Which Mic to use for this gig?

[Matt P]

Hoping to tap into the combined wisdom of the forum here.

I'm loaning my PA out to a ceilidh band for a wedding gig tomorrow (Saturday 24th May) and one of the instruments is a double bass, I don't believe that they have a pickup fitted so my plan is to put a mic in front of it and hope for the best.

I have a selection of mics available to me but i'm not sure which would be most suitable, the setup and soundcheck time is extremely short so i'm not going to have time to experiment. from the list of mics below which one would be the most suitable and what position/direction would be best?

Red5 Audio - RV6/RV8/RV10
Rode - M3
Audix D6/i5
SE - X1
AKG - P4/D5
Shure - SM58 Beta
Audio_technica - ATM10a

 

this is the total list of mics that I can lay my hands on before the gig so i've got to pick one, so which one would you use?

 

Thanks

Matt

[Beedster]

Not answering your question but I'd post this in the PA section also as a lot of the live sound experts tend to hang out there 

 

I'd be very surprised if a gigging double bass player has neither a PUP or a mic, but guess it's best to prepare for the worst. I used a Heil PR-40 when I used to gig upright and it was very good, you could see which of those you've listed have the closest characteristics?  

 

 

[Matt P]

thanks @Beedster the band in question seems to be a very casual affair, just paging at small community events and the usual PA seems to be a very budget setup, I think this is a wedding for a friend or similar and the PA owner isn;t around so that's why they're using my kit (the guitarist is my best friend and also the guitarist and frontman in our band)

 

I've been told that the double bass will need a mic so was planning to have a solution in place just in case, i'll also have a Di box/preamp on hand, we've got 1 hour to get into the hall, set up and soundcheck and be all ready for the wedding party so I want to be as prepared as possible

 

I'll post this over in the PA section as well.

 

Thanks

[Stub Mandrel]

I would guess you want cardioid (to get the full sound including any fingerboard slapping and in case they move around a bit), not supercardioid unless they are rooted to the spot or the mic can be well back (unlikely). So the SM58 Beta would be out. Other than that, I don't know enough to help. A vanilla SM58 would do it well enough even if there are better options.

[Matt P]

25 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

I would guess you want cardioid (to get the full sound including any fingerboard slapping and in case they move around a bit), not supercardioid unless they are rooted to the spot or the mic can be well back (unlikely). So the SM58 Beta would be out. Other than that, I don't know enough to help. A vanilla SM58 would do it well enough even if there are better options.

 

I might be in the minority as a PA owner but i don't actually have an SM58 in my collection, the mic's I've got available are a mix of mics belonging to bandmates (who also part own the PA) and the ones I've bought for recording over the years. I don't sing myself and if i did I'd probably buy anything except the SM58 (I just like being different/difficult)

 

Matt

[SubsonicSimpleton]

When I used to do a double bass + vocal duo, my favourite quick and dirty solution for open mic type situations (where typically PA is tops only) was to wrap whatever vocal mic they had in a bit of towel and tuck it down the back of the tailpiece - I'd seen other people advocate for wrapping a 57 in foam and tucking it between the legs of the bridge, but that approach takes a little more care getting the fit right.

[Matt P]

12 minutes ago, SubsonicSimpleton said:

When I used to do a double bass + vocal duo, my favourite quick and dirty solution for open mic type situations (where typically PA is tops only) was to wrap whatever vocal mic they had in a bit of towel and tuck it down the back of the tailpiece - I'd seen other people advocate for wrapping a 57 in foam and tucking it between the legs of the bridge, but that approach takes a little more care getting the fit right.

 

the Audix i5 is very similar to an sm57, i'll pack a small towel in the kit, that might be the best solution. i'm assuming you aim it up at the bridge? 

 

matt 

Edited 6 hours ago by Matt P

[NickD]

I've seen a few folks with the 57 wrapped and tucked under the bridge, and I think Nick Blacka from GoGo Penguin does this. My DB teacher used to use the SE-X1 for recording his bass into the DAW, obviously not the same scenario as live work, so I'm not sure about feedback resistance, etc, but it always sounded ok.

[SubsonicSimpleton]

4 hours ago, Matt P said:

 

the Audix i5 is very similar to an sm57, i'll pack a small towel in the kit, that might be the best solution. i'm assuming you aim it up at the bridge? 

 

matt 

Exactly. I also used to weave a long thick bootlace through the afterlengths to prevent any sympathetic ringing (normally you can't hear it, but as they are close to the mic pickup position they can get more noticable.

 

If you have time, the between the bridge feet method will probably sound better - but it is always good to have a quick option available.

[Beedster]

I might be in the minority but I prefer a mic on a stand as - assuming no soundguy (@Matt P I'm not sure if you're simply lending PA or also doing sound) - I could always control feedback by moving the bass, plus to my ear it meant more of the real sound of the instrument came across