How to Mic up a Didgeridoo Part 2

How to Mic up a Didgeridoo part 2.
With a sound engineering background and didge recording experience, I share ideas of how to get a well recorded didge sound from microphones. To get a good didge recording, If you can get the right EQ from mic placement in the first place, it means less EQing in the DAW! This applies at least to solo didge recordings but mic placement may be more limited if you are playing with a band, due to other band instruments sound entering your didge mic or if playing in a small room with poor acoustics (hence. close miking).
Below are some notes and a list of professional players with what microphones they like to use - which I thought you may find interesting.
Note: you can't judge how good the sound recording will be just by playing the didge and listening to it acoustically in your room, because of various reasons, eg: ear listening position is different from mic placement bell end, sound vibration of didge via lips through jaw into ear affects what you are hearing overall. To eliminate this problem we can do test recordings, ie, record didge and mic in different placement configurations. Then when we play back the recording we can evaluate the recording properly via our monitoring through headphones of loudspeaker.
There is no one or best microphone for a didgeridoo, as there are many that will work well and it depends on what you are trying to capture in a didge recording. However, there are microphones that generally do work well with the didgeridoo. Microphones have different characteristics, a different sound to one another, which is why professional players will choose a microphone that will capture the sound they want best.
If you are choosing a microphone, think about what you are looking for in recordings. Do you want to capture the energy, power or gritty sound of your stick and playing. If so, a good dynamic Mic may work well (they can capture some finesse too), eg, an SM 57. Or if you want a 'big sound', something like the versatile Aston Stealth (with different voicing options) captures well a didgeridoo's power and energy with a good low end and a raw yet crisp top end. Or do you want to capture more finesse/detail/nice highs and nuances from your stick, if so a good condenser can work well or perhaps the darker yet detailed ribbon mic. Can't over generalise though, as a dynamic or condenser Mic may work better with a different stick or situation. Do you want to capture a natural sound? - if so, a Mic with a flatter frequency response is better, eg, uncoloured, not bright or dark or too warm/fat (eg a tube Mic). All Mics, regardless of their frequency response, will still sound different to one another though. So, auditioning them is important. If you can't borrow a Mic, liaise with a music store to buy Mics to try but send back and keep the one you want.
It is possible to get professional recordings with a budget microphone and If you are clever with Mic placement. But, if you go too cheap you may end up with a Mic that sounds, harsh, shrill, muddy, boxy, etc (not including room acoustics!) - so choose wisely.
Below is a short list of professional players and what Mics they like or have used, that work well on didge or on a certain project. I also list a few Mics I've used too. Microphone choice is subjective! Different players (or engineers) like different Mics to use. Ideally you want a Mic (or Mics) with good enough sound quality along with your subjective preference, what Mic sound you like on your didge, playing or project. So, its best to experiment to find what you yourself like.
List names in alphabetical order:
Dubravko Lapaine:
His choice of Mic depends on what didge he's using and type of playing. He used an AKG C12A on his latest album which he talks about here: www.youtube.co... On past recordings he's also use AT3031 AKG 1000, Oktava Mk2
For live, he may use the EVRE20 or Sennheiser MD421N...
Ganga Giri
Likes to use the Sennheiser E604 for live playing
Nigel Pegrum:
Sound engineer for Ash Dargan's recordings used a Neumann TLM170 (using the glass reflective method)
Ansgar Stein: Likes to use an SM 57 Dynamic Mic for studio recording
John Thorpe:
Started off with a budget Samson C03 then used Sontronics DM-1t tom drum mic, nice recordings from the Sontronics STC-3X. I liked the Aston Stealth Mic I tried. For live: ATM-350 or DM-1T. And Cad E300.
Zalem:
Likes to use an SM7B in the studio. For live work uses an Audix i5

[@intheshedwithryan]

“You know” great information

[@danwright4598]

Hey mate thank you so much for this info. I have just been self learning all about recording my didg in Ableton.. I got Sennheiser e901 for my birthday from my lovely wife who had my sound engineer friend help her out. It is great so far but a lot of experimenting to come. And this video has given me some direction.

[@johnthorpedidge]

Great to hear. Good luck with your experimentation🤗

[@danwright4598]

@@johnthorpedidge thanks mate.