Mic Archive

Instrument

Djembe

A West African goblet drum with a goatskin head, 30-38 cm across and 58-63 cm tall, played with bare hands (Wikipedia).

Peaks up close
up to 105 dB SPL
Sources
6 (6 independent)

Recommended mics

Mics sources recommend

7 setups from 6 sources, 6 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

Multi-mic plan

Main pair or array

  • condenser (unnamed)1 independent source

Room

  • condenser (unnamed)1 independent source
The 6 setups behind this: placement and quotes
  • Multi-mic plan top: AKG C 414 + bottom: AKG D112
    top and bottom
    a condenser on the head, at a 45 degree angle, like a snare (I use AKG C2000B or a C414) ... a dedicated low frequency mic on the bottom (I use AKG D112). Remember to reverse the phase on one of them1
  • Multi-mic plan top: Shure SM57 + bottom: AKG D112
    top and bottom
    I mic top and bottom, usually with a sm57 on top and a D112 kick mic on the bottom ... usually with a sm57 on top and a D112 kick mic on the bottom2
  • Main pair or array 2 × condenser (unnamed)
    one stereo pair or single mic about 1 m away; or close mic a few inches
    For recording a djembe, a condenser microphone is recommended ... a distance of about 3 ft (1 m) ... is generally recommended3
  • Multi-mic plan above the head: Audio-Technica AT4050 or AKG C451 EB (earlier version of the AKG C451 B) + under the drum: Sennheiser MD 421
    one mic above the head, one under the drum
    The 4050 is one of my all-time favorite under $1,000 condenser microphones ... I love the overhead detail that lets us hear the snap of hand against drum head ... this recording is proof that it's a great choice for djembe (full and rich sounding even without a mic underneath) ... This confirms 421 as my first choice mic under djembe4
  • Multi-mic plan head: Sennheiser MD 421 + bottom opening: Shure SM57
    head and bottom opening, summed to mono
    Garza addresses its high SPL value with a 421 for the top skin (engineer Javier Garza); Krys places a 421 in the front ... Krys will place a 421 in the front and an SM57 on the back, and record them to a mono track5
  • Room condenser (unnamed)
    behind, about 1 m from the bottom opening; ambience and low end
    a condenser microphone placed behind it, about a metre away from the bottom opening, for ambience and to catch the low frequencies (Garza)5

On stage

Close

  • any good instrument mic1 independent source
The 1 setup behind this: placement and quotes
  • Close any good instrument mic
    a couple of inches from the head, on the side away from the player; optional second mic below
    Just about any good instrument mic can be used on hand drums ... a couple of inches from the head ... Some jembe players will want a second mic on the bottom6

Advised against

Range

playing range; overtones go beyond 4 kHz7

Where the sound goes

The head and the open base. Wikipedia describes three strokes: bass (65-80 Hz, a Helmholtz resonance of the open body), tone (300-420 Hz) and slap (700-1000 Hz, overtones past 4 kHz). The base radiates a lot of low-frequency air: "if you only mic the top, you miss all of that moving air" (forum, HomeRecording.com) and "a lot of bass resonates out from the bottom" (Coppinger).

Recording it

Two schools. Live (Pro Sound Web): any good instrument mic a couple of inches from the head, on the side away from the player, optionally a second below. Studio, two mics: Coppinger puts an AT4050 16 in (41 cm) from the centre pointing across, and a 421 8 in (20 cm) under the rim; Krys (Daley) uses a 421 on the front and an SM57 on the back, summed to mono; Garza (Daley) uses a 421 on top and a condenser about 1 m behind the open end. One mic: a condenser about 1 m away (Instruments du Monde, a retailer).

Problems to watch

Boom from the bottom mic: roll off its mids and highs (HomeRecording.com); do not put it inside the opening, 4-6 in outside (forum); keep it off-centre of the hole. Phase between the two mics (flip one).

About the range

Playing range 65-1000 Hz (Wikipedia infobox); overtones beyond 4 kHz (same page, citing the acoustics literature; I did not open the cited papers).

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
105 dB or moreskilled player, drum tuned to solo pitch secondary7
Peaks
105 dB or moreSkilled player on a djembe tuned to solo pitch ('about the same volume as a jackhammer') secondary7
105 dB or moreExperienced players secondary8

"More than 105 dB" for a skilled player on a drum tuned to solo pitch, "about the same as a jackhammer" (Wikipedia; distance and weighting not stated, secondary source, not checked). SOS Daley: "high SPL value". A forum poster warns to pad the bottom mic "like a heavy metal kick drum".

Sources

  1. homerecording.com: Recording Djembe? (2013 thread)forum · homerecording.com
  2. homerecording.com: Recording a djembe drum.. (2011 thread)forum · homerecording.com
  3. Instruments du Monde: How to record djembe soundretailer · instruments-du-monde.com
  4. Coppinger, R. (2013) Djembe Microphone Comparisonengineer · randycoppinger.com
  5. Daley, D. (2006) Recording Latin Percussion, Sound On Soundmagazine · soundonsound.com
  6. Hogan, J. & T. (2016) Accordions & Didgeridoos: Mic Techniques For 'Exotic' Instruments, Pro Sound Webmagazine · prosoundweb.com
  7. Wikipedia: Djembereference · en.wikipedia.org
  8. UBC Wiki: Djembeeducational · wiki.ubc.ca