Best Way to Mic a Djembe?

Kahn · Unread post by **Kahn** » Thu May 18, 2006 2:46 pm

I have a really nice djembe and I want to mic it for recording purposes, but my mics don't seem to pick up the really low end. Would I need a kick mic for a bass drum maybe?

Trippin Hillbilly · Unread post by **Trippin Hillbilly** » Thu May 18, 2006 3:14 pm

I actually did this last week and got a hell of a result. You need two mics, point one at the drummers hands, about 30cm away and another at the same level next to it except pointing down at the floor. Pics up the bass beautifully.

sfmartins · Unread post by **sfmartins** » Thu May 18, 2006 3:36 pm

I don't know, but maybe you can check how the guy that plays with Jason Mraz does it...

sunglassesatnight · Unread post by **sunglassesatnight** » Fri May 19, 2006 7:58 am

What kind of mics are you using Miguel? Are these small or large diaphragm, condensor or dynamic? I've had the same question.

zenful · Unread post by **zenful** » Fri May 19, 2006 10:40 am

if you use two mics, you have to make sure they dont end up out of phase. some mixers have a phase adjust that fixes this though.

Kahn · Unread post by **Kahn** » Fri May 19, 2006 10:56 am

Trippin Hillbilly wrote:I actually did this last week and got a hell of a result. You need two mics, point one at the drummers hands, about 30cm away and another at the same level next to it except pointing down at the floor. Pics up the bass beautifully.

Would this work with my Sm57 and 58?

mattinbeloit · Unread post by **mattinbeloit** » Fri May 19, 2006 11:56 am

Kahn wrote:
Trippin Hillbilly wrote:I actually did this last week and got a hell of a result. You need two mics, point one at the drummers hands, about 30cm away and another at the same level next to it except pointing down at the floor. Pics up the bass beautifully.
Would this work with my Sm57 and 58?

That would be perfect and the placement Hillbilly suggested is spot on. The SM57 is the perfect mic and is what I would use to do the job even if I had a choice of any mic, sm57's are especially good on drums. I would place the sm57 overhead facing the top of your drums and then use the sm58 to pick up the bass. I would experiment with the placement of the 58 though and just see what you get, djembes can be tricky depending on how they are made and the environment, I always do them by ear, it's very rare that I mic each one the same way twice...

Trippin Hillbilly · Unread post by **Trippin Hillbilly** » Fri May 19, 2006 1:16 pm

slimerdmb24 wrote:What kind of mics are you using Miguel? Are these small or large diaphragm, condensor or dynamic? I've had the same question.

I used a couple of matched rode nt-5 small diaphragm condensors. Great mics, I've only had them for about 10 days..

Kahn, i'm sure the SM's would be perfect for it too.

6_strings_for_life · Unread post by **6_strings_for_life** » Sun May 21, 2006 10:01 am

I have a djembe and I think it may need to be tuned or something. Does anyone have any idea on tuning methods on these things?

edit: please let us know how the recording goes, and post some clips.

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Best Way to Mic a Djembe?

Best Way to Mic a Djembe?

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