Recording Koto soloist...

[bigcitysound]

Hi folks,

I am looking for guidance with mic'ing a Koto soloist. Have not recorded this instrument before and most often I have seen them mic'ed with a single spot.
My instinct is to try a pair of spaced omnis or an ORTF pair to cover the instrument as it is quite large, but not sure about where the centre of the sound source would be on this instrument.

Ivo, I know you have some experience here but after searching couldnt find what your micing techniques were.

Thanks

JC

[d_fu]

No way to answer this definitively without some details...

What are you recording this for? A solo recital of traditional repertoire or an exotic flavour in a pop production? What kind of room have you got? And which microphones?

[Freematik]

I did a whole album of a Solo Koto player a few years back, I used a single 414 (I think a TLII) through and LA-610 or 6176, directly into the Alesis Masterlink I had a while ago.

I remember that sounding pretty damn good, I think I used a cardiod pattern.

One issue I remember is that punch-ins were not usually possible, because there were som many resonating strings, that the punch would always sound obvious. What we did at the time was just look for the perfect take of the whole song. Not ideal at all, but that's how we got 'er done.

The other issue is that the instrument/player were so quiet, that ANY background noise was picked up. I have an un-isolated home studio, with a vocal booth, but the koto of course didn't fit in the booth, so we did it in the control room. It was very hard to deal with outside sounds in this situation.

After using the masterlink I transferred it to PC for mixing/ mastering. It ended up coming out pretty good, but since I am much more of an urban music engineer, this was outside my sweet spot and could have been better in many areas.

If you have any other questions, PM me or I'll try to check back here. Brings back memories, some good, some bad....

-Freematik

[Freematik]

Oh yeah, and since the player plays the instrument ALL OVER, instead of in one spot, like some other instruments, it was difficult to get coverage with just a cardiod. Two omni's sound like a nice idea. This wasn't possible for me at the time...

-Freematik

[bigcitysound]

Hey Freematik

Thanks for sharing your experience, and excuse me for giving so little detail in my OP.

The recording would take place in a fairly large hall at a museum, this is a live gig. I have not seen the space. The koto would be played on it own.

These instruments seem to vary in size and I am still thinking that a nice pair of SDC's would be able to cover the instrument well but would like some comments from those who've done this before.

I have pairs of Schoeps MK4 and MK2S on hand

JC

[d_fu]

Originally Posted by bigcitysound

The recording would take place in a fairly large hall at a museum, this is a live gig.

So it's not only a recording presumably, but your mics will also feed a PA?
And you will be recording this, too? Or is there a separate PA system and mic setup?

If the acoustics and the speakers are good, your MK4 should do a good job, they've been used on countless such occasions the world over. If available, I'd personally likely reach for a pair of hypercardioids, though.

Obviously, you'll be placing your mics a bit closer for PA purposes than you might do for a pure recording, so the recording may need some additional reverb in the end, depending on whether it's supposed to be published.

[springer]

Yeah, use your MK4's in ORTF or NOS about 3-4 feet out similar to piano concept just a little closer. The dynamic range is smaller than piano. Where piano can go ppp to fff quickly, koto goes from ppp to mf and that's about it.

I have a small example on my sessions page but the koto is within a group...

Sessions Diary

Good Luck

[bigcitysound]

Thanks for the comments, and Springer I listened to some of your session and liked the clarity you got from the koto at the distance you were at. The koto seemed to project more than the guitar in that example #1.
I am still not sure if the performance I am recording is being amplified or not for sound reinforcement..
If there is PA I expect the super card capsules to work best if not I will probably go for the MK4 pair.
However my question was more about the koto itself and in an ideal situation, ie traditional music being played on the koto in a good room or studio, what the ideal mic setup would be to cover the instrument.

[fifthcircle]

Most of the Koto players I work with demand a microphone under the instrument near one of the sound holes for live situations. I will usually augment that with a stereo pair of some sort out a few feet in the room. Most players, though, require at least mild amplification to help fill the room. The mic under works very well for that.

As for the room pair, I would probably reach for the spaced pair of subcardiod mics (ie MK21 schoeps). I have a stereo bar that goes about 16 inches wide and it works very well for this.

--Ben

[bigcitysound]

Thanks Ben,

Good to know of your experience, and I do wish I had the MK21 capsules, I would like to try my 2 x MK2S as a spaced pair but that would depend on the PA levels in the hall, also I think they may bring out a little too much HF content so perhaps I will try having the koto off axis for a more natural sound. I will probably end up using a Sound Devices 744 and an MK4 or MK41 pair as well as the spaced omnis and see what works.

Thanks for all the comments slutz

[fifthcircle]

I think the important thing with your room mic is that you aren't too far out. This would especially be the case when you're dealing with omnis. Part of the pleasing part of the sound on "tape" is the immediacy of a closer mic. While I wouldn't normally recommend this, closer with a good digital verb can work very well.

In my work with Koto shows, I will move the main part to about 6-8 feet out and perhaps 6 feet high.

--Ben