recording kind of "unknown" instruments

[victrolasound]

Dear fellow Slutz,
I have been asked to record a CD with several kind of (to me) "unknown" instruments. This in combination with vocals in a spiritual/ meditation setting.

The instruments involved are:

1. several percussion instruments
2. Tanpura
3. Kotamo
4. Shaman Drums
5. Singing bowls
6. Indian Harmonium

Very interesting stuff (acoustically) offering a lot of opportunity for sound recording enthousiasts (well, I guess that's me..)

Material I have available:
SDC:
2x Neumann KM84
2x Neumann KM184 (matched)
2x Gefell M300
2x Tbone SC150
1x Neumann RSM191

LDC
2x AKG C414B-XLS (matched)
1x AKG C414B-TLII
1x Sony C38B
2x Tbone SC450
1x Sontronics Helios

Dynamic mics:
Sennheiser MD441
Sennheiser MD21

Preamps:
DAV BG8 + DACS Clarity + Lake People F34

Recorder:
Alesis HD24XR

Editting/ mixing/ Mastering
Akai DPS24/ TC M5000/ Sintefex CX2000/ Waves

So....here's the question. Any folks here with experience recording these instruments?? What can you advice in terms of microphone usage/ placement?
Thanks in advacnce!

Grtz from Holland
Henk

[JonesH]

I'm a spaced omni person myself, but you don't have any sdc omni's so perhaps go with an ORTF with the 84's or M300's for the entire ensemble. Where will you be recording? If it's a nice hall, you could work with additional ambience mics - try figure of 8's turned with the dead angle towards the instruments in a semi-Hamasaki square. I often find it interesting (though it lacks bass).

You've got some nice mics, so just experiment away. The tanpura can get a bit harsh with some 414:s, I find... Depending on placement.

I'm sure there are lots of people with great experience about this!

[Baithak]

Dear Victrolasound:
If you have a good room to do this in (especially treated the bass region), the best way to go is with a spaced pair of mics. I would personally do a omni pair as suggested JonesH or better yet a spaced pair of ribbons - which I know you you don't have but is renting possible? If you are not sure about spaced ribbons see if you can get access to a SF-12 from Royer and use it in XY. You will have to play around a bit with the seating of the musicians but it is doable. My experience with Indian instruments and chanting type things is that the blend of an actual performance is rather difficult to recreate in post if you don't get the entire ensemble at once.

If you have to do this in an untreated room: things will get difficult especially with the bass frequencies of the drums and other echo related issues. In this case, I would try and minimize the room sound by multi-micing with dynamic mics each of the peformers: 441, 431 for voice, RE-16/15/20 from Electrovoice are good choices. Again, in my experience, if you multimic with condensers there is too much "leakage" between mics and your overall image will suffer considerably.

Just remember that a well tuned tanpura recorded with a pair of high quality omnis or fig8s at a distance of 3-6 feet is a really majestic sound. Most of the other instruments also have a similar sound but if you come any closer than 3 feet, you will only "hear" the fundamental frequencies and miss all the overtones.

I really, really hope you are able to do this in a great sounding room.

Best wishes,
Baithak

PS: experiment with just the harmonium. Put a stereo pair right over it and then move it slowly to about 3-6 feet and see how balanced the tone becomes. If any instruments is sounding hyped or shrill you are probably too close.

[victrolasound]

Hello JonesH & Baithak.
Thanks for your replies. Your suggestions are helpful indeed.
Yes, indeed especially the Tanpura will be a real challenge to capture the sonic beauty of the instrument! Renting mikes may be an option, but obviously I will have to consider the budget....
The room for the recording is still "open for discussion".
The group usually rehearses in a kind of small dancehall; far from ideal with wooden floor and even a mirrored wall!!!So I will have to suggest something else.
The performers will all play in one go. It is not to be a multitake recording (except for possibly dubbing the vocals??).

Many Greetings from Holland
Henk

[JonesH]

Do try and ask around for night time at concert halls or smaller churches, sometimes people are really helpful and a nice acoustic will get you a long way

With the mics you have, you should be able to get a nice result. It's more dependent on the venue...