Ribbon mic up close and personal

[TBman]

Mic'd at about 2" from the lower bout and an inch below the soundhole, just for the fun of it.

Turn down your volume and ease it up as it plays.

A comparison of a Sterling 170 Ribbon through the Zoom at level 3 and then level 4. EQ done with Ozone Studio 8, no noise reduction done. I recorded with just the one mic and then doubled the single track to stereo. It's recorded at my desk in my computer room, hard walls and floor all around with wooden desk. Not a mic friendly place at all,

I can see the cloud in the spectral, but I don't hear much noise on my speakers. What do you hear?

Zoom Level 3 input:


Zoom Level 4 input:

[Doug Young]

Nice playing Barry. What I notice most is that the sound is a bit boomy, I'd say you're too close, or not placed best for this mic. It's also mono, right? Stereo opens up the sound, and some of the boomy notes I hear would probably go away with a spaced pair arrangement, even if you stay close mic'd.

I hear the noise, but mostly at the end and beginning. Aside from using something like RX to remove noise, there are some easy edit tricks to deal with it. Trim the beginning, either literally removing the time before the first note, or use your DAW to cut the volume to zero right up to the first note. The tail is trickier, but a fade can usually make the noise less noticeable without shortening your fadeout too much. Another trick, depending on your DAW is to do an automation EQ tweak on the tail. I used to do this before I got RX - a high pass filter that rises in frequency as the tail fades, and another low pass that lowers as it progresses, so you start with no EQ, and slowly fade everything but the fundamental of the fade-out note. Depends on your gear how hard or easy this is to do, but it often works. While you're playing, the noise doesn't bother me.

If this isn't clear, make your track downloadable, and I'll do a quick demo for you with it.

[TBman]

Originally Posted by Doug Young

Nice playing Barry. What I notice most is that the sound is a bit boomy, I'd say you're too close, or not placed best for this mic. It's also mono, right? Stereo opens up the sound, and some of the boomy notes I hear would probably go away with a spaced pair arrangement, even if you stay close mic'd.

I hear the noise, but mostly at the end and beginning. Aside from using something like RX to remove noise, there are some easy edit tricks to deal with it. Trim the beginning, either literally removing the time before the first note, or use your DAW to cut the volume to zero right up to the first note. The tail is trickier, but a fade can usually make the noise less noticeable without shortening your fadeout too much. Another trick, depending on your DAW is to do an automation EQ tweak on the tail. I used to do this before I got RX - a high pass filter that rises in frequency as the tail fades, and another low pass that lowers as it progresses, so you start with no EQ, and slowly fade everything but the fundamental of the fade-out note. Depends on your gear how hard or easy this is to do, but it often works. While you're playing, the noise doesn't bother me.

If this isn't clear, make your track downloadable, and I'll do a quick demo for you with it.

Thanks Doug. I purposely left the noise in to prove I wasn't crazy, .

I have Rx 7 too and it's excellent. I'll have to experiment with the placement and see what other mic to pair it with. It's a bit more convenient for me to record in my computer/music room so this is good outcome. I was worried that others would hear more noise than what I was hearing.

[Ty Ford]

which ribbon mic?

[TBman]

Originally Posted by Ty Ford

which ribbon mic?

Sterling ST 170

[Ty Ford]

Originally Posted by TBman

Sterling ST 170

Right, an active ribbon mic. Good sensitivity and selfnoise figures. Prolly the only thing you need to do is dodge the lack of high frequency response by finding the best way to taper off the low end. Ribbons, in general, don't have the high frequency response of a condenser because of physics. The ribbon, itself, has too much mass to catch the high frequencies. A condenser diaphragm is a lot lighter in weight (mass), it will hear them more easily.

[TBman]

Originally Posted by Ty Ford

Right, an active ribbon mic. Good sensitivity and selfnoise figures. Prolly the only thing you need to do is dodge the lack of high frequency response by finding the best way to taper off the low end. Ribbons, in general, don't have the high frequency response of a condenser because of physics. The ribbon, itself, has too much mass to catch the high frequencies. A condenser diaphragm is a lot lighter in weight (mass), it will hear them more easily.

Maybe I should switch the positions then, the ribbon at the 12th fret and the large condenser at the bridge.

I'll try it soon and see what my ears say. Thanks for the info Ty.

[Ty Ford]

Most ribbons i've tried have a pretty big proximity effect; meaning they get very bass sensitive the closer you get to them. Put you headphones on and play around with mic placement. 12th fret off the neck might be fine, or you may have to pull back a bit because of low end response. Try aiming that front lobe at the 12th fret first. Then, if you need more low end, begin to angle the pattern towards the sound hole. The bass should begin to increase.
Don't be afraid to fix any fatness by tailoring a low frequency roll off. Just make sure to get a good record level.

[TBman]

Originally Posted by Ty Ford

Most ribbons i've tried have a pretty big proximity effect; meaning they get very bass sensitive the closer you get to them. Put you headphones on and play around with mic placement. 12th fret off the neck might be fine, or you may have to pull back a bit because of low end response. Try aiming that front lobe at the 12th fret first. Then, if you need more low end, begin to angle the pattern towards the sound hole. The bass should begin to increase.
Don't be afraid to fix any fatness by tailoring a low frequency roll off. Just make sure to get a good record level.

Thanks again Ty, I'll experiment with it.

[Doug Young]

Originally Posted by Ty Ford

Most ribbons i've tried have a pretty big proximity effect; meaning they get very bass sensitive the closer you get to them. Put you headphones on and play around with mic placement. 12th fret off the neck might be fine, or you may have to pull back a bit because of low end response. Try aiming that front lobe at the 12th fret first. Then, if you need more low end, begin to angle the pattern towards the sound hole. The bass should begin to increase.
Don't be afraid to fix any fatness by tailoring a low frequency roll off. Just make sure to get a good record level.

The AEA ribbon preamp I use has high pass and treble shelf EQ (mostly why they market it as a ribbon preamp, along with the higher clean gain), and I usually do roll off the low end and apply a small high end boost right in the hardware, but doing it in the DAW would be fine, too. The AEA N22's are interesting because they roll off the low end by design, and also seem to have a more condenser-like high end, so they're designed for really close micing. I've liked them at even around 3 inches!