Recording harmonica: The Cliff Notes

["E. M. Kliman" <info@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Folks:

For those of y'all who missed Tom Ball's earlier posting about a very good 
article called "Taming of the Shrill", I offer the condensed version and the 
advice to check out the full article at:

http://emusician.com/ar/emusic_taming_shrill/index.htm

Here are some "high fiber content" quotes from the story:

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?As soon as I hit one that emphasizes the chest frequencies ? those really low 
animal sounds ? that's the mic I want. What I like in a mic is lots of fat low 
end, the mids [1 to 5 kHz] kind of scooped out, and a very extended but smooth 
top end, just to give it some air. Even a bad mic equalized like that can 
sound pretty decent.?

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Of course, high-end mics aren't always the ticket. Thielemans, no stranger to 
the best studios in the world, has many times encountered engineers determined 
to use their finest, most expensive microphones to capture his beautiful tone 
on the chromatic harmonica. His favorite mic, though, is the Shure 
SM58. ?What's important is not hi-fi but my-fi,? says Thielemans. ?I've tried 
everything, and the SM58 is what works best for me.?

Thielemans has no problem with the engineer equalizing the harmonica track so 
it better fits the mix. His manager, Dirk Godts, has picked up the basic EQ 
curves that are sometimes required to get Thielemans's sound in live 
situations. ?I almost always reduce the really high frequencies a bit, because 
the instrument is already so sharp sounding that it doesn't need them,? Godts 
says. ?Then I add some mids to give the instrument a bit of belly, and I also 
cut the very lowest frequencies.?

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Although it's not something the engineer ordinarily has any say about, it's 
worth noting that the pitch range or key of the harmonica can also play a role 
in mic selection. In general, the higher the pitch of the harp (or the section 
of the harp being played), the more likely I am to use a dynamic mic, 
particularly a ribbon. On the other hand, low-tuned harmonicas or low-chord 
rhythm parts may benefit from the additional high-end response a condenser mic 
can provide.

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Thanks again for posting the link, Tom.  The tonal depth and sweep of our 
instrument, and the unique characteristics that it produces in the hands of 
each individual player, never ceases to amaze me.

Tio Ed
Austin, TX

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Ed Kliman
Writer/Musician/Publisher
TexasMusicForge.com
"Written, musical and electronic
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