Microphones for Recording the Harp

[Saul Davis Zlatkovski]

I am considering buying a new microphone for recording concerts and such, and the array of choices is dizzying. I am guessing, based on some knowledge, that a diaphragm or ribbon mic with a cardioid pattern would be the best, or a shotgun mic of the same pattern. How low does the bass sensitivity need to go? How cheap can you go and still get quality?

[Tacye]

7th 8ve B (which the C string sometimes gets tuned down to) has a 31 Hz frequency so you probably want least that low.

[Katheryn]

Depends on what you are using recordings for. I record for personal enjoyment and I also record pratices, duets, etc. If you are making CDs what I have wouldn’t be good enough. I have a zoom h2 recorder.

[Saul Davis Zlatkovski]

Thank you Tacye. That was vital information. The Zoom is not good at a distance, it seems. Up closer it works well.

[niina]

I know exactly what you mean. My Dad has spent hours looking at many mics which he thought might be good for the Harp. The choice seems almost endless. In the end he still couldn’t decide and has yet to ‘Click’ the buy button.

Niina

[tony-morosco]

I just play around at home for fun with recording. I have gotten some good results using a

[Saul Davis Zlatkovski]

Thanks. Are dynamic mics the same as diaphragm? I had a Sony condensor microphone at one time, that so condensed the sound, it sounded like it was recorded through a tin can. Wouldn’t I want to avoid condensing? Isn’t that diminishing the frequency range? I had a Shure that was good, but I dropped it, and, ta-dah, it broke.

I have two lavalier vocal mics that are excellent, but have to be within less than ten feet, and they are hard to position, as they have collar clips only.

[adam-b-harris]

Ribbon mics do not use phantom power. Do not use phantom power with ribbon mics. Very bad idea.

[tony-morosco]

Oi, you’re right. It’s been so long since I have even seen a ribbon mic I forgot that.

[tony-morosco]

Saul, a diaphragm mic is one that uses a diaphragm as the transducer. Both dynamic and condenser mics can use a diaphragm to traduce the sound waves into electrical impulses.

A condensor mic doesn’t refer to condensing the sound. In this case condenser is just an older term for a capacitor. The capacitor is fed by a power source, and maintains a nearly constant electric charge in the microphone. The diaphragm acts as one plate of the capacitor (which are two terminal passive energy storage devices) and the sound vibrations change the distance between the plates causing fluctuations in the voltage across the capacitor, transforming the vibrations into an electrical signal.

High end condenser mics are the most common mic of preference used in music studios.

A dynamic mic works through electromagnetic induction. Basically it works on the principle used by electrical power plants. That when you move metal through a magnetic field it creates an electrical charge (it is also the same principle behind electric guitar that use electromagnetic pickups, and is the reason electric guitars must use metal strings).

Basically in a dynamic mic the sound waves come into the mic and hits the diaphragm. The diaphragm moves with the vibrations. The diaphragm is connected to a metal coil. That coil sits between magnets. As the diaphragm moves with the vibrations it, in turn, moves the coil within the field of the magnets, creating an electric charge that fluctuates with the movement back and forth of the diaphragm, turning the vibrations in to an electrical impulse.

In the end they both do the same thing, but the condenser mics do it with more sensitivity and more accurate translation, but at the cost of needing a power source and being more delicate.

As for your Shure mic, they aren’t all the same. The SM series is a series of dynamic miss that are very hardy. Shure makes condenser mics and other types, not all of which are as hardy.

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