Professional recording of the shamisen

Playing/Techniques
#1

For you who have professionaly engaged in recording the shamisen for records or perhaps movies, is the whole thing a trade secret or would you be so kind to share your expertise?

I thought we could have a thread devoted to discussing the many aspects of recording. I will start with some questions, but feel free to just mention whatever you know about the topic.

What kind of mics are used?

How are they positioned?

Are any particular sound screens or similar used to form the sound?

When listening to new shamisen music, it feels like the sound has been processed quite a bit, for example with reverb. What are the particular reverbs and settings that are commonly used?

#2

Yes this would be great to know

#3

I don’t think there are any specific trade secrets involved in recording Shamisen which would be that much different from any other instrument. A good engineer who knows what they are doing will most likely know what to do pretty quickly. Especially one who is involved in recording “world music”.
Well I’ll share some of my experiences with recording in studios …
I have noticed one should avoid punching in with Shamisen as it is extremely awkward when one or two notes are obviously not from the same track and seems to be very difficult to match tones up as opposed to other instruments like electric guitar.
There are definitely many adjustments that have to be made through experimenting since most modern studios were not thinking “Hey, this would be perfect for Shamisen!” when they set up their equipment etc.
As far as positioning the mics I have found that multiple mics set at different angles is one way to get a really good sound. I guess I could draw out a diagram somehow like…

       |.              < mic 1
       
       |.                                 < mic3
       |.
#4

Wow…
That’s never happened to me before on this forum.
I went to edit one word on this last post but when it came back
A large portion of what I had written a few minutes ago is missing now.
Has that happened to anyone else before?
Oh well I was basically talking about reverb settings and how I usually
Stick with the “Large Hall” option.

#5

Wow…
That’s never happened to me before on this forum.
I went to edit one word on this last post but when it came back
A large portion of what I had written a few minutes ago is missing now.
Has that happened to anyone else before?
Oh well I was basically talking about reverb settings and how I usually
Stick with the “Large Hall” option.

Fortunately I haven’t here, but in general forums usually want to ruin your day. Each time I’m about to edit or post something I select the whole text with CTRL-A and then copy it all with CTRL-C just to be safe.

Thanks for the answer! I had to look up “punching in” and for you who do not know it’s basically that you record parts of the track at different times, like doing the rhythm guitar and then adding the solo later. What Kevin talks about is that it is hard to make it sound good when you go from one recording to another if the listener can hear a difference in the sound. You just have to get really good at playing the song I guess.

Kevin, I don’t know if it’s the forum, but I don’t really understand that diagram, I’m sorry.

#6

Yeah, that diagram also came out completely weird. It was suppose to represent mic1, 2 and 3, not 1, 3 and option. And the little shamisen player came out all wrong too.Sorry it came out so screwy. I’ll try that CTRL-A / CTRL-C you were saying next time.

Basically I had meant to show mics placed at different distances. Probably better to actually just draw something and scan it in I guess. But the idea is to place mics in different locations surrounding the Shamisen. Like three feet distance and to the left with another one being placed say on the right at 6 feet and so on…

And yeah the punching in with Shamisen is awkward just because it is usually using a mic and not going DI (direct in) to a mixing board. Using an electric Shamisen seems like it would solve the problem but in the end it’s kind of the sensitivity that becomes an issue. (that plus the fact that DI usually sounds like crap anyway for Shamisen) .For example if you record a 16 bar phrase and find you played a wrong note in bar 14, it will be much easier to just rerecord the whole 16 bars instead of trying to “punch in” the right note in place of the wrong note. Other instruments can do this better but Shamisen is sometimes very organic when recorded in a studio so even a half inch change in distance from the mic can create a very obvious change in timbre and texture.

#7

So at what distance do you have the mics Kevin?

I don’t have much experience recording with mics, just with guitar pickups. I find that I move a lot with the shamisen and that will affect the sound. I also find that I hear my breathing and I guess that is something I need to work on.

#8

Well the exact distance will depend on the room. I have recorded in many different studios and every time it takes a while to just sit and let the engineer move the mics around while you play.
And yes, moving around is awesome on stage but to prepare for studio work I would definitely suggest practicing staying still and still being able to produce an emotional performance.

What it boils down to is Shamisen is a bit tricky in this way. I was telling Stev recently too, the best thing to do is look for people who want to add an ethnic sound to their demo or whatever and would be willing to hire you or at least to experiment . Then you will learn from your own experience which mics are best suited to your tone and what distances to place them etc. plus finding the right reverb settings and such.

#9

Hey, now this is an interesting thread. Wish I had something to contribute. But the only mic’d instruments I’ve ever used in a studio are guitar and human voice. …Oh, and hand claps once. Guess that counts.

© 2020 Kyle Abbott