Re: [Harp-L] acoustic harp sound quality / when recording and mixing

[David Payne <dmatthew@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I am by no means an expert of amplication or recording. But I always play acoustic, anything else in bluegrass
 is considered sorcery ;)

Seriously, here's what I do...

During the soundcheck, I get the mike hot. Usually, the soundguy has never mixed a harmonica before and, as 
always, the sound guy can make you or kill you. I soundcheck with a diatonic harmonica chord with the mic 
about a 10 inches from the harp and maybe play a riff or two. 

Now when we actually start playing,  I avoid getting right up in the mic early on, cause if I do, the sound guy
 will turn me down and that's the last thing I want. I get a feel for the sound mix. Most of the time I am playing a 48 chord, which will be about three or four inches from the mic during most of the song and I regulate the sound by moving closer or farther away, as opposed to actually playing louder. On a song with a driving beat, or at a part of the song where I want added volume for emphasis, I move closer up, maybe even to almost touching. There are some exceptions where I have to play louder by actually playing harder, such as Hank Williams III's "7 Months, 39 Days." It's got this really quick chord change where you go from E to G, to F#, to F and then E, then later on you go from E to F# to B really quickly. These chords are on opposite ends of the 48, the F# and B is the worst, they are a full two feet apart. I don't want to get more than three inches from the mic, cause the movement is so fast, and the chord is so big. But getting the mic hot
 early on allows me to do this. 

The big advantage for diatonics and chromatics with getting the mic hot is that when you want to emphasize something, you can move in closer instead of playing louder and that keeps you from blowing out harps. To answer the question, I can regulate not only my personal tonal effects, but my distance from from the mic to change tone and volume. It's basically the same technique as if the whole band was playing through one condensor mic, which I enjoy very much. 

You really need that mic hot to play acoustically, I think, because not all harmonicas play the same. You do a soundcheck on say a C harmonica. What if you go to a Low C? You're gonna need that mic hot and get right up on it when you go to that low harp. 


Dave
_________________________________
www.elkriverharmonicas.com


Alex writes: "so my question to everyone would be: what recording/mixing technique
and/or set-up do you guys use to come up with the firm, rich, meaty and
breathing acoustical sound for harmonica and at the same time keeping
the mix balanced and transparent? for  (the sound close to Toot's,
Norton's and alike)? 


I use a number of tricks to achieve that sound, but I'm wondering what
you guys are doing if you ever need to? 

Thanks, 


Alex"