Solo Vibraphone
Matt Fort
Any thoughts? Anyone? Hello? Beuler? Beuler?
I have:
2 E200's
TLM 103
NT-2
D224E
PZM's
2 RE 20's
Senn. M409's
and 6 Realistic ball mics
ART tube MP
Aphex 107 (BARF)
48 channels of Mackie (horah)
Urei La3A's
RNC
Dual Levelar
6 GAIN BRAINS
I was going to record it @ 20bit 44.1 in Digi Performer.
Matt Fortier
Eureka! Recording Studios
Fitchburg, MA
978 345 6946
Matt Fo...@AOL.com
Rick Novak
close. Also the players tend to hunch over the instrument so forget an xy
directly overhead. I think I wound up with a pair of U-87's maybe a yard
above the high and low keys but a little bit in front of the instrument and
pointed towards the middle. I also had some mics further out in the room
which had nice tone but not much stereo to them. I wanted that hi-lo movement
that you can get with a piano. And I had some mics underneath to get the
leslie effect. I think we had problems with a noisy motor, too. I recall the
scent of WD-40.
By blending all that and pushing many phase buttons I wound up with an OK
sound, but never achieved Vibe Nirvana. So there are some of the problems to
watch out for . Sorry I couldn't be of more help with solutions. I'm curious
what you wind up doing and what others suggest.
Good luck, Rick.
Joe Schottman
> I have a SOLO Vibe player coming down this weekend...
> 2 E200's
> TLM 103
> NT-2
> ART tube MP
> Aphex 107 (BARF)
> 48 channels of Mackie (horah)
> Urei La3A's
> RNC
> Dual Levelar
> 6 GAIN BRAINS
> I was going to record it @ 20bit 44.1 in Digi Performer.
The best recording I've been involved in with along these lines was done in a
nice hall with a pair of KM140s in XY, about 20 feet back. In your case, I'd
prolly try the 103 with the NT-2 in XY, about as far back, and in XY. If the
pair are too unalike, I'd then thry the E200s. I'd most likely go through
the Mackie, though I'd also try the Aphex set as clean as possible.
Joe Schottman
Mike Rivers
> I have a SOLO Vibe player coming down this weekend...
> Any thoughts? Anyone? Hello? Beuler? Beuler?
> 2 E200's
> 2 RE 20's
Try 'em both. Or one of each. Put them about 2-1/2 feet apart, about
4 feet above the keys. Yeah, I know about the 3:1 rule and phase
cancellation, but vibes are supposed to sound phasey. Besides, it
won't move relative to the mics, so whatever cancellation you hear
won't change like a flanger. If you hear cancellation of a frequency
somewhere, then move a mic a couple of inches until the cancellation
moves somewhere that's not important.
> 48 channels of Mackie (horah)
Probably better than your other distortion generators. Vibes are
quite pure and unless you want them to sould like something else, a
"tubey" preamp probably won't be as flattering as the relatively clean
Mackie.
You might want to set something up to limit peaks, but with 20 bit
resolution for your recorder, you can make yourself plenty of headroom
and not worry about it.
--
I'm really Mike Rivers (mri...@d-and-d.com)
ScotFraser
In article <znr915592650k@trad>, mri...@d-and-d.com wrote:
>> Put them about 2-1/2 feet apart, about
>4 feet above the keys. Yeah, I know about the 3:1 rule and phase
>cancellation, but vibes are supposed to sound phasey. If you hear cancellation
of a frequency
>somewhere, then move a mic a couple of inches until the cancellation
>moves somewhere that's not important.>>
More relevant than any dips in frequency response with this kind of spacing is
the mono compatibility issue, but that's another thread altogether. I always
use ORTF spacing on vibes. You get just enough spread to be realistic &
interesting, but enough of a solid center & mono compatibility to work in any
playback context.
Vibe players are very concerned about the perceived attack of the mallets, & if
the recording emphasizes more attack than what the player hears acoustically,
it's better to move mics than to suggest a change to softer mallets. Vibes can
exhibit a huge dynamic range, so watch transients carefully.
Scott Fraser
Mike Rivers
> More relevant than any dips in frequency response with this kind of spacing is
> the mono compatibility issue, but that's another thread altogether.
That's exactly the "mono compatibility" issue. There will be some
peaks and dips when summed to mono but they might not be in places
that are important. That's why it's important to check before
committing to tape.
I've never tried ORTF (I couldn't even spell it last time I had mics
on a set of vibes) but did try an X-Y pair and found that they had to
be too high in order to get even coverage over the keyboard.
David Scott
Have you tried using a single-point stereo mic such as the Shure VP-822?
(882? - borrowing from a friend, can't remember exact model...) I'm
contemplating this approach for an upcoming marimba recording. Would like
your opinion. Many thanks.
Scott Dorsey
>
>Have you tried using a single-point stereo mic such as the Shure VP-822?
>(882? - borrowing from a friend, can't remember exact model...) I'm
>contemplating this approach for an upcoming marimba recording. Would like
>your opinion. Many thanks.
The VP-88 is very noisy, and it doesn't buy you anything over a coincident
pair other than quick and easy placement. But, if you've got it, you can
probably get away with it.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."
Mike Rivers
> Have you tried using a single-point stereo mic such as the Shure VP-822?
> (882? - borrowing from a friend, can't remember exact model...) I'm
> contemplating this approach for an upcoming marimba recording.
About as close as I've come to that is using a Neumann RSM-190 (? - the
stereo "shotgun" mic) on a hammered dulcimer and overhead on a full drum
kit. Both applications were mahhhvelous. The VP-88 (again ?) isn't all
that great sounding a mic, but it's certainly worth a try if you have
one to play with.
If you're talking about an orcheestral marimba, that's pretty much like
vibes, but a Mexican marimba has weird sounds coming out all over the
place. You have to find a good balance between the pitch and the buzz,
and that usually takes mics closer to the keys than you'd like, more of
them, and a couple of mics out front. A better way is to mic it with a
stereo pair in a decent room from about 20 feet away, but then that's
the best way to mic just about anything large.
--
Mike Rivers (I'm really mri...@d-and-d.com)
rob ottaviano
Shai Drori
soundstage. Take the tlm's over the vibes a bit higher than your head
each about a quarter of the way in straight above the vibe facing
straight down. Use the pre of your choise ( I used a vintage trident).
No need for eq, compression or any other shit. Just open it up and if
the player is a good one you will have magic.
Have fun
Shai
Eli Krantzberg
In article <dlscott-1001...@user-38lcpu3.dialup.mindspring.com>
>
>Have you tried using a single-point stereo mic such as the Shure VP-822?
>(882? - borrowing from a friend, can't remember exact model...) I'm
>your opinion. Many thanks.
The VP-88 is very noisy, and it doesn't buy you anything over a coincident
pair other than quick and easy placement. But, if you've got it, you can
probably get away with it.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."
I've recorded solo vibraphone (Musser M-55 model) using a stereo pair of
Neuman KM-184's and they sounded great. I tried coincident positioning, but
preffered a bit more of a spread ultimately; so I put them in a kind of "Y"
position.
Eli Krantzberg