Recording Mics

Rommel72 · Post by **Rommel72** » Sun Feb 18, 2007 5:06 pm

Anyone have any suggestions as to what type of mics would be best for recording tuba and piano. I was told condenser mics would work best, but I don't have a lot of dough. I have a recording system and want some quality mics that will give me that almost studio quality recordings. Any ideas?

Phil Dawson · Post by **Phil Dawson** » Tue Feb 20, 2007 10:35 am

Microphones are like anything else - you get what you pay for. Good studio microphones start at about $700 +- and go up. A very good way to go is to rent equipment. Both good microphones and good microphone pre-amps can be rented for a reasonable amount of $ and then you are working with real studio quality equipment. Remember that you may want to use a different microphone selection and placement scheme for the piano than for the tuba. You may also may want to use an overhead stereo pair for the overall room sound in addition to or instead of using mics on the individual instruments.
Good Luck, Phil

MaryMacK · Post by **MaryMacK** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 11:16 am

I'm looking to purchase a microphone for my mini-disk recorder/player and was wondering if the mics listed above work for mini-disk players? Also, anybody have any suggestions on mics to use with a mini-disc players?

Thanks in advance.

Getzeng50s · Post by **Getzeng50s** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 11:54 am

try a sony mic. it costs $100 and does a very good job for the price.

dmmorris · Post by **dmmorris** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 12:28 pm

I use a Shure 57Beta for amplified gigs.....jez chuck-it-down-the-bell.

In a recording studio, usually the recording engineer is pretty particular about "what they want", but I've used a Rode NT-1 quite a bit with good success.

....both are under $200 new!

iiipopes · Post by **iiipopes** » Sat Mar 10, 2007 9:59 am

Application, Application, Application!

All these mics discussed are good for their particular application. I'm not going to mic my tuba with an SM57 in the studio, but I'm not going to bang around a Neumann on stage, either.

Call up a local recording studio and ask what they recommend for the particular application. Good recording studios have a plethora of microphones, because there isn't just one good mic.

Although from being both on stage and in the studio, a good ribbon or diaphram mic in the studio, and a good cardioid overhead condenser mic on stage would probably be the way to go.

I'm not a fan of a 58 for instruments unless you really want that presence peak to accentuate articulation. For me, a 57 sounds great on guitar speakers, but very little else. But again, I'm spoiled. When I really want the big open sound, I call my friend who owns a studio and also plays bass, and get the job done with a Neumann.

Your mileage will vary, the destination is the same.

tubatooter1940 · Post by **tubatooter1940** » Sat Mar 10, 2007 9:33 pm

I am no expert but I have no desire to hear the wheezes and clanks eminating from me and my tuba in any recording. In our live c.d. I used the Shure SM 57 that I always use onstage and liked that sound better than the fancy studio mike the recording tech recommended.
It's tempting to drop the mike down the tuba onstage but blowing water out sounds like a asthmatic dauphin whooshing and I can't reach the mute button on our board. I have the mike 12 inches out front of my recording bell on a tripod boom stand so I can rock the tuba to the left out of the mike to blow condensation out.

Phil Dawson · Post by **Phil Dawson** » Tue Mar 13, 2007 11:16 am

The question of recording comes up on occasion on this forum. Everyone seems to think that you just go out and buy some gear, set it up any old way in any old place, do your thing and you will get a good recording. I remember when I thought this same way. I also thought that there couldn't be very much to it. Well I started to get into recording and took a few classes on recording at the local university. I then started to find out that there is a whole lot more to it than I thought. By the time I was through I wound up with a masters degree in recording and there is still a whole lot that I don't know about recording. The one thing that I am sure of is that one of the true arts involved in recording is microphone selection and placement. There is no one answer to how to do things but there is a whole lot of information you need to know to do a competent job of microphone selection and placement. Of course there are many other issues involved with making a good recording.
Phil

markaustinhowle · Post by **markaustinhowle** » Wed Mar 14, 2007 1:47 am

I have found the Neumann M â€“ 149 Tube mics to be great for both the tuba and piano. I recommend you use a non-tube pre amp with these mics, and that you experiment with placement of the mics before your session.
Iâ€™d start by securing a really good hall to record in, then put the mics up at least 6 feet above the stage floor. These mics have several settings to choose from and if there is no audience in the hall when you record, then you should experiment with the Figure 8 setting, (it will pick up some of the natural reverb of the hall.

If you can get four mics, then put two of the really close up on the piano, and then the other two closer to the tuba. If you can record to 4 separate tracks then you can adjust the balance between tuba and piano before you mix it down to stereo.

Digidesign Protools seems to be the industry standard for hard disc recordings and the Waves software has a reasonably priced reverb that is very professional sounding.

Neumann also has a great solid state mic: TLM-179. If you use this microphone, then a great tube pre-amp would really sound great and at a cheaper cost to rent/own.

Some people consider the M â€” 149 to be the industry standard for studio microphones, but Iâ€™d love to compare it to Neumannâ€™s M â€” 150. If possible, try to use large diaphragm microphones.

Whatever equipment and hall you use to record, it is advisable to spend plenty of time experimenting with various settings and placement of equipment prior to the day of the recording/performance.

Good luck.

Phil Dawson · Post by **Phil Dawson** » Wed Mar 14, 2007 1:33 pm

News flash- the price of a Neumann m-149 is list $5399 street price of $4499. A Neumann M 150 has a street price of $5699. A pro tools rig is not cheap either ($2000 to as high as $100,000) and you will also need an up to date fast computer in addition to the I/O interface. As long as you are dreaming really great mic pre-amps can run into the $2000-$3000 Per Channel range. You will also need a good mixing studio so add in another $50,000 or so if yo want to do it on the cheap. So if yo have this kind of gear I think many of us would like to come to your studio to record because you'd give us poor tuba players a great deal on studio time. Also I and others could use a new horn or two.
Phil

iiipopes · Post by **iiipopes** » Wed Mar 14, 2007 6:26 pm

If you build it, we will come!

(As another guy posted on a different thread -- had to. It was low, slow, and over the plate. But this time I don't think the wind was blowing in from center field!)

SplatterTone · Post by **SplatterTone** » Sat Mar 24, 2007 11:29 pm

If you don't mind me dredging up a thread 'cause I been taking a vacation from the computer (got to do that sometimes). If you want something that is handy, cheap, and I think a decent mic, here are some recordings made with the Nady CM2S, single stereo, battery powered, condenser mic. The deck is the old model Fostex MR8 (not the Mk-II with phantom power).

Fellowship Luteran, Tulsa, OK. The room has great acoustics for music.
http://t-recs.net/mpegs/FLC/4-16-2006/f ... r_hymn.mp3

First Baptist, Tulsa, OK. Large room but mostly dead acoustic. Mic was at the back of the room so there is some room boom to sound.

The band by itself. Y'all can hear the Miraphone 191 with Jet R&S Hellberg.
http://t-recs.net/mpegs/FBC/03_11_07/lead_on.mp3

The band with choir and organ (50-something rank Aeolian-Skinner for you organ buffs). The tuba goes up to b-flat on top of the staff for this one. This is why I had the Jet mouthpiece that day -- a little smaller for security on the top notes without sacrificing too much low end weight.
http://t-recs.net/mpegs/FBC/03_11_07/we_believe.mp3

And here you have the Aeolian Skinner all by itself:
http://t-recs.net/mpegs/FBC/03_11_07/postlude.mp3

I have a pair of Audio Technica 3035 mics. Nice mics. And I have the Fostex MR8HD (hard drive) deck -- which handles clipping most excellently without static. But the battery powered MR8 and Nady mic setup is so easy to transport and setup, and sounds good enough that the more expensive kit doesn't see much use. Plus it's a piece of cake to load the wav files right off the flash card from the MR8 and into Audacity. Loading files off the MR8HD is a bit of a pain in the ***.

I don't have a band recording with the 3035 mics, but I can post a choir, pipe organ, and piano sample if you're interested.

markaustinhowle · Post by **markaustinhowle** » Tue Mar 27, 2007 3:03 am

The other day I responded to colleague Rommelâ€™s post in which he requested recommendations for the BEST available microphones and recording equipment for tuba and piano. This is a subject I have studied extensively both as a hobbyist and as a practicing musician/educator for many years. I do not have any formal degree from any prestigious university that makes any of my comments â€œspecialâ€

Bandmaster · Post by **Bandmaster** » Tue Mar 27, 2007 4:29 am

Anybody ever hear of Cascade microphones? I stumbled across their website last week and thought some of their mics looked interesting. They have several ribbon mics available and they also have some nice sound files to listen to with various instrumentation. Anyone use them before and have any opinions?

http://www.cascademicrophones.com/cascade_X-15.html

markaustinhowle · Post by **markaustinhowle** » Thu Mar 29, 2007 3:39 am

Here is a link to a track from an album entitled Berlioz for Band which was performed by the Mississippi Wind Band. I conducted, recorded and produced the entire album and would love an excuse to be able to share it with anyone who would be interested in hearing it in its entirety.

I will later post a couple more examples of different types of recordings which were made with different microphones and pre-amps so you may compare the different audio sounds.

Iâ€™ve seen the word â€œshamelessâ€