Quote:
Originally posted by NARCOLEPTICDUDE2003
Did my first recording yesterday at home on my Yamaha Md-4 4-track digital. Piece was a Teleman duet arranged for 2 double basses.
Used a Shure Mic (don't have the model handy) straight into the deck.
Placed the microphone about 1-foot in front of the bridge, slightly to the left side (g-string side).
It sounded horrible! There are obviously some things I can do on the equipment side to improve the sound (better mic, preamp)......
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Take all of what I'm about to say with a grain of salt since I'm not an arco player. BUT...
Bass is one of the trickiest instruments to mic, as all basses speak and project differently. A mic that sounds great on one bass might sound like crap on another, and vice versa. That said, there are several things you can do with your setup (I also own an MD4s, although I have since moved up to a higher end recording rig):
- The mic your are using and the placement of same are the first and most important parts of your recording signal chain. Dramatically different results can be gotten by making minute adjustments to your mic placement. It would be helpful to know what the exact model of your mic is (hint, hint), but for now lets assume it's a garden variety cardiod dynamic mic like the SM57 or 58. With these mics, the pickup pattern of what the mic can "hear" starts very narrow and widens with distance, kind of like a cone. At one foot in front of your bridge (which is a good basic mic technique for DB), you can make some angle adjustments which should change the recorded sound quite a bit. For instance, if you angle the mic UP, you'll get more string, fingerboard, and bow noise. If you angle it DOWN, you are adjusting what the mic can "hear" to exclude the direct sound from the bow and fingerboard (i.e. - pointing it roughly in the direction of the tailpiece or endpin). If you angle the mic so that it's pointing at one of the f-holes, you'll get more boominess. Try making some subtle adjustments and see what happens.
- The MD4 has decent but not great mic preamps, and very minimal EQ. The next best step to get rid of the boominess that is annoying you would be to patch each track through some sort of EQ that includes a
high pass filter, which acts as a cutoff or "shelf" for low frequencies. The nicer ones are adjustable so that you can choose at what point you want to cut the low frequencies. Many of the ones that are preset are set to cut below about 100hz, which can work wonders in cleaning up a muddy bass track. Interestingly, some of the fundamental frequencies of the lower bass notes are actually below 100hz, and yet cutting these frequencies will often improve the sound of these notes.
Most important, experiment and let your own ears be the judge. I've recorded two home CD's on my MD4, and it's a great little box, with plenty of room to grow on. Good luck.
