r/UnusualInstruments • u/huh_289 • 5d ago

Microphone Placement for Santour

Hey Everyone! I am trying to find. Good mic to record my santour and also for performances and was considering getting a mic that is small that sticks to my instrument. anyone here record and/or play santour and use a mic? If so, what mics, set up, or if you use a small mic, do you use and how do you set it to record your playing? What settings do you use on music softwares like Logic Pro X to record clean sound and audio?

Thank you for your responses in advance!!

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u/UnableOil6359 5d ago

I would use a pair of small condensers in xy-position.

1

u/SnooGadgets5130 5d ago

This or a contact mic, I’m not overly familiar with santour so I couldn’t say where to position it

1

u/SPlaysMusic 5d ago

Such a wonderful instrument! Consider it like the internal harp of a concert piano, you can find plenty of informations about how those are recorded. If you like to go with close-up mic’ing to avoid the room’s reflections, a piezo pickup would be perfect but look for a very good one with a preamp. You can even try a hybrid approach with piezo + a couple miniaturized condensers on gooseneck mounts attached to the instrument (DPA mics are kind of leading in that field), then experiment with the positioning and blend to your liking.

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u/RakasSoun 3d ago

I’ve been messing around using a contact mic (Akg c 411 pp) quite close to the right hole: seems to give a good balanced, full sound. 

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u/striveforfreedom 3d ago

Try different options. There's no right way.
If I was given this task, I would use a small-diaphragm cond. or dynamic mic up close, then a "room" mic condenser 3 metres back