01-23-2018, 04:04 PM
Now that I've been bitten by the live recording bug, I find myself obsessively thinking about everybody I know who plays an acoustic instrument. In my own home I have family members who practice clarinet, violin, and viola. A flutist and bassist live next door. A teenager across the neighborhood practices cello. My coworker plays cornet and trombone. If I were able to find an oboe, my sister in law would love to play it.
So I've learned a thing or two about recording clarinet and what kind of response I get from different mic positions, but I understand that there are a whole different set of considerations to be made when recording other types of instruments.
From what I've been able to gather, flute may be best recorded by aiming my cardioid mic at the embouchure hole, from above so as not to be directly exposed to the rush of air. Oboe seems like it would be similar to clarinet, perpendicular and aimed at the center of the instrument. What little I've read about recording brass seems to indicate pointing the mic at the bell, maybe at a bit of an angle to avoid a direct blast. For string instruments, I think I would try putting the mic perpendicular to the face of the instrument, aimed directly at where the bow engages the strings.
Can anybody with more experience let me know if I have the right ideas of how to record these instruments? Any help avoiding misery and frustration would be greatly appreciated!
So I've learned a thing or two about recording clarinet and what kind of response I get from different mic positions, but I understand that there are a whole different set of considerations to be made when recording other types of instruments.
From what I've been able to gather, flute may be best recorded by aiming my cardioid mic at the embouchure hole, from above so as not to be directly exposed to the rush of air. Oboe seems like it would be similar to clarinet, perpendicular and aimed at the center of the instrument. What little I've read about recording brass seems to indicate pointing the mic at the bell, maybe at a bit of an angle to avoid a direct blast. For string instruments, I think I would try putting the mic perpendicular to the face of the instrument, aimed directly at where the bow engages the strings.
Can anybody with more experience let me know if I have the right ideas of how to record these instruments? Any help avoiding misery and frustration would be greatly appreciated!