How to Mike a Violin for Live Performances

There are several factors to consider when determining how your going to mike a violin for a live performance. For example, are you performing in a building or outside? If in a building, how are the acoustics? Are you performing with a symphony or a rock band? Miking a violin on a stage where you have a drum set, bass, electric guitar and loud vocals can be very difficult. So let's think of some different scenarios and what we can do in those situations.

When a violinist performs in a symphony with other violinist, often times they will use a pick-up for each violin plus over head microphones. Over head condenser mikes alone will work but if you're looking to capture a more raw sound, I would suggest using pick-ups also. There are many companies that make acoustic violin pick ups so you can try out different ones if you like. I use the AKG C411. It comes with its gum like adhesive and sticks directly on to the body of the instrument. You may have to move it around to find the best place to get the natural sound you looking for. For the over head mikes try using the AKG C1000.The over head mikes will need to be on tall mike stands above the violins about 3 feet. As always you will need to play with the placement and distance between the mikes and the instrument to get the sound you're looking for. The purposes of the over head mikes are to capture the ambiance sound of the violins. The pick ups will capture each violin individually. Each pick up will run to the mixer and will each get its own channel. The AKG C411 has an XLR cable on it and does not require a direct box. A Fishman V 200 is also a good violin pick up, but it requires a direct box.

What about the kid who likes to rock out on his violin? He gets on stage with his buddies who play loud slamming guitars, heavy bass and a driving drum set. This kid needs some gear to be able to play with this kind of noise around him. First he has to decide whether he is going to play an acoustic violin or an electric violin. They definitely do not sound the same. If you don't know what you want, go to a music shop and ask them to try out some of there acoustic and electric violins. An electric violin will not give you any trouble with feed back, but an acoustic violin will.

Whether you've gone with acoustic or electric, I would advise also getting yourself some gear. You will need:

1. An amplifier. On stage the other instrument and vocals will be loud. You need to be able to hear yourself. I like the Roland Jazz Chorus amp for this.

2. A direct box. I use a Boss DI 1. A direct box stabilizes unbalanced instruments to make them balanced.

3. An effect box. Violins love reverb. An effect box has many kinds of reverb and ways to tweak it just the way you like it. It also has other cool effects that you can play around with. I use Korg Toneworks AX3000 for my violin.

4. 3 standard guitar cables. You will need these t hook you violin up o the effect box, direct box and amplifier.

5. This next item is only needed if you playing an acoustic violin. You need a pick up. I like the Fishman V 200. It has a standard jack on the end of it, like a guitar, and has very little feed back.

Ok, let's begin hooking up our violin. If you chose an electric violin then it should, like a guitar, have a jack on the side of it for your cable to go into. If you chose acoustic then you have a pick up on your violin which should also have a jack with a place for your cable. Take you first guitar cable and plug it into your violin or its pick up. Then take the other end of that cable and plug it into the input of you effect box. Now take your second cable and plug it in the output (mono) of your effect box. Take the end of this cable and insert it into the input of your direct box. You now take the third cable and plug it into the balanced out of the direct box. The end of this cable is then plugged into the input of your amplifier. Turn you amp up and set the mid, treble and bass at 12 o'clock. Make sure you effect box is on and begin playing. Mess around with the effects until you find what you like. Once you have the effect you like tweak the EQ to get the sound of the violin that you want. You may have the echo or delay effect you like but if your violin sounds like a tin can then you need to fix it.

Once you have the sound coming out of the amplifier the way you like it, send a friend, or even better a sound engineer, out front to see what it sounds like on the main speakers. Your amplifier and the main speakers won't sound the same. The big main speakers are different then your little amplifier, so you need to adjust the EQ at the mixing board. If you're using an acoustic violin with a pick up, be sure not to get too close to your amplifier. This would cause feed back.

You may have something smaller then the first two scenarios, like a school recital with a little girl playing tinkle twinkle little star. Don't cut her short. Give her a good sound too! She doesn't need a pick up or anything extravagant. An AKG C1000 condenser mike will do just fine. Place the mike in a tall boom mike stand above the violin and point it down towards the center of the violin. Get it as close to the violin as you can with out it being in the way of the bow. You don't want her hitting the mike or the stand when she plays. The AKG C1000 uses phantom power so you either need a 9 volt battery in it or you can use the phantom power button on the mixing board, if it has one.

As always these are NOT the only way to do this. This is just me passing on my experience. Hope I could help.