Hello!

Here are the microphones i have :

Schoeps Mk4
Lomo 19a9
Lomo 19a18
altec 633a and 632c

I'm going to try them, listen to them, but any idea, opinion about the dobro itself and recording it would be welcome !

it will be folk/country songs . A voice will be recorded at the same time.

thanks

c

From what I understand, you can set it up just like an acoustic guitar. So a condenser six or seven inches away pointing at the strings/plate would do the trick. Never used those microphones you listed though, so you're on your own there.

Last time I recorded a resonator guitar, I had a lot of luck spot-mic'ing the vent - roughly 8 inches away (as close as I could get without getting in the musician's way), trying to get as much "detail" out of the resonator as possible, then adding a flat or near-flat room mic. I actually used a 19a-18 to close-mic with. I haven't used any of the rest of those mics personally, though. If you have one that's really good at accentuating a lot of low-to-low-mid's, I'd set it up as well (from the same distance, aimed at the same place, etc.), to give you a good mix of "bright" and "dark" tone. Also, it should be noted that I recorded a guitar with a wooden body. Might work differently if it's made of metal.

That's all I got. My coffee is apparently weak today and I can't seem think of good "describing" words. HTH.

spacebar wrote: I had a lot of luck spot-mic'ing the vent - roughly 8 inches away (as close as I could get without getting in the musician's way),

Hello !

thanks for your answer, (sorry my english is not good) , what do you mean by "the vent" ? is it the 2 sound holes (like "s") near the neck joint or the big metal circle, the resonator itself ?
The guitar has a metal body, i tried different things today...
i mic the "s" sound holes with 19a18 and then with a schoeps mk4.
both sounded good but, both mics needed to be not less than 10 inches from the guitar... if it's too close i've got the same bad low mid you get when you have bad acoustic guitar micing....
The 19a18 sounded more sweet than the schoeps wich is more flat ... i'm going to use a pair of mk4 as room mics. The schoeps sounded too neutral on the dobro.
Now i've a other problem.... the voice of the singer is really nasal...

I've had really good luck recording dobro with a 19a18. I imagine that the Schoeps would be a good, albeit different-sounding choice.

My favorite spot for miking dobro most of the time is around the area just below and picking hand (for a right-handed player, this would be the right hand), just around the curvature of the instrument. That spot usually has a nice balance of string, pick, and bodily tone (wow, that sounds weird) that works especially well for dobro, although today, I recorded banjo and mandolin and the same positioning worked well for those instruments, too.

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC

For slide dobro, I like to pin/clip a mic to the player about 2-4 inches above instrument. This helps keep things steady for players that tend to stray from stand-mounted mics too.

I like the sound of a Beyer M 260 pointing very close to the end of the neck/body. that brings out the metallic sound of the resonator guitar.

papyaigri wrote:

spacebar wrote: I had a lot of luck spot-mic'ing the vent - roughly 8 inches away (as close as I could get without getting in the musician's way),

Hello !

thanks for your answer, (sorry my english is not good) , what do you mean by "the vent" ? is it the 2 sound holes (like "s") near the neck joint or the big metal circle, the resonator itself ?
The guitar has a metal body, i tried different things today...
i mic the "s" sound holes with 19a18 and then with a schoeps mk4.
both sounded good but, both mics needed to be not less than 10 inches from the guitar... if it's too close i've got the same bad low mid you get when you have bad acoustic guitar micing....
The 19a18 sounded more sweet than the schoeps wich is more flat ... i'm going to use a pair of mk4 as room mics. The schoeps sounded too neutral on the dobro.
Now i've a other problem.... the voice of the singer is really nasal...

put the mic above his nose pointing at his mouth to get rid of some of the nasal sound

(sorry for my english again...)

what i did is :

dobro :Lomo 19a18 10 inches frome the sound hole pointing slightly downward (the sound is well balanced)

voice : 19a9 pointing slightly upward into a Ampex 601.
(perfect for the nasal, his nasal voice is still here but good, not E
exaggerated, i wanted to keep the his nasal voice a little bit because it is how his voice is......)

Tronixmagnet wrote:put the mic above his nose pointing at his mouth to get rid of some of the nasal sound

I could not do that because voice and dobro recording at the same time.

cgarges wrote:I've had really good luck recording dobro with a 19a18. I imagine that the Schoeps would be a good, albeit different-sounding choice.
Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC

The 19a18 works well for that !!! well balanced microphone!
I tried the schoeps but it was too neutral, and too harsh compared to 19a18.



I'd like to try a ribbon mic next time on dobro !
good experience ?