front ( cardioid), or in front and behind but not so much the sides ( bi–directional or figure 8). Large diaphragm condensers, on the other hand, are preferred for their richer low–end response.Īll microphones have a polar pattern, which is the area around the mic that it picks up. Small diaphragm mics are more accurate and capable of capturing higher frequencies beyond human hearing. There are two types of condenser microphones: large and small diaphragm. With a close condenser mic, you’ll hear everything from a player sighing loudly to a piece of jewelry or clothing rattling against the instrument.Ĭellists with buttons on their sleeves or violinists wearing long earrings or jewelry are common culprits of unwanted noises. Detail and subtlety may sound great or might be a problem, depending on the situation. It will also pick up overtones, resonances, subtleties in timbre, and the sound of the physical instrument itself. These have the best frequency and transient response of any type of microphone, meaning that it can clearly pick up the entire range of high and low frequencies of the instrument when placed well. Large diaphragm microphone ( Rode NT-1) on a viola Those are the basics, but there are plenty of factors you can consider to get the best recordings possible, whether you’re recording at home or in a studio setting.
Position it out and up from the instrument.Place it one to three feet away from the instrument.
The best guidelines for placing a mic are also fairly simple to follow. The good news is that there are some simple guidelines for choosing the right mic for the job and placing it so that you capture only the sound you need. If you’re too far away, you may hear an unappealing room tone more than the instrument. If you get too close to the instrument, it can sound boxy and shrill. Setting up your microphone for orchestral string instruments - whether that’s a violin, viola, or cello - can be a balancing act.
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