Mic Archive

Instrument

Ney

End-blown reed flute open at both ends, 40 to 80 cm, with five finger holes and a thumb hole (Persian) or six and a thumb hole (Arabic, Turkish). The Persian ney uses an interdental embouchure (rim against the teeth), which is "much louder" than Arabic and Turkish playing in the first register (Rick Wilson, NFA).

Sources
4 (4 independent)

Recommended mics

Mics sources recommend

7 setups from 4 sources, 4 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

  • Rode M11 independent source
  • Rode M21 independent source
  • Shure KSM441 independent source
  • Shure SM572 independent sources
  • dynamic microphone, cardioid (type not named)2 independent sources
  • ribbon microphone (type not named)1 independent source
The 7 setups behind this: placement and quotes
  • Close Shure SM57
    close, 15 cm from the başpare (mouthpiece), 45 degrees (chosen; the thesis's only dynamic is the SM57)
    Yapılan denemeler sonucunda dinamik mikrofon 45 derece açıyla ve 15 cm uzaklıkta konumlandırıldığında çalgının doğal sesine yakın frekanslar elde edilmiş ve bu konumlandırma tercih edilmiştir1
  • Close ribbon microphone (type not named)
    close (placement not stated)
    Ney kaydı için kullanılması gereken mikrafon türü (Ribbon yada Kardioid-Dinamik) olmalıdır2
  • Close dynamic microphone, cardioid (type not named)
    close (placement not stated), so only the instrument and not the room is recorded
    (Ribbon yada Kardioid-Dinamik) olmalıdır ki sadece enstrümana yönelik bir kayıt olsun2
  • Close Shure KSM44
    close, 20 cm from the instrument, aimed at the mouthpiece (preferred of three close positions by 10 engineers, 12 of 20 choices)
    Mikrofon çalgıdan 20cm uzaklığa, çalgının ağızlığına bakacak şekilde yerleştirilmiştir. Yapılan 20 tercihten 12'si ilk tercihlerinde 2. mikrofonlamayı seçmiştir.3
  • Close Shure SM57 / SM58
    close (placement not stated), amateur home recording
    iyi bir dinamik (shure sm57 ya da sm58) mikrofon işini görebilir ... iyi bir dinamik mikrofon dandik bir 'condenser'dan daha iyidir4
  • Close dynamic microphone, cardioid (type not named)
    close, placed toward the outlet of the başpare (mouthpiece)
    Başparenin çıkışına doğru, cardioid polar patternli bir dinamik mikrofon yerleştirirsen istediğin sonuçları alabilirsin4
  • Close Rode M1 or Rode M2
    close (placement not stated)
    Güzel fiyat/performans oranı düzgün bir dinamik mikrofon olarak Rode M1 ya da çok tercih edilen Shure SM58 ... Condenser mikrofon olarak çok tercih edilen Shure sm57 ya da Rode M2 (poster lists the SM57 as a condenser by mistake)4

Advised against

Range

more than three octaves for a skilled neyzen; players carry several neys in different keys5,6

Where the sound goes

No source. By analogy with other end-blown flutes the sound comes from the blown end and the open holes (estimate).

Recording it

no ney-specific recording source found. Two searches for it returned only generic flute advice (mic above and slightly to one side, off-axis from the blowing end, pop filter if close). Use the shakuhachi and bansuri entries as the nearest evidence, and the Shure bansuri advice for close miking.

About the range

Neys are named by the note with all finger holes open, which sounds a fifth above the lowest note (NFA). A Persian ney has up to four registers, the fourth rarely used. Persian music uses 24 quarter-tones, with koron and sori accidentals. An Arabic or Turkish player owns several keys.

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.

Player's exposure (dosimeter)
80.7 dB(A)at the player's ear (dosimeter microphone 10 cm from the ear); Iranian professional musician (10+ years' experience) in solitary practice, 20-minute session in an acoustic room at Firoozgar hospital audiology department, Tehran; Extech 407727 meter/dosimeter7
77.09 dB(A)at the player's ear (dosimeter microphone 10 cm from the ear); Iranian professional musician (10+ years' experience) in solitary practice, 20-minute session in an acoustic room at Firoozgar hospital audiology department, Tehran; Extech 407727 meter/dosimeter7
52.17–97.03 dB(A)at the player's ear (dosimeter microphone 10 cm from the ear); Iranian professional musician (10+ years' experience) in solitary practice, 20-minute session in an acoustic room at Firoozgar hospital audiology department, Tehran; Extech 407727 meter/dosimeter7
48.25–94.53 dB(A)at the player's ear (dosimeter microphone 10 cm from the ear); Iranian professional musician (10+ years' experience) in solitary practice, 20-minute session in an acoustic room at Firoozgar hospital audiology department, Tehran; Extech 407727 meter/dosimeter7

No figure; Persian ney louder than Arabic or Turkish (NFA).

Sources

  1. Hakan Mazlum (2011), MSc thesis, Istanbul Technical University: Türk Müziği Enstrümanlarının Tınısal Özelliklerinin İncelenmesi ve Bu Çerçevede Mikrofonlama Tekniğieducational · polen.itu.edu.tr
  2. Keyfi Müzik forum: Ney Kaydı Yapacağım (thread)forum · keyfimuzik.net
  3. Ozis, Vergili & Varol (2008), Journal of International Social Research 1(5): Determining artificial reverberation time requirements and microphone technique differences of three Turkish musical instruments in studio recordingseducational · sosyalarastirmalar.com
  4. TurkRock forum (Mar 2013): Ney Kaydı İçin Uygun Ses Kartı ve Mikrofon Ne Olabilir?forum · turkrock.com
  5. Wikipedia: Neyreference · en.wikipedia.org
  6. Rick Wilson, The Persian Ney (NFA Global Flutes Committee)nfaonline.org
  7. Med J Islam Repub Iran: An Evaluation of Maximum Safe Practice Time of Iranian Musical Instruments to Protect Noise-Induced Hearing Loss in ProfessionalsRajaeih S, Kolyaie F, Emamdjomeh H, Feizabad E, Ghanbari H · academic · 2022 · europepmc.org