Dear Brad, You can hear that tinny, brittle, distorted sound if you put your ear right up to the ribs of the lute as you play it. (It's easier with a lute than a theorbo.) A mike placed very close to the instrument will capture some of that tinny sound.
If you listen to a lute or theorbo from 6-9 feet away, the sound will be totally different - the sound we expect to hear. It makes sense then, if you want a more natural sound, to put the mike two or three yards away from the instrument. Best wishes, Stewart McCoy. -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Brad Walton Sent: 03 April 2012 17:06 To: [email protected] Subject: [LUTE] miking a lute/theorbo Hello folks, On the weekend I recorded two pieces in a professional recording studio. I was accompanying a singer on the theorbo. The recording engineer aimed two mikes quite close to the body of the theorbo. On the recording, the sound of the theorbo is very tinny and distorted, and bears almost no similarity to the natural/ acoustic sound of the instrument. Has anybody had experience with miking a lute or theorbo for recording? What mike placement gave you the best results so far as concerned fidelity to the natural sound of the instrument? Thanks, Brad To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
