recording violin and cello

[richsorr]

hey all, this weekend I am recording a violon and cello for a band I'm doing. the song has electric bass, clean guitars, acoustic guitars and drums. i've never recorded either of these before, any suggestions on teh best way to mic them? the mics ill have available are 57s, 2 oktava mc012s, a nuemann tlm 103, shure pg81. ill have an avalon ad2022 and a focusrite isa 428 available for pres. any help would be appreciated. thanks

[VU Meter]

I'd suggest the TLM 103 on the cello, a few feet back to get the sound of the whole instrument. The body of the cello resonates so much that its hard to say an exact placement of where the mic should point... In front off the instrument, just off the bridge is usually a good start. If you mic it up right the thing should sound beautiful. Well, if its not some toy cello at least... Probably put that through your avalon. As for the actual mic placement, with the cello I'd say it can very easily depend on your room. The instrument, if played to its fullest, should fill your room with sound, and room tones may hurt you if you don't watch out. This really is an instrument to be tracked in a large room, high ceilings and wood floors in my opinion. You know you have it miked up nice if you can hear the resonance of the instrument even with the room, then you aren't too close with too much body sound, and not too far with none of that nice body sound.

The violins, again a big room would be nice... Those octavas in a stereo XY pair above the instrument and a few feet in front of the player as well may be nice. Or maybe the TLM 103 above and a bit closer, pointed owards the bridge.

One big question though, where is it supposed to sit in the mix? this could change your approach dramatically.

Jason

[richsorr]

thanks, I'm going to see if i can use the auditorium of my old high school to record these in, so that shouldn't be a problem..both will sit in the mix pretty low, they are supposed to be more in the background

[dissolve]

Start with the room. A live room is best for strings. Clear out anything that sucks up sound. Try moving the players to different locations in the room to sound best.

A violin resonates straight off the soundboard, so basically the sound is going up to the ceiling. It also resonates off the bottom and towards the floor which is where the "bass" of the instruments comes from. A reflective floor will really add to your violin sound. The lowest note on a violin is the G below middle C (196Hz) and large diaphragm condensers are preferred over small diaphragm condensers unless you're doing distant stereo classical recording. The traditional placement is 1-2 feet up above the soundboard pointing down; angled slightly towards the bottom half for more fullness or towards the neck for more highs.

A cello will have plenty of lows, the lowest note is C2 (65Hz) and will extend up into clean highs so a large diaphragm condenser will work. Try the TLM103 about 1-2 feet right in front of the bridge. Same thing try moving toward the bottom or neck if you need more lows or highs. Avoid getting in front of the f holes cause there will be a build up of bass.

[Naagzh]

they are supposed to be more in the background

Then more "roominess" would be appropriate. This can add depth to your mix. Of course, reverb works, too, but natural reverb... ahhh...

Why not close mic the violin with the TLM 103, and room mic with the stereo oktava pair?

Be careful on that cello. Some low notes will stick out more than others, so don't point the mic directly at the body, as this will produce a boomy sound, especially on those particular low notes. Start by pointing it midway between the body and the headstock, and go from there. Start two feet back and move in closer if need be; not many people want to hear the bow scratching the strings.

[MarkPresti]

I wouldn't get any closer than 3 feet from either one. The cello, mic it with the 103 at about the bottom of the neck (somewhere around the middle of the body) and about 3 feet out or so.

For the Violin i'd use an oktava about 3 feet about the player, and about a foot or 2 out and pointing towards the instrument. Hope this helps. If you can get some room mics on both of them, that would be awesome.

Mark

[Chris Cavell]

I'd use the oktava for both...very flattering on strings and better bass response for the cello than the large di 103.