mic up a djembe for live performance?

[curtisstetka]

Just curious if anyone here has had some hands-on experience with this. What mics did you use and where did you place them?

[Wilko]

we sometime mic 'em, sometimes not. for the real sound, you gotta mic the head and the floor.

[pc]

we sometime mic 'em, sometimes not. for the real sound, you gotta mic the head and the floor.

+1

For the head we use a standard tom mic or conga mic. For the bottom we try to use something with a larger diapraghm to get that nice, big bass response. Depends on how the Djembe player plays it too. For those who stick it in a conga stand, that's easy. For those who hold it between their legs in the traditional style it's a little tougher--we generally use drum claws as best we can.

[curtisstetka]

Thanks, guys. With a little web research I'm getting an idea how to proceed here. But I always prefer to see with the TFF dumbasses have to say too.

[curtisstetka]

I've been emailing with the church music guy. He wants to have a Shure 57 at the top and a 52 at the bottom. We're trying to figure out a good stand and/or clip arrangement for that.

I'm thinking we might want to get a wee mixer too as a sub-mixer so that the djembe is ultimately in one channel in the main mixer. It might blow the minds of the mixer guys if they have to use two sliders just for the djembe.

[javlib]

It looks like Leon is using some sort of wireless on the inside of the drum here. This clip seems to catch all of the tones from bass to open edge slaps and the stuff in between. I cannot find anywhere on the web that might list what mic he is using.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCMDRNtfYRc

[chuckocaster]

so what did you wind up with curtmo?

[curtisstetka]

Hey Chucko. This is a church thing. That means it moves slooooooowly. I'm not even sure the music guy has his budget approved yet. He and I have figured out what we want to get but the actually getting part might be another couple weeks.

I did bring in a few odds and ends I've had laying around. Most notable was a dbx compressor that we put between the mixer and the mains. It's made a BIG difference in sound quality. The background hiss is gone and it really smoothes out the music - especially the mandolin. That tends to be spikey.

I also put on this crap old Behringer sonic expander thing I've got. The jury is still out on that. I think it's good for the lead vocal but not for everything else. I'm going to wire it up differently next Sunday.

I'm having fun and the music is sounding good.

[chuckocaster]

good deal. compressors applied correctly make all the difference in the world, to me at least.

i've done plenty of sidestepping at church, buying mics and things we need cause of all the red tape. my buddy chris (who leads the youth group) tells me not to do this, but i can't help myself. i'd rather lay down 150 and get a beta 52 as opposed to waiting 2 months to get one.

[curtisstetka]

Yeah, Chucky. I've had the same thing happen. I did just buy a Fender Bassman 150 bass amp and donated it to the church. I saw a great deal on craigslist so I had to jump on it. I couldn't wait for the church to make up its mind on that. I could use the tax write-off too.

Hey, if I'm playing in the band, it makes sense to me to spend some money to sound my very best.

[Jonnda]

thanks guys, I had a tough time figuring this one out with only one mic able to record on my computer. now i know it's not really possible.

[chuckocaster]

you can do it with one mic just fine. i'd suggest though that it be a large diaphragm condenser, and set back a couple feet. it helps to be in a nice room also when doing so. the best kit recording i ever did was with a kick mic, and then stereo small diaphragm mics used as overheads in an X/Y pattern. the boom stand was set behind the drummer high up and then angled down at the kit. this was for a jazz band that we recorded for a class project.

[curtisstetka]

Yeah, I'd guess that for recording a single mic would do it just fine. We're talking live sound here where I don't want something else to bleed into the djembe.

I really can't wait to try this out but it'll probably be at least a month until I'm able to do so.

(sigh)

I'll just have to comfort myself with the couple of new toys we did get - the bass amp and the compressor. Now I'm trolling craigslist looking for a small rack and a furman power conditioner... :)

[Jonnda]

Well you see, the thing is that all I have is a small diaphragm cardioid condenser ( a 'SE 1A' mic), a TEF04 Omnidirectional condenser (very small diaphram), and a crappy knock off of a Shure SM58.

When I mic the top all I get is the head. when I mic near the floor, I only get the tone. I don't really have to worry bout it now as my external hard-drive i recorded onto DIED. no more recording for me for a while, but then again i could use the knowledge.

[Jonnda]

by the way, would there be any interest on this forum in seeing my ceramic instruments that I've been making this semester? I got drums, a flute, ocarinas, ect. I mention this because the drum I was trying to record was one I had made.

[chuckocaster]

post it up dude. if you look at my posts you'll soon realize how crazy i am and the weird stuff i build. just ask curt, i called him once on a monday and i had no idea it was a holiday. that poor bastard was sleeping in... back on point, yeah, post it.

[Jonnda]

Okay, I'll go check out a camera from the college tech center and snap a few. Where on TFF should they go, Whammy Bar?

[curtisstetka]

post it up dude. if you look at my posts you'll soon realize how crazy i am and the weird stuff i build. just ask curt, i called him once on a monday and i had no idea it was a holiday. that poor bastard was sleeping in... back on point, yeah, post it.

I'd totally forgotten that, Chuck. Yeah, dude, you are a world class dumbass.

[chuckocaster]

"if you're not first, you're last."

[Jonnda]

My father when installing a new window shade joked: "damn, I keep cutting it and it's still too short"

[chuckocaster]

yeah, the old "i cut three times and it's still too short!" classic. just like a sore peter, you can't beat it.

[Jonnda]

Ceramics picts are up in the whammy bar.