Misc instruments Recording an Oboe

[Dov]

When I try to record my oboe I just get a weird sound. It's so easy to record the Saxophone in comparison. A good old SM58 does the job for non pros quite good.
Does anybody have an advice how I can record an oboe without spending too much money for equipment?

 

[Dr G]

When I try to record my oboe I just get a weird sound.

Sounds like an oboe, eh?

It's so easy to record the Saxophone in comparison. A good old SM58 does the job for non pros quite good.
Does anybody have an advice how I can record an oboe without spending too much money for equipment?

Share an example and we'll have a better idea of what's not working. It may be something as simple as mic placement. What have you tried?

 

[Pete Thomas]

A good old SM58 does the job for non pros quite good

An SM58 also does the job for pros. But microphones are just one part of the process, a good sound engineer can be more important. I've known great engineers get a good saxophone recording with an SM58 and bad engineers get an awful recording from a U47.

Does anybody have an advice how I can record an oboe without spending too much money for equipment?

An oboe is like any other woodwind for recording. Basic rule of thumb is distance from mic being about the same is length of instrument. The room is often more important than the microphone. You can spend thousands on equipment but if you are recording in a room that is not great, then that is money wasted.

 

[Pete Effamy]

as Pete says, for an oboe, like a violin, the room will be of most importance.

If you are able to hire a church hall for an hour you’d sound v good more or less with any mic chain.

 

[Dov]

Sounds like an oboe, eh?



Share an example and we'll have a better idea of what's not working. It may be something as simple as mic placement. What have you tried?

And like a saxophone which is badly played 😉

I have all mic placements and several mikes tried. The best result (a sound engineer agrees) was an SM58 placed directly (max 20mm distance) at the first open holes but still too much high frequencies

 

[Dov]

Thanks you your advice. I see I need a good room. What do you guys think of ribbon microphones? It is told that they are good for high sounding voices so maybe also for the Oboe? They are available for a reasonable price nowadays.

 

[Pete Effamy]

Thanks you your advice. I see I need a good room. What do you guys think of ribbon microphones? It is told that they are good for high sounding voices so maybe also for the Oboe? They are available for a reasonable price nowadays.

If you had a beautiful sounding space, almost any mic would capture a pretty nice sound. In a recording studio setting, no engineer in their right mind would put an SM58 in front of an oboe.
A ribbon mic would probably be standard, and yes, they deal with higher frequencies well. Often used with violins too, and trumpets. Can be used with many things.
Ribbon mics have undergone a renaissance recently and whilst they always suffered from a lack of “treble” (and were heavily eq’d on a desk to make up for it), new ribbon mics have addressed this trait.

 

[Pete Effamy]

And like a saxophone which is badly played 😉

I have all mic placements and several mikes tried. The best result (a sound engineer agrees) was an SM58 placed directly (max 20mm distance) at the first open holes but still too much high frequencies

20mm from the top hole? How on earth are you going to get a balanced sound with the notes nearer the bell?

 

[Woodpad]

as Pete says, for an oboe, like a violin, the room will be of most importance.

If you are able to hire a church hall for an hour you’d sound v good more or less with any mic chain.

When you compare a violin and an oboe in the open air. It is ok for the violin but more challenging for the oboe.
A good room is essential for a oboe.

 

[Dov]

20mm from the top hole? How on earth are you going to get a balanced sound with the notes nearer the bell?

Not the top hole. The first open tone hole. If I would move the oboe while playing (which is impossible) then the recording would be ok.

 

[Pete Effamy]

When you compare a violin and an oboe in the open air. It is ok for the violin but more challenging for the oboe.
A good room is essential for an oboe.

I don’t particularly understand. Open air? We’d all love access to a great soundstage for recording but it’s not possible.
What are your circumstances?

 

[Dov]

If you had a beautiful sounding space, almost any mic would capture a pretty nice sound. In a recording studio setting, no engineer in their right mind would put an SM58 in front of an oboe.

I just tried everything which I had in my reach.

 

[Pete Effamy]

Not the top hole. The first open tone hole. If I would move the oboe while playing (which is impossible) then the recording would be ok.

What is that, 3rd finger/middle joint?? An SM58 has a tight polar pattern, hence the need to stay v close

 

[Woodpad]

I don’t particularly understand. Open air? We’d all love access to a great soundstage for recording but it’s not possible.
What are your circumstances?

Just how instruments sound outside without recording them.

 

[Pete Effamy]

Just how instruments sound outside without recording them.

Most instruments sound pretty awful

 

[Dov]

What is that, 3rd finger/middle joint?? An SM58 has a tight polar pattern, hence the need to stay v close

If I play e.g. a low E it's the finger tip of my right ring finger. If I play a low B it's close to my left middle finger. Of course this does not allow any proper recording. With the Sax I just move the Sax so that the SM58 is a bit inside of the bell and the recording will become perfect. If I try something similar I need 2 preamps in a row fully cranked up to get a signal which is strong enough but of course not anyhow useable 😉

 

[Pete Effamy]

If I play e.g. a low E it's the finger tip of my right ring finger. If I play a low B it's close to my left middle finger. Of course this does not allow any proper recording. With the Sax I just move the Sax so that the SM58 is a bit inside of the bell and the recording will become perfect. If I try something similar I need 2 preamps in a row fully cranked up to get a signal which is strong enough but of course not anyhow useable 😉

Beware too close to the bell - look up Proximity Effect.
If your preamps are that ineffective you have found the weakest part of your chain by far.
Don’t underestimate the capability of a good preamp over a “good mic”.
I’d take a good preamp with a so-so mic over a so-so preamp and a good mic - a poor preamp won’t get the best from the mic.

 

[Dov]

Beware too close to the bell - look up Proximity Effect.
If your preamps are that ineffective you have found the weakest part of your chain by far.
Don’t underestimate the capability of a good preamp over a “good mic”.
I’d take a good preamp with a so-so mic over a so-so preamp and a good mic - a poor preamp won’t get the best from the mic.

The power of the preamp is not the issue. One of the two is very powerful. The issue is that there is virtually no sound coming out from the oboe bell.

 

[Pete Effamy]

The power of the preamp is not the issue. One of the two is very powerful. The issue is that there is virtually no sound coming out from the oboe bell.

Two preamps??
What are they?

 

[Dov]

Two preamps??
What are they?

You quite need to know everything in detail, don't you 😉
I use a Presonus XMAX preamp which is excellent for other tasks. It just does virtually nothing except amplifying the signal.
I tried it to stack with the Preamp of a Yamaha MG mixer which has the same character than the XMAX except the production a bit more white noise and missing headroom. I also tried guitar preamps which did a quite good job from the sound character (they are able to transport the "warm" part of the sound which I was missing completely with the other ones) but the noise (no distortion here) was too high because I needed to put the output level to full. Yes I know tubes have white noise😉. But this is still it is far from a realistic reproduction of the oboe sound.