recording oud

blungo2 · Post by **blungo2** » Sat Sep 26, 2015 3:22 pm

Well it's not really an oud, it's a godin inuk which is basically an oud with steel strings and frets. An oudtar maybe? In my mind at least, it sounds more like an oud than a guitar.

I was going to try my usual suspects, an inner tube u-87, ronin dove and then a pair of beyer mc930s, maybe even a ribbon. But i'd love to hear some different approaches.

LDCs i would try aimed at the neck joint first, then i was going to try the beyers with and LDC above them aimed at the soundhole. I think i read about that here recently.

I was going to put up some baffles and record it pretty dry and then add reverb.

Suggestions? Thoughts?

Drone · Post by **Drone** » Sat Sep 26, 2015 4:30 pm

Aren't Ood Electric?

blungo2 · Post by **blungo2** » Sat Sep 26, 2015 4:44 pm

Yes, there's that.

The inuk also has a nice pickup and pre built in, i'll probably record that too just for the heck of it.

Nick Sevilla · Post by **Nick Sevilla** » Tue Sep 29, 2015 10:34 pm

I would firstly, LISTEN to the instrument.

Then pick what microphone to use.
And record any DI the instrument has as well.

Cheers

blungo2 · Post by **blungo2** » Wed Sep 30, 2015 5:12 am

Thanks, i'll definitely try that one of these days.

oneflightup · Post by **oneflightup** » Fri Oct 02, 2015 2:00 am

Hey Blungo2,

What kind of music is it and what kind of sound are you after? That's what guides my microphone selection. eg. when doing an old jazz cover this past week, we used an RCA 77 ribbon mic on vocals. Just what the song needed. We ended up using the 77 as a mono drum overhead as well.

So if you're after a slightly 'vintage' sound you could pick a ribbon like the 77. I like to use a C12 for a more 'hifi' sound.

As for pre's, my desk is API so that's what I use.

Have fun doing the session! Post a photo of your chosen setup....

Best,

Nick

blungo2 · Post by **blungo2** » Fri Oct 02, 2015 5:16 am

Thanks Nick!

It's kind of a cross between middle eastern or even a flamenco sound with swampy blues.

My first thought was a ribbon (i don'y have a 77, but i have an AEA r84 and a cloud jrs34) i was concerned that the ribbon wouldn't pick up enough sparkle from the steel strings, but this oud is tuned really low. I could always suplement with an SDC or a more revealing LDC.

I have a really funky drum mic setup that i was going to use with a hanging speaker as a front of kick mic and a carbon mic (with an sdc) on snare.

I do love a mono ribbon overhead though!

EDIT: I'd love to hear more about the oud jazz covers. Will that be publicly available?

oneflightup · Post by **oneflightup** » Fri Oct 02, 2015 5:38 am

Hey Blungo2,

Sounds cool!

I know what you mean about the lack of top end sparkle.... good idea to use a SDC...
Try a few mics on the Oud and let us know what works best.

Nick

PS: I think you misread a word in my last post.... "old jazz cover" not "oud jazz cover".... though that would be cool!
The jazz cover is for a short film which is in production at the moment. Should be finished in time for Sydney Tropfest film festival...

blungo2 · Post by **blungo2** » Sat Oct 03, 2015 9:52 am

Sorry about that, i guess i have oud on the mind these days.

Still would love to hear the jazz covers, good luck at the festival!

The oud sessions will be down the road a bit, maybe just some informal tests in the near future. I'm incredibly swamped with school right now and my band is getting ready for, what for us is a big gig. We get to play one of our towns best sounding venues in a couple weeks. Really excited about that!

oneflightup · Post by **oneflightup** » Sat Oct 03, 2015 6:38 pm

Awesome! Best of luck for the big gig!

blungo2 · Post by **blungo2** » Sun Oct 04, 2015 8:51 am

Thank you!

We had a little oud and drum jam last night, no recording. It went well, went for more of a middle eastern, trancy sound with the oud amplified and run through pedals.

Going to try and start recording this winter, but we have a lot of ground to explore. It may turn out best to go for a live in one room recording and just embrace the bleed.

blungo2 · Post by **blungo2** » Sun Nov 29, 2015 5:20 pm

So, try revive an older thread, i've been experimenting quite a bit.

Initially i had very good results with my old inner tube u-87. Nonetheless, i kept trying other mics and settled on a 3 mic arrangement that i think i first heard of here. It's an xy sdc pair (beyer mc930) at a little less than a foot away from the fretboard neck juncture. There is a third, center mic around chin height angled down towards the soundboard, it's a cloud jrs34. I'm very pleased with the initial results of this setup. In my mind it sounds clear and articulate, yet warm and most of all huge.

I've also had not bad results running the (to me very brittle sounding) onboard fishman pu/aura pre through a reddi into an igs one la. Nice for live stuff.

Just my two cents in case it might be useful to someone...

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recording oud

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