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demel · 26th January 2006

A friend of mine was in India a short while back and came home with a beautiful hand made Sitar.

We tracked it using TLM103-Audio Technica 4033-RNP-Digi 002 in my living room which has fairly high vaulted ceiling.I've gotten some very open sounds in that room.
I did quite a few takes for the songs that we are working on and each take I went up and adjusted the mics.

I set up the 2 mics pretty much the same as an acoustic guitar with 1 mic towards the 12th fret and 1 towards the bridge.(about 6 inches from the sitar) 6 inches led to a harmonics overload so every take I moved the mics further and further away and ended up about a foot and a half back.

The results ended up sounding very cardboardie\thin interspaced with ear shredding highs and it seems almost impossible to fit it in the mix with electric bass, acoustic guitar and drums.

I found recording and trying to mix this instrument very difficult. But at the same time it is such an incredible sounding instrument and if I could make the recording sound half as good as when your sitting in front of it being played live, I would be happy.

Is there anyone who could give some tips to recording and mixing this instrument?

Thanks in advance.

26th January 2006	#1
demel Gear addict Joined: Sep 2004 Posts: 328 Thread Starter	Any tips for recording/mixing a Sitar? A friend of mine was in India a short while back and came home with a beautiful hand made Sitar. We tracked it using TLM103-Audio Technica 4033-RNP-Digi 002 in my living room which has fairly high vaulted ceiling.I've gotten some very open sounds in that room. I did quite a few takes for the songs that we are working on and each take I went up and adjusted the mics. I set up the 2 mics pretty much the same as an acoustic guitar with 1 mic towards the 12th fret and 1 towards the bridge.(about 6 inches from the sitar) 6 inches led to a harmonics overload so every take I moved the mics further and further away and ended up about a foot and a half back. The results ended up sounding very cardboardie\thin interspaced with ear shredding highs and it seems almost impossible to fit it in the mix with electric bass, acoustic guitar and drums. I found recording and trying to mix this instrument very difficult. But at the same time it is such an incredible sounding instrument and if I could make the recording sound half as good as when your sitting in front of it being played live, I would be happy. Is there anyone who could give some tips to recording and mixing this instrument? Thanks in advance.