Mic'ing a piccolo

[tolley1466]

Does anybody know where the best place to mic a piccolo is and where its omits sound?

[steve h]

The sound comes out the mouthpiece but thats as far as my knowledge here goes!

[paulears]

As with all keyed woodwind. Very little sound comes from the mouthpiece end. With stopped pipe instruments most escapes from the 'holes'. Only when the tube is fully sealed does the sound only come from the lip plate. Same thing applies in a slightly different way to open ended woodwind like saxophones, clarinets and oboes - in this case the opposite applies. Again, most comes from the open holes, and only some comes from the bell. It explains why sticking a mic into the bell of a saxophone or clarinet sound thin and weedy.

 

For a picolo - treat it exactly as a small flute. For a player, this means the mic will come in high on their left side, looking down at the lip plate, but angled towards the keys - this way, it picks up the sound from a wider area, which sounds more natural. The sound from the lip plate only is very rough and raspy. Don't get too close, because the keyways clack like the devil - especially when the player has a very percussive style of fingering.

[steve h]

Sorry Paul I have to disagree here! A saxophone or other reed instruments will have the sound coming from the air holes down the instrument. However due to the flutes mouthpiece the majority of the sound is emitted here, working in the same way as blowing over the top of a bottle.

 

The only proof to this I have is the fact ive just gone next door and listened to my sister playing her flute.

 

A concurrent post has been automatically merged from this point on.

 

A very quick chat with a friend who advises either a small cardioid on the mouthpiece if playing live and close micing is required, or 2 condensers a couple of foot from the flute if you are in the studio

 

Steve

[Tony Gayle Audio]

Best way to mic a piccolo is NOT to mic it!

I guarantee you will hear it cutting through any orchestration, I personally hate the sound it makes and if I had to mic it, then it would be done overheard with a small condenser mic (KM84 etc) flute style.

[Killyp]

I used a C391 on a Piccolo last week, placed in front of the performer, 2ft above their head, angled down facing from the performer's right. From directly above (but still in front) it was too bright (possibly down to the mic) and it was unbearable when placed to the performer's left.

 

Worth noting I did get quite a lot of spill from other instruments, but this didn't matter in my situation as the mic was only for recording on one particular piece.