Playing flute into microphone

[Ol Danl]

Well, its been quite a while since I had to play a flute into a mike. I have remembered that I used to have the most success by putting my nose against the end of the ball and the air column passing beneath. That still works -- I've started playing with an "old codger" dance band -- but I've also noticed lately that while the flute tones are reproduced pretty well this way there isn't much of a chiff or consonant sound to the beginning of them. I should probably explain that this mike is set up for the saxophone and I just use it for flute a little -- there is no provision to adjust up the volume so it will pick up the flute for a distance. And the people listening could probably care less anyway. I just thought I would ask if anyone had a better way. Oh, the microphone is an omnidirectional Shure 58. And blowing the air column directly into the ball kind of disrupts the air flow; makes it really hard to play low notes consistantly.

[Ivy]

Hi Ol Danl,

I used to struggle with this years ago. I've learned to angle my wind stream across the mike's path. In other words, just don't let the air stream hit the mike while keeping your lips close to the mike. Articulation is still clear and crisp when close to the mike. I adjust volume by pulling away from the mike (high notes).

Try a good condenser mike. You'll find that this doesn't color your sound too much. SM 58 is not bad but it does color your sound.

Ivy

[gary]

I use a mic that is above the flute on a boom stand. Picks up the tone without the wind.

[Ol Danl]

Thanks for your replies, folks. Ivy, are you playing (blowing) at right angles to the end of the mike, or just at some lesser angle? I guess I should also look into the condenser mike. This just seemed like the sturdy, all purpose equivalent of the old high impedance Shures I used to use back in the day. And I am primarily using it for tenor -- it works great for that purpose. Gary, I guess positioning the mike above me would be much better, but the gain level is dictated by the saxophone volume. I would actually like it if the wind noise were picked up. I mean, if that is a part of the flute sound, it should be there. Maybe some of the other guys in the band have a condenser mike I could try. Well, tomorrow p.m. is our regular practice day, but we're not practicing this week. We have our first job -- a wedding reception -- in 2 weeks. Nerves are already setting in.

[Ivy]

Yes Ol Danl, it is lesser than a right angle- the point is you just don't want that air stream hitting the mike then you get that wooshing wind sound -like blowing into the mike. If you like that wooshing sound, by all means blow into the mike.

I even bought a vocal windscreen at one time which I don't use anymore because I've learned to deal with the wind angle to the mike. The good thing about this is it works with any mike stand- straight or boom.

No need to replace your mike right away, the 58's are ok mikes. But if you are picky about the final sound you might want to try a condenser mike. The differences are subtle. I use a Sony conderser mike.

Good luck- you will do fine- Ivy

[ferrari]

I use a Sennheiser 421 for both sax and flute. It's a great mic for sax, but for flute it is wonderful and worth the $300 price tag. I approach the mic the same as you. I pretty much put my nose on the mic and blow below it. It works pretty well, and the higher the gain without feed back the better, then you can back away from the mic a bit.

I don't know how in the heck you can use the same gain level going from sax to flute. I usually increase the level by double, otherwise I just can't be heard.

[mark_m]

I haven't played a flute for probably 20 years, but I remember having a hard time getting a good tone into a mic. I did have a pickup that worked great, a Barcus-Berry that replaced the cork. That was cool.

I remember running that into my friend's FenderBlender or some kind of transistor fuzz box. You could make it sound like a trumpet that way. They didn't have symphasizers back then...

[Ol Danl]

Well, I've played a wedding reception now, and a weekend at a restaurant, and thought I'd mention how things are going with the flute. I'm playing a few lines on a couple of songs, and its just ad libbed stuff, so I pretty much stay above the flute's lowest notes, although that is pretty much my favorite part of the flute range. I have a bit of trouble hearing myself -- they have this "hot spot" speaker right behind the trpt. player and myself, but it only reproduces the voices. And the four p.a. speakers are behind us (2) and hanging from the ceiling to the left of us in this restaurant. One of the keyboard players has a small amp right behind me facing back towards him -- but its really cranking. They are turning up my channel some when I'm playing the flute some and everybody says I'm coming out okay. The one song that does require low notes is the dreaded, "Color My World." You know, this song has been causing flute players grief for nearly maybe 40 years or so. I saw Chicago live a couple of summers ago, and that guy didn't seem too enthusiastic about it either. When we used to play it every night back in 1975, our singer put on a pig mask just for that song. Well, I guess he was kind of weird. Anyway, people still seem to dance to it. Well, I just thought I'd let you folks know I'm coping -- now I'm just hoping for some better tunes to play.

[Ol Danl]

Sorry about the bad math and puny attempt at humor.

[michaelbaird]

I use a condenser mike strapped on to the head joint of the flute. The tone gets altered though. I think it sounds kind of cool. The solution to playing color my world is to practice it evertime you pick up the flute and make sure your flute has good pads. The condenser mike strapped to the head joint is the easiest way for me to play it and be heard. WWW.larkinthemorning.com They sell them.

[sessionsax]

I probably mic my flute in a clunky way. I remove the end cap off of the headjoint and clip an ATM 35 to the rod/cork thingy. I wish that I could afford the "right" setup, but this gets me by.

[Ol Danl]

I'm sorry, Michael, I didn't mean to imply that "Color My World" is hard or anything. Its just that after all these years its kind of worn to a nub.

[michaelbaird]

I think it is hard. That is how I got good at playing it. I forced myself to play it everytime I played the flute. It took awhile for me to learn how to mike it where it could be heard. I experimented alot.

[MojoBari]

Its in the range of a C flute, but Walter Parazaider (sp?) played it on alto flute.

[michaelbaird]

I feel better knowing that it is an alto flute. I've been trying to mike my flute using one of those round sound reflectors that clips on a micrphone. $17.00 from www.WWBW.com I play tonight. I will soon know.

[Vortex]

On a light note, I remember seeing this hip-hop flute cat once, he was very close to the mic, simultaneously being a "human beat-box" while playing flute, using all sorts of articulations on both the instrument and the mic - it was percussive-sounding and a little distorted but very cool nevertheless, it made my day to see that.