microphones for whistles

I got this question by email and I have no experience recording whistles. Any help would be appreciated.


Hi Dale

I’ve used your website many many times over the years.

Do you have insight into the best microphones to use for recording
whistles - condensers or dynamic (Shure SM58 for eg)? How about for
getting rid of breath sounds?

Many thanks in advance

Ormond

My preferred mic is the Shure Beta 58A for flutes and whistles.

Dale:

The mics we use in the studio depend mostly on the range of the instrument. I will keep my suggestions to more of the affordable variety. For mid and upper range instruments, we have successfully used Shure KSM 32s, Audio Technica 300 and 400 series - all condenser mics. A stand-out in the low price category is the AT 3035. It streets for about $200 and does a beautiful job. It is a large diaphragm condenser. Low whistles work well with Studio Projects C1, a number of the ADK series mics, some Audix models, and those mentioned already, above.

Distance from the mic is critical. About a foot to 24 inches gives a nice ‘air’ around the overall sound. If possible, use two mics for a true stereophonic image. The player should stand at the apex of an imaginary triangle formed by him and the two mics. Around 24" on each side of the ‘triangle’ works well. Bigger triangle? More ‘air’ surrounding the sound…A tiny bit of compression on mixdown came tame the differences in volume caused by player movement, and the varying dynamics of the instrument, itself. If no mixdown is to be done, tasteful compression can also be used on the original recording.

Breath sounds can be dealt with by varying the distance between player and mic(s).

In live work, I always use dynamic mics - either Shure SM57 or SM58.

Best to all.
Byll

The thing to remember is that there are different mics for different applications. (recording in a live venue vs recording in a studio) Some are better than others for different situations.

The SM58 is a great all-round workhorse capable of (reasonably)accurately capturing sound from a regular high d whistle. Using an SM58 assumes that you are running it to a mixer or some other pre-amped rig and have discreet control over the signal coming from the mic. In this instance, an SM58 or SM57 will do fine with most recording needs.

A condenser mic will allow you to record from quite a bit father away and better capture what a listener would hear as opposed to the player. It also might give you better frequency response in the high range.

With, dynamic mics, like the SUREs mentioned above, you will have to be pretty close to effectively drive the mic. The closer you are to a Cardioid patterned mic (sm57-58 ) the more proximity effect you will have. This adds bass and is what makes radio DJs sound god-like, other technical considerations aside.

To eliminate breath sounds:

  1. Get a pop screen. The ball on an SM58 isn’t substantial enough to eliminate a fair percentage of breath wind.
  2. Play at an angle to the mic. This will effectively move the mic out of the way of your breathing.
  3. Breath quietly. Lots of times it is simply a conscious effort to be quiet that is needed.

Try some stuff out and see what works for you!

Good Luck

I use a Sony ECM-MS907 for recording to computer. It isn’t as big as some of the others and does a fine job. $72 from Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/Sony-ECMMS907-Digital-Recording-Microphone/dp/B00001W0DT
Jef

I’m very intrigued by using headset mics. I know one guy on this forum uses those, they seem really handy.