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

[Richard Hunter <turtlehill@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Alex wrote:
<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? 

Check the Pro Pages at my site (http://hunterharp.com/propage1.html) to see what about a dozen well-known pro players use on stage and in studio.  In general, for acoustic harp sounds, the preferred setup is a high-end large diaphragm condenser (e.g. Neumann U47 or U87) mic with a good quality tube preamp.  As a rule, the better the microphone, the better the preamp required to get the best out of it.

Some harp players like ribbon mics like the RCA 44 or Royer 121 because such mics tend to reduce the shrillness of high frequencies, which can be a problem with acoustic harp in particular.

Toots said in an interview a few years ago that he uses a Shure SM57 or SM58 in the studio, not because it's a such an incredible mic for harp, but because every recording engineer in the world knows that mic and knows how to get a decent sound out of it.  (Didn't convince me, but who am I to argue...)

The Sennheiser 441 is used by players like Howard Levy when a punchy, horn-like sound is desired.

Regards, Richard Hunter




author, "Jazz Harp"
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