recording mandolin

[recenguru]

Any suggestions on how to get a good mandolin recording?

[A-Barr]

Ribbons.


Or maybe a condensor or dynamic. Or carbon.

[cgarges]

There's a spot below the player's picking hand that can be kind of cool sometimes if the mic isn't in the player's way. (This works well for "chopping" parts.) Otherwise, it's kind of easy to find somewhere in front of the instrument that will work. If I need to tame the top end a bit, I'll use a brighter sort of ribbon mic, like the Beyer M160 or maybe a tough-sounding dynamic like a Sennheiser 421. If I need to retain some clarity, I'll use a smoother small-diaphragm condenser like an Oktava MC012 (one of my favorites on mandolin). If I need to keep an edge there, I might use a harder-sounding mic with a solid midrange, like a Blue Mouse. Generally speaking, faster preamps sound more like the instrument to me.

If the mandolin needs compression, I'll use the fastest things I have around, which is usually either a Distressor or a GML 8900. An 1176 can be an interesting choice as well. I find that it's easy to get carried away with compression on a mandolin. Like, if I leave it where it sounds good to me at first, I end up with a heavily compressed mandolin, which can be kind of cool and aggressive-sounding, but difficult to overcome if you need to. I'll usually set the compressor where it seems right and then maybe back off the action a bit. I ca always add more later or ride a fader if need be.

I'll also usually track some kind of ambient mic as well.

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC

[tommy]

Really dark meaty sounding ribbons like a Coles or a B&O or even an one of those Octava black ribbons that Guitar Center use to sell make for a more old school sounding mando. They also tend to work better if the player has rather suspect chops. Like me...
I actually like slower tube preamps for mandos too. Like a UA 610. But again, most of the mando players I've recorded (myself included) are really guitarists that happen to be able to fake a mando part so any measure to tame some of the fast transients the mandolin has works in my favor.
I also like plain old dynamic mics like 451s or sm57s. I used a m380 once and it sounded amazing on mando.

If the mandolin player you're recording happens to be a real (ie chops out the wazoo) player then perhaps something like an AKG 451 or a Shure sm81 would better capture the more subtle picky things those guys seem to be able to make sound great.

As for mic placement, I tend to like a little below the high E and towards the F hole.

[@?,*???&?]

There will be lots of high harmonic content with one of these. Typical frequency response is around 60Hz to 20Khz and beyond 14Khz is still strong.

I'd go with an omni like an Earthworks QTC and jam it right in there.

[drumsound]

I've had good luck with an AT Pro 37R.

[recenguru]

I used a Neuman km184 and i thought it sounded pretty good. Have any of you used that for it, and if you have does it sound better/worse than some of your suggestions?

[qball]

I used a Neuman km184 and i thought it sounded pretty good. Have any of you used that for it, and if you have does it sound better/worse than some of your suggestions?

I second the km184 and the AT Pro 37R. The AT Pro 37R also works for banjo in the studio as well as live. I have used AT4060 with pretty decent results, but the best result I've gotten to date is with an old Neumann km54.

I start with mic placement around the top edge of the bridge/f-hole area for some pick attack and whatever low end the instrument has to offer.

Mandolins typically dish out a fair amount of transients, so be aware of that.

[fillmoresound]

believe it or not, try an sm58 and point it towards to soundhole and neck at an angle. goes for classical guitar too. not bad.

[trodden]

The few times i've recorded mandolin its been with the same player and instrument each time and i've used the older CAD e300, about a foot out, same hight as the instrument (player was standing) pointing just to the general direction where it sounded best, it will be different depending on the instrument, the player, etc, but with this guy pretty much pointing to where the business was happening... f holes towards the back of the strumming hand. But musicians to tend to move around.. The pre used each time was a modded symetrix sx202 with the burr brown op amps in there. He also has a really really nice pickup in his mandolin. send that to a DI and to a channel on the Topaz for a preamp. Come mix time i usually blend the two, running the DI track through the mic modeler first, usually on one of the ribbon options.. can't remember if it was the tannoy or the coles..

Each time i've had an accordian player in the same room with him and between the mic on the mando, the di on the mando, the two mics on the accordian player, there a good bleed of both instruments in the mics which work out really well.

[tenchijin2.]

So far we've learned you should
- use a bright ribbon
-use a dark ribbon
- use a SDC
- use a '58
-use an omni
-use a fast preamp
-use a slow preamp
-put the mic in close
-put it almost anywhere


So, now that it's been narrowed down I'm sure you'll get it right. Whew!

[BlueMoonshine]

There's a reason the AT 4033 is ubiquitous in bluegrass circles... at least in a live setting, the high end sparkle and fast transient response of the 4033 really lets the mando shine through.

That said, I've also had good results with "darker" mics, in fact, the last time 'round I settled on my Studio Projects B1 over the 4033 because it sat in the mix better...

[trodden]

So far we've learned you should
- use a bright ribbon
-use a dark ribbon
- use a SDC
- use a '58
-use an omni
-use a fast preamp
-use a slow preamp
-put the mic in close
-put it almost anywhere


So, now that it's been narrowed down I'm sure you'll get it right. Whew!

so yeah, recording a mandolin is pretty much like recording anything. Use what you have and in a way that sounds good for the situation.

Chris says he likes the mc012 on mando. When i was trying out mics on the guy i record, it was down to the mc012 and the e300 after trying out like 4 other mics, and the e300 sounded "best" for me at the time.. but i was recording a completely different mandolin, a different mandolin player, with a diferent pre amp, and probably on a different recording medium.

so, yeah. whatever gets the job done the way you feel fit.

[lunatic]

We've been recording a bluegrass album on weekends over the past... 6 months. Well, they took a month and a half off but anyway...

The one thing that we had a hard time with was the strings "ringing" behind the bridge and beyond the nut. A little bit of console tape on the strings (with the players permission of course) cured this instantly and got us a nice, tight sound. We also mic'd the mandolin two different ways. It depended on the song. The one the player fell in love with was a matched pair of Josephson C42s, in X/Y, directly in front of the mandolin, towards the bottom of the strings, about 1 foot out, and just about centered between the f-hole and the bridge. The mics went into Buzz Audio Elixir pres.

Take your time and really listen to the mando. That string ringing drove us crazy until we figured it out Also, mandolin can be incredibly dynamic. If we weren't careful, when the player switched from sharp strums (we called them "chuckas") to picking the signal level would drop. This is probably due to the player not being incredibly experienced but it is something to watch out for. We would set levels for the chuckas and record those. Then we'd set levels for the picked phrases and record those.

[centurymantra]

I've been recording mandolin on some projects recently and have been going with two mics; a ribbon mic out front, sort of under the picking hand as previously suggested to get that woody chop with an SDC up above the player - to get the sparkle - pointing straight down over the front of the mando around shoulder/head height. An M160 with an AKG C60 sounded great as did an AEA R84 with a Peluso SDC. It's just a matter of playing with positioning and dancing that delicate phase dance so the combo works. I thnk the M160 is the ticket for me on this setup in the future as the R84 was prob. a little TOO dark and woody. I also prob. had it a bit too close, esp. considering the player moved around a little too much - though she could definitely pick in mighty fine fashion. Actually, I can recall shuddering in horror a bit at the soloed R84 mando track during recent mixing, but, hey it sounded good in combo with the SDC and worked plenty well in the mix, so all was well...

I didn't try out any LDC mics on this, but might try this next time.