How to Mic a Flute????

[dylanger]

Ok so I started a little group with a couple friends from high school. I play guitar one plays violin and one plays flute. We play a cool version of Kashmir and the flute part is super cool because its playing a lot of harmonies but its never heard when we play live or even practice because the violin really over powers it. When we play live we tried sm 58 because thats all we had, and that hardly worked because she has to stand very very still for the mic to pick her up and when it did it was still hardly loud enough. I want to know what mic to get for her, I thought maybe a drums mic that I saw that malcolm uses on his kit for recording and it was super small and it has a little goose neck and I figured she could just clip it on her flute some how.. Is there anywheres Where I can rent one or even buy one, and if thats a bad idea what is a better one. Please remember that when we play the people doing sound are usually people who have hardly done sound before and at the most they've dj'd before.

[Malcolm Boyce]

Usually a decent vocal mic will work for most cases and you just play the flute in front of it the way you think you normally would. Something like a Beta58 would be a better choice than an SM58. Tonally a condenser like a Beta87 would be much sweeter and would allow the player to work further off the mic.

Depending on the setup, the mic choice for live work would vary greatly for me. I would use everything from a Beta58 and SM57, to a high end condenser, SM81, 414, 451, or any of the usual suspects.

One of the things you are probably running into is the competing volume from the other instruments.

Is the flute "loud" enough on it's own, or do you find it quiet acoustically all by itself? If you don't have much "volume" to work with from the instrument, the microphone alone isn't going to solve your problem.

Most small band rehearsal setups, or PAs for small gigs aren't going to be the most conducive to blending things like flute with "rock band" instruments and volume.

[Malcolm Boyce]

If you want something purpose built for flute:

http://www.countryman.com/store/product ... =3&catid=6

[dylanger]

Ok, would one of those mics you use on your toms work?

[Malcolm Boyce]

Ok, would one of those mics you use on your toms work?

They do make a "wind" version of the Beta98 though I'm not sure about the suitability of the attachment to a flute. Have used them on various other horns with great luck.

http://www.shure.com/ProAudio/Products/ ... -C_content

[dylanger]

thanks a lot malcolm I'm gonna go try out some mics this week sometime.