Mic Archive

Instrument

Tambourine

Peaks up close
up to 120 dB SPL
Sources
12 (11 independent)

Recommended mics

Mics sources recommend

23 setups from 12 sources, 11 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

  • condenser (imitation C12)1 independent source
  • condenser (unnamed)1 independent source
  • large-diaphragm condenser2 independent sources
  • microphone (type not named)2 independent sources
  • ribbon mic1 independent source
  • small-diaphragm condenser1 independent source

Overhead

Room

Close

  • Coles 40381 independent source
  • Electro-Voice 635A1 independent source
  • Shure SM571 independent source
  • Shure SM7B1 independent source
  • condenser (unnamed)1 independent source
  • crossed pair of cardioids or hypercardioids1 independent source
  • small-diaphragm condenser1 independent source
  • wide-cardioid mic1 independent source
The 22 setups behind this: placement and quotes
  • Distant condenser (unnamed)
    distant, about 4-6 ft (1.5-2 m) away
    stand about 4-6ft from a condenser (RAMI, paraphrase)1
  • Distant small-diaphragm condenser
    distant, about 3 ft away, levels kept fairly low
    SDC about 3 feet away, levels fairly low, high-pass and high shelf cut (JG96, paraphrase)1
  • Distant large-diaphragm condenser
    distant, at least 4-5 ft back
    LDC, staying at least 4 or 5 feet back (heatmiser, paraphrase)1
  • Overhead Shure SM57
    overhead, about 2 ft above the tambourine
    SM57 overhead about 2 ft above the tambourine; result a lot drier (sausy1981, paraphrase)2
  • Distant large-diaphragm condenser
    distant, about 4-5 ft back, moving side to side to tame the chink
    Space between the mic and tambourine really do make a big difference. (Justsomeguy)2
  • Room ribbon, figure-8
    top, about 3 ft up, angled diagonally toward the source, untreated room
    figure-8 gave the perfect blend of direct sound with the ambience (RecordingMaster, paraphrase)2
  • Overhead 2 × drum overheads
    distant, played from the control room through an open door into the kit overheads
    The distance takes the edge off of the 'chink'. (Track Rat)2
  • Close Shure SM57 or Shure SM7B
    close
    Get yourself a Shure SM57 or an SM7b and you will get great results at a very reasonable price. (Paul Drew)3
  • Distant microphone (type not named)
    distant, at a distance in a large, untreated space
    One of the most important things in getting a natural sound from shakers, tambs, etc., is distance.4
  • Close wide-cardioid mic
    distant, farther away than you'd like; tape half the jingles
    you'll probably have to mic the tambourine from farther away than you'd like, and use a mic with a wide cardioid pattern.5
  • Close 2 × crossed pair of cardioids or hypercardioids
    pair, crossed pair mixed down to mono
    A crossed pair of cardioids or hypercardioids mixed down to mono will simulate that nicely.5
  • Distant microphone (type not named)
    distant, 3-6 ft from the mic
    If it jingles, rattles or scrapes, give yourself a good 3 to 6 feet from the mic for clarity and believability.6
  • Close condenser (unnamed)
    close (distance not given); cut 3-4 dB around 6 kHz
    Javier Garza uses condenser mics on shakers and tambourine, cutting 3-4 dB around 6 kHz (paraphrase)7
  • Close Electro-Voice 635A
    distant, back the mic off a few feet
    Back the mic off a few feet; the EV 635a is a great hand percussion mic (A.David.MacKinnon, paraphrase)8
  • Overhead Neumann U 87
    distant, out a bit and higher up, like overheads
    Tambourines sometimes need really fast compression, but try distance first. (drumsound; favourite mics EV 635a and U87)8
  • Distant condenser (imitation C12)
    distant, player's back to the mic, 3-4 ft away
    I often like to record tambourine with my back facing the mic, maybe about 3 or 4 feet from the mic. (DrummerMan)9
  • Distant ribbon mic
    distant, a few feet back, about 3 ft
    a few feet back is good. 3 feet approx.; ribbons are great on tambo (joninc)10
  • Overhead Electro-Voice 635A / Audio-Technica AT4050
    overhead, about a foot higher than the player's head, a little in front, angled down
    I have the mic around a foot higher than the players head, a little in front of them, and angled down. (drumsound)10
  • Overhead 2 × drum overheads
    pair, play from the drum throne into the kit overheads
    sit on the drum throne and use the overheads; be conservative with levels (A.David.MacKinnon, paraphrase)10
  • Close Coles 4038
    close, smooth-midrange ribbon (also Beyer M160/M500)
    Likes Coles 4038s for close work (cgarges, paraphrase)10
  • Room Oktava MK-012 / MXL V67
    distant, a few feet to across the room
    Oktava MC012s and MXL V67s, weirdly enough for distance (cgarges)10
  • Close small-diaphragm condenser
    close, 30-60 cm away, slightly off-axis
    a small-diaphragm condenser 30-60 cm away, aimed slightly off-axis; jammed against the capsule sounds fizzy and harsh (paraphrase)11

On stage

Close

The 1 setup behind this: placement and quotes
  • Close Shure KSM141 or Shure KSM137 or Shure KSM109
    one mic 6-12 in from the instrument (percussion list)
    One microphone placed 6 to 12 inches from instrument; experiment with distance and angles if too bright12

Advised against

Frequency bands

jingles3.5 kHz – 16 kHzpeaks near 4.1, 6.1 and 10.5 kHz
head150 Hz – 500 Hzthe head adds little in these recordings

Own analysis: 1/3-octave band levels of the first second after the hit (dB re loudest band), plus a 12 ms attack window and spectral peak picking. A band is listed where the level stays within about 10-15 dB of the loudest band (weaker bands are given with their level). "tone" = clear spectral peaks; "noise" = dense or broadband energy. Measured from: VSCO 2 CE Tamb1-Hit_v2_rr1, Tamb1-Shake_v1_rr1; Virtuosity Drums Tamb1_Shake.

Sounds it makes

Hit (head)jingles plus a faint thump
Shakecontinuous jingle
Thumb rolldense, intense roll

The sound

Pairs of small metal discs (jingles) clash when the frame moves: almost pure high-frequency noise.

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.

Peaks
120 dB or moreat short (close-mic) distances; Neumann knowledge-base article on maximum SPL: a tambourine 'is a lot louder than one would assume'; at short distances it 'can easily reach SPLs of more than 120 dB'. secondary13

Sources

  1. HomeRecording.com forum: How to record tambourine (2013 thread)forum · homerecording.com
  2. HomeRecording.com forum: Recording tambourine... (2013 thread)forum · homerecording.com
  3. Production Expert: Get A Great Percussion Sound - Free Percussion Recording Techniques (Mike Thornton, 2020, with Paul Drew and James Ivey)magazine · production-expert.com
  4. ProSoundWeb: In The Studio: Hand Percussion Recording Tips (Jon Tidey, 2014)engineer · prosoundweb.com
  5. Recording Magazine: The Doom of the Dumbek (Paul Stamler)magazine · recordingmag.com
  6. Recording Magazine: Drumming and Drummers and Mics - Oh My! (Paul Vnuk Jr. with David Blascoe)magazine · recordingmag.com
  7. Daley, D. (2006) Recording Latin Percussion, Sound On Soundmagazine · soundonsound.com
  8. Tape Op message board: Percussion session today - HELP (2021 thread)forum · messageboard.tapeop.com
  9. Tape Op message board: Upping my percussion recording skills (2020 thread, page 2)forum · messageboard.tapeop.com
  10. Tape Op message board: Upping my percussion recording skills (2020 thread)forum · messageboard.tapeop.com
  11. Violet Recording: How to Record Percussion (editorial team)magazine · violetrecording.com
  12. Shure: Microphone Techniques for Live Sound Reinforcementmanufacturer · 2007 · music.arts.uci.edu
  13. Neumann: What Does Maximum Sound Pressure Level (Max SPL) Mean?manufacturer · neumann.com
  14. Vienna Symphonic Library Academy: Tambourineeducational · vsl.co.at