Good place to start with a mic live.

aluminumbassguy · #1 01-25-2009, 10:21 AM

Ok, Starting with a mic soon, with p/u and without. Where are some of your favorite places to place one and why. FYI I have a 1937 Kay with wound E and A strings and plain D and G. I know, plywood. I have a K&K Bass Max and 2 Bob Heil Mics. PR-20 and a PR-40. I will be ordering a H clamp from Bob Gollihur. Any good starting points would be appreciated, also how close do you like do get. Oh yeah, the mics are dynamic, but very flat. Thanks for your help guys.

bolo · #2 01-28-2009, 12:50 PM

Here's an old post and a link to some pics. Using a high pass filter can help tame the proximity effect for close miking if that's a problem.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bolo

Here are pics of how I use the H and a Beyer M-88 TG. It is more or less pointed at the mid-point between the bridge and the end of the FB, or said another way between the top of the f-holes.

Maybe you could get some other folks to post some pics, like Jeremy Allen and jrlynch. They've both got a PR-40 I think. Jeremy may have sold his H-clamp. larry uses a mic stand, with the mic right out in front of the bridge I think.

Bass Catcher · #3 01-29-2009, 12:38 PM

Bolo -

I'm new to mics as well, still learning how to mix my Beta 57a with my Full Circle to get the best results. What do you mean by proximity effect and how would you use a HPF to help this?

Matt

bolo · #4 01-29-2009, 01:35 PM

Since I am no techie, and no expert, from wikipedia:

"The proximity effect in audio refers to a change in the frequency response of a directional microphone as the sound source is brought close to the microphone. The result of the change is a disproportionate increase in the bass response of the microphone."
So with some mics, the closer the mic is to the source, the bassier it sounds. This can be advantageous, or not.

If the miked sound is too bassy, then a high pass filter can be used to filter out some of the lows and decrease the bass response. Some mics have this type of "low cut" filter built-in, often switchable. Some amps designed for piezo-equipped DB have this feature too, like Acoustic Image. Just happens to work great w/ some mics for some people too.