Hot tips for recording a mandolin?

[Jitters]

My first thought is to use an sdc and a ribbon (Lauten la120 and Breyer m160) so that I can do some blending in the mixes. My room is untreated, but I have a vocal reflection filter that should help to get a more focused sound. Would putting blankets up behind him be overkill? The mando player is going to be blowing through town (he lives about six hours away) so I’m going to have to work fast if we’re going to catch all five of the tracks that I have waiting for him, and I need to get a good tight focused sound because I’m planning for the mandolin to be predominantly placed in the mixes. My previous attempts at recording mandolin have honestly not been all that successful, and I’m kind of stressed about this. Y’all were so much help with my drum session and I’m hoping y’all can pull through for me again.

[mjau]

Giving yourself mic options for the mix is smart. If the room sound isn’t that great, I’d get those mics in fairly close and judiciously high-pass as much as you need to. I prefer woody over sparkly with mando, so I might situate the mics a bit higher than the strings and point down toward them if you’re getting too much brightness. And don’t discount a good dynamic, either - a Beyer m201 can be a great mic for the right mandolin, for example.

[drumsound]

I'm not sure the iso thing or packing blanket are going to be helpful. Both of those things eliminate highs and mandolins are MOSTLY highs. But, I know nothing about your room.

I've had good success micing the body of the mandolin, kind of behind the bridge for a bit more tone. Other times more toward the picking area. If you have the space, a room mic can be helpful.

I really like the sound of a Beyer M201 on mandolin, it captures the percussiveness, but also the tone. Sometimes an SDC is all chop but no tone.

[Jitters]

Dynamics, eh? I don't have a m201, but I do have a few dynamic choices - m88, md421, telafunken m80, various sundry...

It might be worth pointing out that there won't be any chopping going on, this guys chords ring out and he's got a beautiful sense of rhythm, I want him fitting into the mix like an electric guitar, if that makes sense. Definitely not just a little something going behind stuff in the high end.

[Nick Sevilla]

Mandolins, like all stringed instruments, have loud transients. It is important to use a recording chain that can capture those.

Look at your mics, see their spec, use the one that is "fastest" at transient response. A SDC or LDC should do the trick.

As to the mic preamplifier, same thing, try to use the best one you have, with the fastest transient response time.

Tube anything might make it sound sluggish. There are expensive exceptions to that of course.

As always, record a little bit, and if part of the signal chain is not working, swap it out.

[Jitters]

So I guess you personally wouldn’t even consider a dynamic mic?

[Recycled_Brains]

Mandolins, like all stringed instruments, have loud transients. It is important to use a recording chain that can capture those.

Look at your mics, see their spec, use the one that is "fastest" at transient response. A SDC or LDC should do the trick.

As to the mic preamplifier, same thing, try to use the best one you have, with the fastest transient response time.

Tube anything might make it sound sluggish. There are expensive exceptions to that of course.

As always, record a little bit, and if part of the signal chain is not working, swap it out.

This is interesting. I would probably default to doing things to take the edge off of the transients. Use a pre that can soft limit the tips off without audible distortion or something like that. I feel like Mandolins don't need any extra accentuating in that regard, but your POV makes sense.

to the OP... if your room doesn't sound good, try the M160. It's very directional. An SDC is going to pick up everything.

[Nick Sevilla]

Mandolins, like all stringed instruments, have loud transients. It is important to use a recording chain that can capture those.

Look at your mics, see their spec, use the one that is "fastest" at transient response. A SDC or LDC should do the trick.

As to the mic preamplifier, same thing, try to use the best one you have, with the fastest transient response time.

Tube anything might make it sound sluggish. There are expensive exceptions to that of course.

As always, record a little bit, and if part of the signal chain is not working, swap it out.

This is interesting. I would probably default to doing things to take the edge off of the transients. Use a pre that can soft limit the tips off without audible distortion or something like that. I feel like Mandolins don't need any extra accentuating in that regard, but your POV makes sense.

to the OP... if your room doesn't sound good, try the M160. It's very directional. An SDC is going to pick up everything.

I'd do that in the mixing stage... especially since this is going to be inside a mix with other instruments. Funny enough, I have found that the stock Pro Tools plugins or Nuendo stock plug ins work well with taming crazy transient levels. The trick is to have a digital limiter which can be fast enough so you don't hear it. NOTHING in the real World can tame transients that are that fast. So instead I always recommend recording it accurately first, then mangling it. YMMV.

The human brain might not consciously know something is wrong, but it will "know" when an acoustic instrument sounds off. And it is always advisable to avoid that.

[Jitters]

I'd do that in the mixing stage... especially since this is going to be inside a mix with other instruments. Funny enough, I have found that the stock Pro Tools plugins or Nuendo stock plug ins work well with taming crazy transient levels. The trick is to have a digital limiter which can be fast enough so you don't hear it. NOTHING in the real World can tame transients that are that fast. So instead I always recommend recording it accurately first, then mangling it. YMMV.

So I guess I should have a limiter set up in the chain when auditioning the sdc? Otherwise I'm going to be tempted to go with a mic that is taming those transients and making it sound better in the mix to begin with.

[drumsound]

I'd do that in the mixing stage... especially since this is going to be inside a mix with other instruments. Funny enough, I have found that the stock Pro Tools plugins or Nuendo stock plug ins work well with taming crazy transient levels. The trick is to have a digital limiter which can be fast enough so you don't hear it. NOTHING in the real World can tame transients that are that fast. So instead I always recommend recording it accurately first, then mangling it. YMMV.

So I guess I should have a limiter set up in the chain when auditioning the sdc? Otherwise I'm going to be tempted to go with a mic that is taming those transients and making it sound better in the mix to begin with.

If a lot of the other instruments and voices are already in place, it makes it that much easier to make the choice of things like mic, placement, etc because you are hearing it more in context.

[Jitters]

That’s a definite advantage with this project! Best case scenario - I raise the faders and smile. Hey, it could happen!

[joninc]

My first thought is to use an sdc and a ribbon (Lauten la120 and Breyer m160) so that I can do some blending in the mixes. My room is untreated, but I have a vocal reflection filter that should help to get a more focused sound. Would putting blankets up behind him be overkill? The mando player is going to be blowing through town (he lives about six hours away) so I’m going to have to work fast if we’re going to catch all five of the tracks that I have waiting for him, and I need to get a good tight focused sound because I’m planning for the mandolin to be predominantly placed in the mixes. My previous attempts at recording mandolin have honestly not been all that successful, and I’m kind of stressed about this. Y’all were so much help with my drum session and I’m hoping y’all can pull through for me again.

what's the vibe? Modern country? Vintage? Pure bluegrass?

I've used a lot of different mics but as mentioned its all about context and if you are featuring a hot player or adding rhythmic support or doing something old school or more bright and modern...

I have used and loved ribbons for taming down a overly bright mando or setting it back a bit - similarly have loved tube condensers for adding sizzle and sparkle - and everywhere in between.

[mwerden]

I personally could never work well with the whole capture the pristine transients thing. I'm always looking for ways to soften those, whether it's tubes, tape, compressors, transformers, whatever. If you have the budget, I find something like a Manley ELOP goes a long way while keeping things sounding not very different. Also depends on the context, I can remember swapping out a vintage u87 one time because it was spike city and the mando stuck out like a sore thumb. I changed it to an sm7 and it sounded great.

Sounds like you're talking overdubs, in which case you kind of can't lose. Put up a bunch of mics and choose the best one. Or track a few if you're feeling indecisive. You can test things like blankets with an acoustic guitar. Bigger blankets behind the mic might work better than a reflection filter, depending on the blankets.

[Jitters]

what's the vibe? Modern country? Vintage? Pure bluegrass? .

I guess it’s best described as a rock band with mandolin and fiddle instead of electric guitars.

I finally got around to some tests, mind you this was my mandolin with ancient strings and me playing all the wrong chords, but the m160 pointed at the sound hole was the clear winner. Adding an sdc over the shoulder filled in all the highs and transients you could want. The vocal shield between that mic and the ceiling took out some room and helped focus the sound. I should probably use the sdc’s high pass at 150Hz, right?

Still time to make a T out of a mic stand and throw a blanket over it too, I suppose, but I don’t think the m160 sees much of what’s behind it.

I guess I’ll get the ribbon in the right spot first and then find the magic spot for the over. Do y’all advise flipping the phase on the over and trying to find the worst possible sound, then flipping it back?

[Jitters]

I ended up using just the m160 and I had it dialed in by the end of the day. I've yet to feel the need to pull up an eq (I'm sure I will), but I'm still struggling to get the compression set right. That little devil just goes from too loud to too quiet way too often.