Recordings Cello - which mic/technique

Thanks, I heard the cello play last night at a rehearsal and was thinking placing a mic somewhere about 2ft away, bridge level, but off center, pointed between bridge and soundboard. I noticed listening straight on at the bridge that bass notes were a little boomy and not as smooth.

Any sweet spots you know of on cello to try out? Would it be worth it to try an Mono OH type configuration with a close mic?

U87 is excellent and usually my first call for solo cello. I wouldn't worry about bleed in regards to the cello. The vocal might be a different story depending on how you get it to sound live, but I'd say let them balance between themselves, and the bleed will be your friend. notneeson's comments about cello mic placement, etc. are good. Not too close is your best bet. Some gentle opto compression (LA2a) on the cello could be excellent if he/she plays expressively.

I've never been a fan of condensers on stringed orchestral instruments, picking up all that bow scratch is unpleasant for me. A really good ribbon, like an R-121, R-101 or if you want to really get the space and detail captured the SF-24V from Royer is the best I've ever heard. It is a tube based amp with stereo ribbon transducers. Those mics, for spot mic'g, which is what it sound's like you're asking about, truly sound magical.

The best way to set let's say the SF-24V up would be to get yourself a friend in the room, start with the mic above the instrument/player on an axis pointed at the instrument/player. Then as they're playing have the assistant move the mic (same axis) down and back up slowly, maybe have them do this for a little bit until you keep hearing a point in which it sounds as if you're standing in front of the player and tell them to lock it down. Then I would listen for any bow scratch etc. if there is none you're good to go, if there is some then they can slowly adjust the axis both horizontal and vertical, but keep it locked at the height you liked.

Thats how I was taught and it's always worked for me. But, stereo ribbons IMO are best for this type of instrument. The tube version, the SF-24V has so much detail and smoothness it will really blow you away.

Piezo DIs are for when you want the listener to feel like their at a free outdoor concert.

The DI decision is not worth worrying over, as you say; it's easy to do so why not. There are times in a multi mic situation like that where i've actually used the DI (or wished I had one) simply because the perceived wisdom of the mic 'must be better" in fact wasn't - because the player moved or the mic wasn't as good a fit as I thought etc.- the biggest issue to tame on the cello and acoustic as others have alluded to is that potentially uneven bottom end. It can never truly be eq'd after the event IME so mic choice and placement are critical and will come beck to bite you on the backside if you cut corners.

Nulls are good and a well placed 87 style (I use the Stam 87) on the Cello keeping that bow scratch in mind works well. With a cardioid small diaphragm on the acoustic you may find the distance you need it away from the body means it will pick up too much of the bleed, again a fig 8 may or may not be best in the circumstance.

There are no hard and fast rules for getting this right except have options ready to go and experiment as much as the players energy will allow.

Cheers, Ross

Anything that's good for an acoustic guitar will probably be good for cello. Like all bowed instruments you don't want to be too close. I used a KM-86 about five feet out looking down.

At Motown we had 20 to 30 in each studio. The only other studios I know of having that many were RCA Victor and EMI London. U87s were about the same price and looked more impressive so the indi studios went that route. I understand Abbey Road still uses them for strings in Studio one.

I was taught that placement by my mentor Cal Harris who began his career at United/Western and also worked as a first engineer at Gold Star before he came to Motown. 

For something reasonably dry/close I'd opt for a bright LDC (usually my Oktava MK220) in Omni about 2-3 feet back, placed closed to the point where the neck of the instrument joins the body. If bleed is an issue use it in figure 8 and point the nulls at the other musician, but be aware that strong proximity effect can make a cello or double bass feel uneven from note to note. You'll notice people tending towards more directional mics will take a top-down approach to avoid interference from the F holes.

It depends on where the focus is. I like SDC's on acoustic instruments in busy mixes, my favorites are the KM-84 and the Soyuz 0-13, which I actually prefer over the 84, which I love. For the big and full sound on acoustic, like a Bluegrass player might want or a solo acoustic/vocal, I like LDC's. So far the two best I've used were the Soyuz 0-19 FET, ( so the U87 would be similar), and the new Chandler REDD, which was the finest sound I've ever heard on acoustic.

Bob and drill know their stuff, so I'd take their recommendations over mine, but if you don't have as many choices as you'd like, a U87 will do nicely.

If you want sweetness like a great recording of Vivaldi's Four Seasons, I would consider a good old RCA 44

I don't mean it to sound snarky either.  I've just never found any use for the sound of an acoustic DI.  If anything, I can see it being a distraction, either the loss of focus that can come from thinking of it as a backup of some sort, or any time spent messing with it later.  If I were printing that, I'd not monitor it at all, and I'd tuck it away somewhere that I'd not notice it in the DAW layout.  Then it'd be a track for me to find and purge later.   If it were a club gig, it might be useful, but I can't see it with a session like you describe.    I'd put up 3 more mic options in parallel before I'd ever patch a DI.  

God luck with the cello!