Members GZsound Posted July 28, 2008 Members Share Posted July 28, 2008 I have a gig coming up this next weekend where I am going to be recording and running sound at an outdoor event. One of the groups is made up of eight cello players..and a drummer. In their stage plot, they are saying they normally use SM57's on the cello's.. I'm thinking some SDC's would sound better..but with eight of them..I don't know. Anybody done any all cello all the time recording..? Any tips? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members matthewmilner Posted July 28, 2008 Members Share Posted July 28, 2008 sometimes a condenser gets too much screechy bow noise - that might be why they've spec'ed out dynamics. i've had good luck in the past using a 421 on cello. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MrJoshua Posted July 28, 2008 Members Share Posted July 28, 2008 If they normally use 57s, I'd try 57s. But it wouldn't hurt to set up some condensors too and use them just for the recording, if you have the extra inputs and tracks available. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ElectricImages Posted July 28, 2008 Members Share Posted July 28, 2008 I've gotten pretty good results at home using two condensers on a cello, one large diaphragm down near the bridge a foot or two back and slightly off axis and one small diaphragm pointing down towards the bottom of the fingerboard and body of the cello from above about two - three feet away. They gave a pretty good mix of warmth and body vs. more string sound and air. Then again this was in a controlled environment with just one cello and not a live environment, so I don't know if that helps much. Mic positioning on cello seems to greatly affect the tone of the sound you are picking up, even more so than I might have expected, so you may be able to get by with a condenser or a dynamic and just play with positioning to balance tone out. Then again I didn't actually try a dynamic mic when I was recording cello because I was happy with the sound I got using the condensers so I don't really know how they would come out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GZsound Posted July 28, 2008 Author Members Share Posted July 28, 2008 I've gotten pretty good results at home using two condensers on a cello, one large diaphragm down near the bridge a foot or two back and slightly off axis and one small diaphragm pointing down towards the bottom of the fingerboard and body of the cello from above about two - three feet away. They gave a pretty good mix of warmth and body vs. more string sound and air. Then again this was in a controlled environment with just one cello and not a live environment, so I don't know if that helps much. Mic positioning on cello seems to greatly affect the tone of the sound you are picking up, even more so than I might have expected, so you may be able to get by with a condenser or a dynamic and just play with positioning to balance tone out. Then again I didn't actually try a dynamic mic when I was recording cello because I was happy with the sound I got using the condensers so I don't really know how they would come out. You describe the way I mic an accoustic bass. However, it isn't going to be possible to mic eight cello's in a live situation with a LD and a SDC on each cello....not to mention I don't own eight LD's OR SDC mics.. My original plan was to use four LD mics, one on each pair of cello's.. but I will probably try eight 57's and see.. Of course the problem is the same with any live recording.. one chance to get it right. Thanks all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Deeprig9 Posted July 28, 2008 Members Share Posted July 28, 2008 Aaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh look at all the lonely cellos... sorry, couldn't resist. I started drinking early today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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