• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Double Bass The physics of microphone placement

#43
Vunz said:
Thanks!

I started with an AKG C3000, after that a Neumann KM185, next a DPA 4099B, and finally a Schoeps. I also experimented with a Schertler Dyn-B, Schertler A-Dyn, and an Ehrlund EAP. Schoeps beats them all, also when playing live with an amp, but then again it costs almost as much as all the other mics and pickups combined...

Cheers,
Vincent
Click to expand...

When I worked for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation I tested a Schoeps (can't remember the model number) for my voice. I thought (and was told) the closeness was uncanny. Another level up from the Neumanns that we used in the studios. I never thought about how it would reproduce the sound of my bass! I felt like I was holding a Stradavarius violin and it was way too delicate for use outside a studio!
As far as I recall, that Schoeps was never used and sat for years in it's case in a locked cabinet in the station engineer's office.
 
#44
If you have a small lav type mic, one really simply way to find your instruments ideal mic spot is to get somebody else to play it, and you connect the lav mic to something that lets you plug in sound isolating type headphones, DT100/150 or anything decent. Then, while they're playing move the microphone around the common places and see if you can find just the place that has the sound you want. movements of quite small amounts can often be revealing. My friend had been recommended the in between the bridge legs position but when he tried it, it sounded thin and weedy. By moving the mic two inches towards the fingerboard, the sound thickened up. He then had to work out a bodge to keep the mic there. Try things that are not supposed to work - like the f-holes. With a ply bass, I wonder if the resonances are a bit unpredictable so it's worth spending sometime experimenting with a tiny mic first.
 
#45
martinc said:
When I worked for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation I tested a Schoeps (can't remember the model number) for my voice. I thought (and was told) the closeness was uncanny. Another level up from the Neumanns that we used in the studios. I never thought about how it would reproduce the sound of my bass! I felt like I was holding a Stradavarius violin and it was way too delicate for use outside a studio!
As far as I recall, that Schoeps was never used and sat for years in it's case in a locked cabinet in the station engineer's office.
Click to expand...

Indeed, intimacy and closeness are characteristcs with which I would describe a Schoeps, too. And even though the mic costs an arm and a leg, it does stand up against the rigours of gigging. After all, Schoeps mics are extensively used in broadcast and location recording. For me, it was one of the best investments I made!

Cheers,
Vincent
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back