Balafon / Vibraphone
Contact microphone:
- As a reminder, it is important to properly prepare your contact microphone for installation, do not hesitate to reread the advice below depending on your model:
- Original C1 contact microphone preparation page
- C2 and C3 contact microphones preparation page
- However, on a Balafon, Vibraphone, Marimba, the microphones should be placed near the blade to minimize the level, because of the power of the instrument. It is therefore advisable to make a roll of putty (2g) around the microphone, without too much height and to almost press it against the blade during installation.
- Depending on the instrument, the thickness of the blades, a small reserve of height may be kept in order to give more power, after having checked that the sound does not saturate.
- Placement is closest to the blade support, on the outer edge, in the center of the blade. As a general rule, the closer you get to the center the more attack you have in the envelope of the sound, which may not be pretty and make a kind of poc, and the more you go outward, the more you have vibratory amplitude, which gives less attack and more roundness in the bass, but beware of the treble which can quickly give because of this amplitude, a sound type saturated. In this case, do not hesitate to place yourself more inward. Depending on the instrument, it may be necessary to move the other side of the support inward in order to eliminate this saturated effect in the treble.