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Recording a violin - any advice appreciated

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  • 05-01-2013 5:38pm
    #1
    ZV Yoda
    Registered Users Posts: 1,447 ✭✭✭


    Hi folks,
    Looking for any advice on recording fiddle in a small home studio. I'm doing some recording for a friend of mine. It could be loosely described as acoustic folky-rock type music. A fiddle player mate of his is playing on a few tracks next week. As far as I know the fiddle player hasn't recorded in a studio before. The rest of the stuff we've recorded (bass, drums, guitar, vox) all sound pretty good, so I really want to avoid having a boxy/amateur sounding fiddle.

    My room is semi-treated, but still not ideal. I usually record my vox/acoustic guitar in the corner of the room. I have a duvet hanging on the wall and stand with my back to the wall facing into the mic. I use an SE2200 with a Reflexion Filter. I get a really good dry vocal sound this way. The acoustic guitar sounds OK this way too. Will this approach work for the violin? From reading online, it seems they're usually mic'd from above at a distance, but I won't have that luxury because of my set up.

    Any thoughts on how I can get a half decent sound? Aside from the SE2200, I only have a couple of SM57's.


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    #2
    fitz
    Hosted Moderators Posts: 8,027 ✭✭✭fitz


    You'd be as well trying to find a nice sounding untreated room imo.
    See if there's anywhere in the house that the fiddle sounds good, look for sweet spots then stick the mic there. Try that for one song, see how it works out?


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    #3
    Shakti
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,153 ✭✭✭Shakti


    avoid compression, find a good med/lrg reverb to suit, you could also try to get them to double track and vary their vibrato on each take,


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    #4
    fitz
    Hosted Moderators Posts: 8,027 ✭✭✭fitz


    Agreed on that. Definitely layer it up. Double or triple the line, and get him to double a harmony line too, then maybe a a doubled countermelody. I find with one string performer, more is more.


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    #5
    i57dwun4yb1pt8
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,655 ✭✭✭i57dwun4yb1pt8


    anytime ive seen this done it was in a nice livley sounding room as fitz pointed out- these type of instruments need ambience .


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    #6
    franktheplank
    Registered Users Posts: 1,168 ✭✭✭franktheplank


    My first instinct would be to put an small diaphragm condenser to a fiddle, could you borrow one?


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    #7
    ZV Yoda
    Registered Users Posts: 1,447 ✭✭✭ZV Yoda


    Thanks for the feedback. I don't really have the option to use a room in the house for recording (night-time fiddle session not a runner with the kids sleeping upstairs). I could probably borrow additonal mics, but I reckon the biggest problem is the room itself. I'll play around with a few different mic positions to see what works best.

    Good advice on playing multiple harmony lines - hadn't thought of that. Not sure exactly what he'll be playing, but will bear that in mind.

    Thanks for the advice.


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    #8
    fitz
    Hosted Moderators Posts: 8,027 ✭✭✭fitz


    ZV Yoda wrote: »
    Thanks for the feedback. I don't really have the option to use a room in the house for recording (night-time fiddle session not a runner with the kids sleeping upstairs). I could probably borrow additonal mics, but I reckon the biggest problem is the room itself. I'll play around with a few different mic positions to see what works best.

    Good advice on playing multiple harmony lines - hadn't thought of that. Not sure exactly what he'll be playing, but will bear that in mind.

    Thanks for the advice.

    No chance of a daytime session at the weekend so you could use the house?

    Either way, mic from a distance and layer it up would be my advice.


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    #9
    SeanHurley
    Registered Users Posts: 347 ✭✭SeanHurley


    ZV Yoda wrote: »
    Thanks for the feedback. I don't really have the option to use a room in the house for recording (night-time fiddle session not a runner with the kids sleeping upstairs). I could probably borrow additonal mics, but I reckon the biggest problem is the room itself. I'll play around with a few different mic positions to see what works best.

    Good advice on playing multiple harmony lines - hadn't thought of that. Not sure exactly what he'll be playing, but will bear that in mind.

    Thanks for the advice.

    If you could get your hands on a Beyer M160 ribbon it would do a nice job for ya. Although it is a ribbon it is hyper-cardoid and has pretty good rejection of whats behind it. It needs a fair bit of gain and a good pre but it has a nice quality on violins - not too dark, not too bright. If you can't get the Beyer your SE will be grand but it will pick up more room being a condenser and might be a little on the bright/harsh side.

    As a suggestion on placement: give it a little bit of space from the mic as it will sound fierce scratchy otherwise. Over the shoulder a foot or so above the player and you will get very usable results (just remind the player to keep wild movements to a minimum).

    Best of luck!


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