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Double Bass Mic placement process/theory for upright?

fretlessman71

fretlessman71

Still beats havin' a job
Supporting Member
Aug 8, 2005
4,388
2,330
FoCo, NoCo
www.michaelolsononline.com
#1
Did a search; couldn't find what I wanted.

Going to do a session in a week or so with an old upright bass (it's MY old upright, so I'm familiar with it). I've never been totally crazy about the tone of the recordings I've done with it, but the bass sounds good on its own. Is there a standard process that you always use when choosing where to place a mic for a given bass? I'd be surprised if it was the same place for all of them...

Yes, mics make a big difference, but I'm thinking about how to find the part of the bass best suited for mic'ing in the studio. Thanks in advance.
 
#2
#4
Nope, me too.

Here's a pitcher

ASessionMicPlacement.jpg


and another one


ASessionArco.jpg
 
#6
Jake deVilliers said:
This is the thread you're looking for: Here's

For recording DB in a room by itself, a small diaphragm condenser about a foot in front of the passenger side chest area and a large diameter condenser a couple of feet out from the bridge give a good combination of definition and warmth.

YMMV - experimentation is essential! :)
Click to expand...

Jake - TB search results are not linkable. In order to posts the results of your search, you'd have to copy and paste specific links into your post.

http://www.talkbass.com/foru/showthread.php?t=351589&highlight=mic+position+for+recording a link to a description of my standard studio setup.
 
#10
Hey Mike -- how's things in Fort Fun? I'll be out there in two weeks doing a recording quickie sesh at the Blasting Room! Hmm...I may need to contact you about possibly renting an upright........

Anyway, I've been doing a number of recordings on DB these past few years and finally found the best setup (for MY bass).

Since my axe has a slightly weaker low end, I prefer a big fat Neumann-type about a foot away from the bass side F hole. This yields the extra-large thump I go for.

Then, we put a skinny Neumann just off the finger board for all the clicks and highs. You'd be surprised how much low end this mic gets though.

I've almost always used my Barbera...but recently tried the Full Circle which has a much more even sound (live and in-studio)

My mix ends up being like 70% big mic, 20% skinny mic, 10% pup.

I also like compression, but some engineers poo poo anything artificial. For me, it evens out my crummy dynamics and makes me sound smoother!

Have I achieved the perfect sound yet? No...but I'm pretty happy with the energy I get on tape (or hard drive...)

Good luck - and please let us know how it works out.

Jason
 
#12
Marcus Johnson said:
As I recall, our own TBDB member Ike Harris appeared in an article about DB mic placement for Recording Magazine a few months ago... there was a thread about it here. Unfortunately, I never got that issue, but I'm sure you could get a back issue.
Click to expand...
Yeah I had to trade PMs w/ Ike to refresh my memory, but here's the thread.

My studio experience is very limited. But the dual mic hi-low or body + FB thing worked well for me too.

Ike also reminded me about this thread, with some great insights from Bobby King and Dave Martin, among others.
 
#13
On my recordings with Patricia Barber, Jim Anderson is the engineer. He's won a lot of Grammy's. I always use his placement now. He uses two smaller diaphram mics in a stereo pattern directly in front of the bridge. (typically Sankens ) One day in a winter recording when my bass was sounding particularly anemic he used an old Neuman stereo mic. My bass sounded warm and huge. I've played a lot of recordings when the engineers used very nice old Neuman or Telefunken mics and got a very nice sound, but the stereo mics really do something different.
 
#14
I've had great results with a vintage ribbon mic about 16 inches in front of the bridge, and usually 2-3 inches above. I had great result at a session for an engineer who used a large Neumann in front, with a Neumann KM84 aimed at the point where the neck joins the body. I also usually record a direct feed from the Full Circle through an Avalon U5. A little bit of this is sometimes added, but I try to convince the mix engineer to use as much of the mic sound as possible.

George
 

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