recording Harmonica

[anne]

What kind of mic would be best to record a harmonica? I have a large diaphragm condenser, a small d. condenser, and an sm57 to choose from. Any help appreciated - this is for an upcoming client and I've never recorded harmonica solos before.

[arkjack]

Its a very interesting instrument to record and like other acoustic instruments, the sound you are trying to capture is going to influence the setup and gear you use for recording. If you are using it for chord padding and fills, the dry track through a large diaphragm condenser catches the real sound, and you can add effects to give it the ambiance and space. If you're looking to record some real raunchy raucous blues, then the player should go through an amp with a Shure Bullet mic, and mic the amp with anything from a SM57 to a condenser. If you want a kind of 'buzzsaw' sound in a country tune, I've liked playing into a dynamic mic like an SM58. Again, the setup can be a big influence on the feel of the sound. Feel free to Pm me.ArkJack

[billg]

If it's a blues sound you want go with your sm57 (there are better choices like ArkJack said, but with what you have use the sm57 for blues). Do a search, there's a free Tube Screamer plugin which will help alot to get an "amped" sound if your not micing an amp. Any other harp sounds, pretty stuff, folk, or natural harmonica will be fine with your LDC.

[edteja]

I love the sound with my SM58. It comes out clean and is an easy mike to work with. I love it for blues especially.

[bleuciel]

Hi! In a very melodic ballad of harmo I had great results by using 2 condensers at about 18 inches between each others at about 18 inches from the source in a kind of equilateral triangle: harmo and the 2 mics. In the mix, this miking permit you to give width by panning (opening) the 2 tracks.Good Luck!

[ernstinen]

I just finished mastering a live show that my band did "unplugged." One band member played harmonica quite a bit. It was probably through an SM58 which is still the standard club mic.After trying to tame down this raucous screeching for hours in my studio, MAN I wished he had played his harp into a bullet mic through a small tube amp, and have the soundman set the level in the room. Of course, this is for a blues harp kind of sound. For a cleaner, folkie style, find out what mic Neil Young uses. I saw him a few months ago, and he sounded fantastic!Ern

[anne]

Thanks for all the help! The songwriter that will be recording here does folksy / blues music, but I'm not sure exactly what he has in mind for this recording as far as style.With all the help from you I feel confident that I will have the ability to record it whichever way he wants.

[bleuciel]

May be your player will have his own bullet and little amp, then it's only a matter of miking the amp. If not, I would try a close miking with your 57 (mike in hands of player) and your 2 condensers @ 18 inches (triangle). You would be able to catch the raunchy of the blues licks and a room sound to give life and width. I would put the large diaphragm on the bass side of the harp.HTHGood Luck!

[ernstinen]

Quote:May be your player will have his own bullet and little amp, then it's only a matter of miking the amp. If not, I would try a close miking with your 57 (mike in hands of player) and your 2 condensers @ 18 inches (triangle). You would be able to catch the raunchy of the blues licks and a room sound to give life and width. I would put the large diaphragm on the bass side of the harp.Great ideas, bleuciel! That would probably sound really nice.Here's another idea: If the harp player is using a mic into a small tube amp and you mic the amp (a 57 would work fine to mic an amp speaker), you probably would want to run that track through a limiter/compressor. (The tube amp/speaker would naturally compress the sound a bit, but maybe not enough). But it would be ESSENTIAL if the harp player was playing directly into a mic without an amp. The dynamic range of a harmonica is pretty extreme. --- Witness people covering their ears when Dylan starts wailing away! (Jus' kiddin' -- luv ya, Bob!).Ern

[anne]

Hey, thanks for the tip - he doesn't have an amp, so he will be playing right into a mic (the 57) and I will definitely have a limiter on that sucker. I am going to use the other mics as you all described as well - and then, most importantly, experiment. He's a laid back guy, but he is paying me for the recording time so I have some time to play around but not too much. I can always "stop the clock" if we decide to really try out different configuration.