Mallet percussion
Glockenspiel
Mallet percussion: Marimba, xylophone, vibraphone and glockenspiel: tuned bars spread over a wide frame, so one mic rarely covers them evenly. Mallet type changes the spectrum and the attack.
Part of the Mallet percussion family; that family's advice shows here too.
- Range
- G5–C8
- Overtones to
- about 14 kHz
- Peaks up close
- up to 119.5 dB SPL
- Sources
- 6 (5 independent)
Mics sources recommend
10 setups from 6 sources, 5 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
Distant
- Electro-Voice RE201 independent source
- Heil PR 401 independent source
- Shure SM7B1 independent source
- large-diaphragm condenser (type only)1 independent source
Room
- room mics (type only)1 independent source
Main pair or array
- Neumann KM 841 independent source
- condenser, small diaphragm (Schoeps, model not named)1 independent source
The 6 setups behind this: placement and quotes
- Distant Shure SM7Bat a distance; heavy slow coils tame the transient (forum poster, mastering engineer)
Distance, angles -- large-diaphragm, heavy, slow coils (SM7b, RE20, PR40, etc.)
1 - Distant Electro-Voice RE20 or Heil PR 40at a distance; heavy slow coils tame the transient
Distance, angles -- large-diaphragm, heavy, slow coils (SM7b, RE20, PR40, etc.)
1 - Room room mics (type only)room mics only, about 30 ft away and 30 degrees off axis; glock and triangle recorded separately for classical work
I usually only ever use the room mics -- around 30 feet, around 30 degrees from the source (paraphrase)
1 - Distant large-diaphragm condenser (type only)about 3 ft away; a condenser lets you back off
LDC condenser quite a distance away from the Glock, like 3 feet. Got a pretty good sound.
2 - Main pair or array Mallet percussion advice 2 × Neumann KM 84stereo pair, room and image; large concert rosewood marimba
Smaller-diaphragm mics like the Schoeps, B&Ks and the KM84s capture the room and give a nice stereo image (Narell, paraphrase)
3 - Main pair or array Mallet percussion advice 2 × condenser, small diaphragm (Schoeps, model not named)stereo pair, room and image
Smaller-diaphragm mics like the Schoeps, B&Ks and the KM84s capture the room and give a nice stereo image (Narell, paraphrase)
3
On stage
Close
- Shure KSM109 maker's advice1 source, 0 independent
- Shure KSM137 maker's advice1 source, 0 independent
- Shure KSM141 maker's advice1 source, 0 independent
- Shure KSM27 maker's advice1 source, 0 independent
- Shure KSM32 maker's advice1 source, 0 independent
- Shure KSM44 maker's advice1 source, 0 independent
- Shure SM81 maker's advice1 source, 0 independent
- Shure SM94 maker's advice1 source, 0 independent
Distant
- AKG C451 (earlier version of the AKG C451 B)1 independent source
The 3 setups behind this: placement and quotes
- Close Shure KSM141 or Shure KSM137 or Shure KSM109 or Shure SM81one mic 4-6 in above the bars (placement from the Glockenspiel entry; mic list from the guide's Mallets/Percussion selection lists)
One microphone placed 4 - 6 inches above bars; bright, with lots of attack
4 - Distant Mallet percussion advice AKG C451 (earlier version of the AKG C451 B)live (orchestra pops); about 7 ft above, over the low end, aimed toward the high end; one per pitched instrument
I mike from above, at about seven feet, over the low end of the instrument and aimed toward the high end (Colby)
5 - Close Mallet percussion advice 2 × Shure KSM44 or Shure KSM32 or Shure KSM27 or Shure KSM141 or Shure KSM137 or Shure KSM109 or Shure SM81 or Shure SM94pair 1.5 ft above, 2 ft apart, aiming down (mallets list)
Two microphones aiming down toward instrument, about 1 1/2 feet above it, spaced 2 feet apart
4
Studio and stage
Bottom
- Condenser pair (unnamed)1 independent source
The 1 setup behind this: placement and quotes
- Bottom Mallet percussion advice 2 × Condenser pair (unnamed)12 in under the resonator tubes, spaced between high and low bars
evenly spaced between the high and low bars, about 12 inches under the resonator tubes
6
Advised against
- Close Shure Beta 57Aclose; poster hears too much mallet strike and low level
A dynamic mic isn't the best bet for these kind of instruments (paraphrase of replies to a poster using a Beta 57A)
2
Range
G5 to C87784 Hz – 4.19 kHz
2.5-octave instrument, sounding two octaves above written; 3-octave models C5-C8 or F5-F8 (VSL).
| Whole range | G5–C8 | silvery, bright; even across the range |
|---|
Tuning: Steel bars, untuned overtones.7
Overtones reach about 14 kHz (the highest harmonic within 40 dB of the strongest, at a moderate level; louder playing reaches higher).
The sound
Untuned steel bars: the overtones sit at about 2.8x and 5.4x the fundamental (close to the free-bar ratios 2.76 and 5.40) and are very strong, so the pitch can sound ambiguous.
Recording it
Distance, not close mics (forum): a poster who went less than a foot from the bars had the master clip; replies say room-mic it. One (a mastering engineer) records "extreme transients" such as glock and triangle with room mics only, about 30 ft away, and suggests heavy large-diaphragm dynamics (SM7B, RE20, PR 40). Another suggests 18-24 in as a start. A second thread: a large-diaphragm condenser about 3 ft away; a replier says a dynamic is not the best choice, which conflicts with the first thread.
Disagreement: from 4-6 in (Shure) to about 30 ft (forum) is a factor of 70.1,2
Playing techniques
- Hard (metal) mallets: brighter, harder, shriller
- Soft (wood, rubber) mallets: rounder, softer7
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.
| Peaks | |
|---|---|
| 119.5 dB | at the player's head position; Orchestral bells (glockenspiel), played by a percussion student in an individual practice session in a practice room of the F. Chopin Academy of Music, Warsaw; 1/4-in B&K 4135 mic on a tripod at the position of the musician's head; 120 s music selection9 |
| Player's exposure (dosimeter) | |
| 87.4 dB | at the player's head position (tripod mic near the instrument); Orchestral bells (glockenspiel), played by a percussion student in an individual practice session in a practice room of the F. Chopin Academy of Music, Warsaw; 1/4-in B&K 4135 mic on a tripod at the position of the musician's head; 120 s music selection9 |
Nothing found.
Sources
- HomeRecording.com forum: Recording Glockenspiel, clips at low levels? Any tips? (2012)
- HomeRecording.com forum: Recording Glockenspiel and Uke (2014)
- Mix (1997) Recording Jazz Combos (Andy Narell on recording Dave Samuels' marimba and vibes)
- Shure: Microphone Techniques for Live Sound Reinforcement
- Mix: Sound Reinforcement for the Boston Pops: Miking the Orchestra (BSO live mix engineer Steve Colby)
- Hogan, J. & T. (2016) Accordions & Didgeridoos: Mic Techniques For 'Exotic' Instruments, Pro Sound Web
- Vienna Symphonic Library Academy: Glockenspiel
- Adams: Concert series glockenspiel (specifications)
- Archives of Acoustics: Jaroszewski, Rogowski, Rakowski, Sound pressure levels in emission of percussion instruments during training sessions (25(3), 283-289)