I am lucky enough to have some time in a studio recording with one of the bands I play with. We have done a couple of sessions which are going great, however I am not entirely happy with the tone of the harmonica in the recording.
I have tried a couple of different mics - SM57 and a condenser mic. I had better results with the condenser, however the tone still seems a little "nasal". I have recorded myself at home with a cheap condenser and had much better results tone wise.
I was wondering if anyone had a tips or tricks on studio recording (technical or otherwise) which might yield better results, or weather it is simply my tone which I might need to work on.
EDIT – I forgot to add that I am looking for a clean (acoustic) tone, rather than an amplified sound.
Last Edited by on Jan 04, 2011 4:51 AM
This may not help you much but I've had the best results from smaller isolation booths with a condensor mic playing about a foot or two from the mic.
Last Edited by on Jan 04, 2011 5:07 AM
An initial Google couldn't find it, but there is an article out there on miking acoustic harmonica in the studio that is good. I also remember reading something many many years ago about Howard Levy discussing recording.
Sorry I can't be of more help. I've been in several studios from everything to grad projects to demos to albums...my experiences with getting a good acoustic track down are pretty much zero. The engineers always seem to go crazy with the eq.
I find bringing reference tracks, even if they are of someone else playing, to be helpful. ---------- Mike Quicksilver Harmonicas
I also ues the AKG c414 into the board for a great acoutic sound. Howard likes the Sennheiser stick mic. ---------- Emile "Diggs" D'Amico a Legend In His Own Mind How you doin'
Baker, you gonna have to post a sample of what do you want....there's too many acoustic tones. Diggs' example is one , but for me when I think acoustic I think large diaphragm mic . ---------- Free video harp tabs and backing tracks
The harp was done live with vocal. It was the biggest mic I have ever seen. the harp was half amp and half the giant mic. This studio is noted for great vocal recordings.
---------- Emile "Diggs" D'Amico a Legend In His Own Mind How you doin'
@MVL that article was really useful. I guess there is more to it than just playing into a good quality mic :)
@Sorin, I guess I'm not really looking to sound a particular way. Just want a faithful reproduction of what I hear when I play. I understand that this is probably not what everyone else hears however.
I'll let you know how I get on and post examples when it's done.
Have them pull out different condensers to try - they all have different characters.
Try playing just over the top of the mic instead of right into it. Try playing at different distances.
After getting the mic & position the best for you - you should work with the engineer to EQ it to you liking. It can be EQ'd before the recording is done, after or both. He can roll off the freq.s that accent the nasality, boost the bottom a tad - or whatever. ----------
I currently use a Neumann TLM-103 condenser with either an Avalon VT737-SP preamp or a Presonus ADL-600 preamp. This is what I own and I have no complaints.
In other studios, I've played through Neumann U87 and Telefunken ELAM 251 condensers through different preamps and consoles.
I usually don't have any problem with tone, even with cheaper mics and gear. While EQ can make some differences, I think sometimes harp players, singers, etc. are not prepared for the fact that condenser mics are sensitive and don't lie (which is what made me switch to Golden Melodies years ago). Acoustic studio recording is a whole different ball game than playing live blues harp through an amp, or even playing clean through a dynamic mic.
Of course with studio recording there are many factors that can color the sound, I realize that, but I don't think it should take a lot of EQ work if you have a great tone to begin with.
I think bonedog569 makes the best points about mic placement and distance, and about trying out different mics. Any studio worth their salt should and will have different mics and preamps to work with.
The fact that you say it is fine at home and not so good in the studio is very intreging however it may be a grounding issue in the studio. I find that when i go to the top london studios to record it is sometimes abit quiet. I no in the london studios the recording rooms are quite small and crammped!
---------- Nick Moore
Last Edited by on Jan 05, 2011 5:09 AM
It sounds to me like you might be missing some of the sparkle that comes from the ambient sound of a livlier room. If so, ask to record in a less acoustically dead space (certainly not in an isolation booth) and, as the article I linked to suggests, have an ambient room mike recording to another track so the two can be mixed together.
Last Edited by on Jan 05, 2011 6:59 AM
