Hot tips for recording a mandolin?

[vernier]

I recorded mandolin couple times but don't remember doing anything special . . just dynamic mic, pre, limiter, recorder.

[emrr]

It's almost always a ribbon here, seems to capture the best blend of note value and body versus transients. Mando transients in a dense fast mix can just sound like nasty percussion with no note value if it goes wrong.

[Jitters]

I think the ribbon was the right call, but I still can’t get the damned thing to sit in the mix like I want it to.

[Nick Sevilla]

I think the ribbon was the right call, but I still can’t get the damned thing to sit in the mix like I want it to.

Some ideas:

1. Who is competing for space with the mandolin? EQ out some of their frequencies to make room in the mix for the mandolin.

2. What does the mandolin sound like with NO processing? Does it have enough of the frequency spectrum you want to have in the mix? Have you filtered out most of the low end yet (250Hz)?

3. What is the role of the mandolin in context with the entire arrangement? Is it a support / background role, like those Italian songs with the mandolin just being played as a fast drone? Is it only playing chords? Is it playing the melody? In each case, who else is doing this role at the same time, and can they be EQ'd differently?

Cheers

[Jitters]

Gracias, Nick! I will follow these lines of inquiry and chase down the voodoo as soon as time permits.

[vvv]

FWIW, good references for mando - even in a rock context - are Steve Earle albums.

He's had various producers but always seems to have a great mando sound.

[Jitters]

I should probably catch up on his catalogue, my mind drew a blank after Copperhead Road...

[Jitters]

Nick chiming in with all the right questions!

1. Who is competing for space with the mandolin? EQ out some of their frequencies to make room in the mix for the mandolin.

No one per se, but I had done a lot of treatment to the fiddle while waiting on the mandolin tracks. Peeling all of that away helped put the two on more equal footing.

2. What does the mandolin sound like with NO processing? Does it have enough of the frequency spectrum you want to have in the mix? Have you filtered out most of the low end yet (250Hz)?

The frequency response is ok, a high pass and a small bump just over 500hz was all I had done with that, but the problem was that there was no real weight or density to it. A touch of dedicated room style reverb and a bit of a doubler/slapback delay helped thicken it up a bit. It's limited fairly aggressively, and I haven't ruled out a second compressor, but I don't want to kill the punch or hit the point of having it fatigue the ear.

3. What is the role of the mandolin in context with the entire arrangement? Is it a support / background role, like those Italian songs with the mandolin just being played as a fast drone? Is it only playing chords? Is it playing the melody? In each case, who else is doing this role at the same time, and can they be EQ'd differently?

It's a little bit of all of the above, mostly chords, with tremolo double stops and little connecting runs. It's not support, I really want it prominent. I muted the fiddle and vocals, and putting the beefed up mando in with just the drums, bass, and acoustic guitar helped me to pinpoint what it need to be doing, and it's trucking along much better now I think. Of course, who know what my ears will hear tomorrow? I swear gremlins get in there and change things overnight.

[KuruPrionz]

Eventide Physion II or Split EQ will allow you to cleanly separate the transients from the tones. For mandolin, I'd choose Split EQ.
Take the transients down a bit and compress the tones.