Violin Experiment and Results

List of common mic placements for solo violin:

1) LDC Direct Miking

- Using a cardioid condenser mic facing directly towards the f-holes

- For absolute clarity and full warm tone

2) SDC miking

- SDC cardioid mics placed above the violin angled towards the bridge/f-holes around 50cm away

- Creates a more directional sounding recording

- High in clarity and possibly able to pick up the transience of the bow and strings

- For a more articulated sound which is aimed for cutting through a dense mix

EXPERIMENT PLAN

Aim: To record classical violin with different mics selection and placement in order to get both clarity with a little bit of ambience.

Mics selection: AKG KM183 omni SDC mics and Avantone CR-14 Ribbon Mic

We first went for a single mic miking using just one omnidirectional SDC. By moving it around until we get the fullest sound, we settled for this placement that faces towards the neck and shifted it a lil higher like so:

As expected, this sounds the most spacious out of all. The frequency range on the other hand peaks within 1k to 5k. It sounds slightly brighter than the 2nd recording and has more edge to it.

The frequencies of this recording ranges within 750Hz to 2kHz. This shows using a ribbon mic captures the midrange best.

For the last part of our experiment, we combined both in order to get the sound we aimed for (clarity and ambience). The SDC was placed at the top to capture a wider range of the sound produced.

First thing I noticeably hear from this recording was the transient sound of the bow and strings. This recording also has a very well-balanced tone of both spacious and clean warm tone.