Mic Archive

Woodwinds

Bassoon

Woodwinds: Flute, piccolo, clarinet, oboe and bassoon (the saxophones are their own family). Most of the sound comes from the tone holes along the body, not the bell, so sources aim at the holes.

Part of the Woodwinds family; that family's advice shows here too.

Range
Bb1–Eb5
Overtones to
about 1.9 kHz
Peaks up close
up to 129 dB SPL
Sources
10 (8 independent)

Recommended mics

Mics sources recommend

21 setups from 10 sources, 8 of them independent of any mic maker. Each mic shows how many sources name it for that role, and how many of those are independent. Listed alphabetically: there is no ranking.

Studio

Close

  • DPA 4006A maker's advice1 source, 0 independent
  • DPA 4011A maker's advice1 source, 0 independent
  • DPA 4015A maker's advice1 source, 0 independent
  • Oktava MK-0121 independent source
  • Oktava ML521 independent source
  • condenser, omnidirectional or spaced pair1 source, 0 independent
  • large-diaphragm condenser1 independent source

Spot

  • Schoeps MK 41 independent source
  • cardioid condenser1 independent source
  • condenser (bass clarinet technique, type only)1 independent source
  • large-diaphragm condenser, cardioid1 independent source
  • Royer ribbon microphone1 independent source

Contact

The 13 setups behind this: placement and quotes
  • Close DPA 4006A
    close, 15-20 cm at the finger holes
    Aim the microphone at the fingering holes, about a third up from the bell, 15-20 cm away (paraphrase).1
  • Close DPA 4011A or DPA 4015A
    close or spot
    4011A and 4015A listed as alternatives to the omni; very directional cardioids sound too focused (paraphrase). ... 4011A and 4015A listed as alternatives to the omni (paraphrase).1
  • Close 2 × condenser, omnidirectional or spaced pair
    ensemble: between two players, head height, aimed down
    Place the microphone between the two instruments, at about head height, and point straight down at the floor (paraphrase).1
  • Close large-diaphragm condenser
    close, studio (placement not given)
    in studio situation i would mike it with a large membran condensor mic (guy)2
  • Close Oktava MK-012
    close, for recording (placement not given)
    Try Oktava MK012 for recording and Shure SM-57 for live stage. (Richard Monroe)2
  • Close Oktava ML52
    close, recording (placement not given)
    I bet your bassoon would love [the ML52] (Richard Monroe)2
  • Spot large-diaphragm condenser, cardioid
    spot, 24 in from the mouthpiece, aimed at it
    Large-diaphragm cardioid condenser mic around 24 inches away from the mouthpiece (bocal end).3
  • Spot condenser (bass clarinet technique, type only)
    spot, as for bass clarinet: between bell and left hand
    I mic them as I would a clarinet, or in the case of the bassoon, like the bass clarinet.4
  • Contact 2 × Schoeps MK 4
    pair, stereo pair as overall woodwind pickup (bassoons not named separately)
    the woodwinds had a stereo pair of Schoeps MK4s as an overall pickup5
  • Spot 2 × Schoeps MK 4
    spot, one mic per woodwind section (contrabassoon often on its own), mixed in low under the main pair
    do each section of the woodwinds on a separate mic ... quite often bass clarinet and contrabassoon and English horn separate6
  • Spot cardioid condenser
    spot, on the bassoons
    Spot microphones in cardioid or wide cardioid ... bassoons (paraphrase of the spot-mic list)7
  • Spot Woodwinds advice Royer ribbon microphone
    spot, close mics on the woodwinds
    Royer ribbon mics on the woodwinds and low brass8
  • Contact Woodwinds advice 2 × Schoeps MK 4
    pair, stereo pair as overall woodwind pickup
    the woodwinds had a stereo pair of Schoeps MK4s as an overall pickup5

On stage

Clip-on

  • DPA 4099 CORE+ maker's advice1 source, 0 independent
  • SD Systems LCM 831 independent source
  • Shure PGA98H maker's advice1 source, 0 independent

Close

  • Shure SM571 independent source
  • small-diaphragm condenser1 independent source

Spot

The 6 setups behind this: placement and quotes
  • Clip-on DPA 4099 CORE+
    clip-on, close to the bell but aimed at the tone holes
    Position it close to the bell but pointing at the tone holes, not into the bell (paraphrase).1
  • Close small-diaphragm condenser
    close, live (placement not given)
    a small diaphragm condensor mic with tight pattern might work as well ... [a large condenser] might be problematic in live situation (guy)2
  • Close Shure SM57
    close, live stage (placement not given)
    Shure SM-57 works fine for cheap. (Richard Monroe)2
  • Clip-on SD Systems LCM 83
    clip-on, cardioid mic at the top placed to suppress the harsh bell sound plus omni mic on the middle of the body for the low register
    The top mic (cardioid pattern) is attached in a way that it suppresses the harsh sound ... The middle mic (omni directional pattern) amplifies the lower part of the instrument. (OP's choice, quoting the maker's notes)2
  • Spot Sennheiser MD 421
    spot, one mic between the first two bassoon players
    Colby places a Sennheiser 421 between the first two players of each woodwind type-flutes, clarinets, oboes, bassoons9
  • Clip-on Shure PGA98H
    clip-on, live
    PGA98H and SM137 listed for woodwinds including bassoon (guide lists by family; paraphrase).10

Studio and stage

Close

  • AKG C4141 independent source
  • condenser (type only)1 source, 0 independent
The 2 setups behind this: placement and quotes
  • Close AKG C414
    close, recording or live (placement not given)
    AKG 414 for both uses ... is expensive and requires phantom power (Richard Monroe, paraphrase)2
  • Close Woodwinds advice condenser (type only)
    close, about 30 cm from the sound holes
    A mic placed about 1 foot from sound holes will produce a natural, well-balanced sound.10

Advised against

Range

Bb1 to about Eb51158.3 Hz – 622 Hz

E5 and F5 possible with effort (VSL).

LowBb1–F2substantial, compact
MiddleF#2–Bb3sonorous, rich, clear; most used
High (tenor)B3–Eb5fewer overtones; pressed, singing

Overtones reach about 1.9 kHz (the highest harmonic within 40 dB of the strongest, at a moderate level; louder playing reaches higher)12.

The sound

A wide conical bore with a double reed: the low fundamental is weak (here 18 dB below the 4th harmonic) and the energy sits in a fixed region around 400-500 Hz, whatever note is played.

Where the sound goes

As for other woodwinds, sound comes from the whole length depending on which holes are open. DPA's clip-on advice (near the bell but aimed at the tone holes, not into the bell) says the same. Production Expert's aim at the mouthpiece end is the odd one out.4,1

Recording it

Playing techniques

How loud

Sound pressure level measurements as published. Different kinds of figure (a playing level, a peak, a dose at the player's ear) can't be compared with each other, and neither can figures at different distances.

Playing level
71–93 dB(Z)at 1 m; Modern bassoon, derived from the TU Berlin sound power values estimate13
Peaks
96–108 dB(A)at the player; same study, LASmax (slow) per rehearsal or concert14
114–129 dB(C)at the player; same study, LCpeak per rehearsal or concert14
Dynamic range
22 dB(Z)sound power, whole range; Modern bassoon, Weinzierl et al. 2018, Table I estimate13
Player's exposure (dosimeter)
83–90 dB(A)at the player (meters on tripods with microphones close to the players); Polish opera and symphony orchestras, group rehearsals, concerts and performances; 26 samples14
78.6–91.1 dB(A)dosimeter on the student; Classical music students (Portugal), classes with instrument practice, dosimeter over two weeks15
Sound power
82–104 dB(Z)sound power level Lw (dB re 1 pW), not a sound pressure at a distance; Modern bassoon, single notes over the whole range played as soft and as loud as possible, anechoic chamber TU Berlin, 32-mic spherical array13
86–101 dB(Z)sound power level Lw (dB re 1 pW), repertoire-weighted average; Modern bassoon, pp and ff sound power averaged over the range, weighted by how often each pitch occurs in Beethoven's symphonies13

No figure found. The Sound Advice table lines I could read (oboe, piccolo, sax) have no bassoon row.16

Sources

  1. DPA Mic University: How to mic a bassoonmanufacturer · dpamicrophones.com
  2. HomeRecording.com forum: MIC for Double Reed (fagot) (2002)forum · homerecording.com
  3. Production Expert: Free woodwind and sax recording techniques (2020)magazine · production-expert.com
  4. Recording Magazine: Miking Brass and WindsBob Ross · magazine · recordingmag.com
  5. Sound On Sound: Jake Jackson: Recording The 2012 Olympic Anthemsmagazine · soundonsound.com
  6. Sound On Sound: Richard King, How To Record Acoustic Ensemblesengineer · soundonsound.com
  7. SoundGirls: Recording an Orchestraeducational · soundgirls.org
  8. Mix: The Changing Landscape of Orchestral Recording (engineer Steve Smith, Music Works Studios)magazine · mixonline.com
  9. Mix: Sound Reinforcement for the Boston Pops: Miking the Orchestra (BSO live mix engineer Steve Colby)magazine · mixonline.com
  10. Shure: How to Choose the Best Mics for Brass, Wind, and String Instrumentsmanufacturer · shure.com
  11. Vienna Symphonic Library Academy: Bassooneducational · vsl.co.at
  12. SHARC Timbre Database v2 (Gregory Sandell): harmonic analyses of McGill University Master SamplesGregory Sandell · academic · github.com
  13. JASA: Sound power and timbre as cues for the dynamic strength of orchestral instruments (Weinzierl, Lepa, Schultz, Detzner, von Coler, Behler)Stefan Weinzierl et al. · academic · 2018-09 · depositonce.tu-berlin.de
  14. JOSE: Evaluation of Sound Exposure and Risk of Hearing Impairment in Orchestral Musicians (Pawlaczyk-Luszczynska, Dudarewicz, Zamojska, Sliwinska-Kowalska)Malgorzata Pawlaczyk-Luszczynska et al. · academic · 2011 · portal.ciop.pl
  15. 3rd International Congress on Environmental Health (Porto 2014), abstract: noise exposure of jazz and classical music studentsacademic · 2014-09 · recipp.ipp.pt
  16. Representative noise levels table with orchestra noise guidance (UK Sound Advice material)eclass-b.uoa.gr
  17. Sound On Sound: Q. How do I mike up woodwind instruments? (Hugh Robjohns, Nov 2003)magazine · soundonsound.com
  18. Sound On Sound: Recording Brass & ReedsHugh Robjohns · magazine · 1999 · soundonsound.com