ojc123 Posted July 8, 2013 Share Posted July 8, 2013 I have a visitor next week playing a hammered dulcimer. I'm sure someone here will have experience of amplifying this instrument. seems to have a straightforward mic on a stand. Other sites recommend contact mics but I'd imagine that should be the job of the artist to bring their own to suit their instrument. SM57 etc are not unreasonable to ask for. Any thoughts welcome. Thanks in advance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruce Posted July 8, 2013 Share Posted July 8, 2013 I presume you mean for PA rather than recording? They are pretty damn loud beasts - depending on the environment, you may get away without any amplification! I happened to be chatting to Ian Cleland, a sound engineer who specialises in folk/acoustic music here in Glasgow. He says that there's no standard solution - you need to experiment a bit, depending on the design. Most have a sound hole on the top surface; something like a SM57 above the hole, about 8-12 inches away, should do the job. The trick is to position the mic and stand in such a way that it doesn't get in the way of the hammers. For larger instruments, with 2 sound holes, 2 mics are needed. He then told a story about a band arriving at one of his venues with a hammered dulcimer that took 4 people to lift in.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kerry davies Posted July 8, 2013 Share Posted July 8, 2013 If the musician is a pro they will have either C-ducers or built-in mics of their own and the only time we mic'ed one up was with a pair of condensers from the back on each side on booms. Check out the set up on the other dulcimer in that clip. SM 57's should be more than acceptable. Don't rush to carry it unless the musician asks you to help. I did a lot of gigs with one and the guy never let me or anyone else touch his machine because they can take for ever to tune. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ojc123 Posted July 9, 2013 Author Share Posted July 9, 2013 Thanks, I'll just see how it goes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug Siddons Posted July 9, 2013 Share Posted July 9, 2013 For info Head way make piezo strips long enough to go down each side . My preferred way is a couple of small condensors at the to of the instrument pointing down, usually AT450's which are my current favourite. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilflet Posted July 9, 2013 Share Posted July 9, 2013 pair of 57s.One either side- never been happy with one mic as anywhere you can get it that dosnt over emphisize one side of the instrument or the other will get in the way of playing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimmyP1955 Posted July 15, 2013 Share Posted July 15, 2013 First thing I'd try is a coincident pair of SDCs. If the GBF were poor, I'd then try a coincident pair of micro condensers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ojc123 Posted July 16, 2013 Author Share Posted July 16, 2013 Gig went well tonight and player very happy with sound. We used two Behringer C1 condensers. One on the bass strings and one on the treble strings. With a little experimenting with the positions and EQ it was fine. The SM57s didn't sound as bright as the condensers and that's the sound the player wanted. The C1 is one of Behringer's better offerings. I can confirm that it took ages to tune. Lovely sound though.Thanks for the input. E2A The player was very knowledgeable about mic positioning and made the job easy. Made a change. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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