Miking a Bodhran

domforr

Does anyone have any experience of miking an Irish Bodhran or similar frame drum for a recording session? I've got a pretty limited mic selection, which consists of the following:

3U audio Warbler Mk1 cardioid condenser
Line Audio CM3 small diaphragm condensor
Golden Age Project R1 active Ribbon mic 

Ideally I would use just one mic to keep things simple but 2 is also a possibility if that's really going to benefit the sound.

So my query would be about mic distance and mic placement and also I suppose if the mics I have are suitable or if I should look at getting a dynamic perhaps?

Cheers,

Dom

octatonic

Any LDC about 1ft away will do.

Multi mic option add complexity and you have to account for phase.

domforr

Simple is best - sounds good to me! I'll bear the distance in mind as I think I was previously miking quite close, which probably wasn't helping much. 

PolarityMan

I was going to post suggesting just a room/overhead style mic position when i think of a bhodran sound its the opposite of a close mic sound for me.

Cirrus

If you're not sure, use a close mic as @octatonic suggested, and a room mic wherever you think it sounds best in the room. If, indeed, it's an ok sounding room and doesn't sound bad everywhere in the room (I speak from bitter recording experience here).

Yes, that will bring up phase considerations. But you don't have to use both tracks, you can throw one away once you have a chance to try them out. Or do the dirty track nudge if you want. 

Winny_Pooh

PolarityMan said:

I was going to post suggesting just a room/overhead style mic position when i think of a bhodran sound its the opposite of a close mic sound for me.

Def worth trying this, too close and you get the woof (for lack of a better) of too much air movement and levels/attack being a bit spiky. When you then try and compress said spiky bits it goes to hell. 

Winny_Pooh

PolarityMan said:

I was going to post suggesting just a room/overhead style mic position when i think of a bhodran sound its the opposite of a close mic sound for me.

Def worth trying this, too close and you get the woof (for lack of a better) of too much air movement and levels/attack being a bit spiky. When you then try and compress said spiky bits it goes to hell. 

domforr

What about the possibility of using one on the skin side and one behind to capture some of the bass? Is this complicating things too much?

Rocker

Ask Christy Moore.

octatonic

The problem with using a room mic in (what I assume is) an untreated room is you will often end up with room modes affecting the recording quite significantly.

An LDC about a foot away is the best approach to take initially.
If that isn't working then pull back and see if the room positively or negatively affects the recording- in my experience with many percussion instruments it makes things worse.

But with all things it is best to experiment in situ and see what sounds best.
For instance you might find your ribbon mic works really well in a bright room such as a bathroom.

domforr

Great, many thanks for the useful advice. I'll experiment a little, but it seems the simpler option in an untreated room looks the best way to go. 

PolarityMan

octatonic said:

The problem with using a room mic in (what I assume is) an untreated room is you will often end up with room modes affecting the recording quite significantly.

An LDC about a foot away is the best approach to take initially.
If that isn't working then pull back and see if the room positively or negatively affects the recording- in my experience with many percussion instruments it makes things worse.

But with all things it is best to experiment in situ and see what sounds best.
For instance you might find your ribbon mic works really well in a bright room such as a bathroom.

Or the metalcore approach: close mic into trigger 2 into a vst  (then paralell compressed and clipped)