Shamisen Video Recording Tips?

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#1

I have a youtube channel and my video quality is beyond terrible. I will hopefully buy a new camera… Any Microphones do you guys recommend? Its hard to get a decent sound. The Shamisen always ends up sounding too choppy and dull.

EDIT: lol. My left speaker on my laptop isn’t working properly… That’s probably why I thought my mic had problems.

Here is my recording of Rokudan.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yIS7YVONW8&feature=plcp

T-T

Another problem.

I get a bit nervous. I feel like I could have done much better if I didn’t feel nervous.

#2

Hmm… I’ll listen again tomorrow on my headphones, but it sounds pretty good to me, even on my crappy laptop speakers.

Do you keep the levels low? I imagine hard playing could cause clipping, which would make a choppy sound.

Your playing sounds good. Nice and clear intonation.

#3

Like I mentioned above, I think it was my laptop speakers the whole time… I almost always listen to videos through speaker (to test volume). My distorted speaker makes the shamisen sound dead and fuzzy. I tried using my headphones and it sounds pretty clear.

I feel like I over judge myself sometimes >.

#4

I feel like I over judge myself sometimes. I think its because every tiny mistake bothers me . I need to fix that about myself and learn to deal with it haha.

Congratulations, Stev. You have just granted yourself the title of “Musician.” :wink:

#5

Once you start living in a van down by the river can you then call yourself a “professional musician.” :wink:

#6

Sounds pretty good~
If you end up Mic shopping, it can get pretty pricey if you actually want something that will sound good.
As a general rule, any mic in the 50-100 dollar range isn’t really going to provide that much of an improvement to sound quality.

There is also recording software that can override the default settings of your computers mic and make it sound a heck of a lot better!!
That would be the most reasonable option~

Just a quick side question… do you always hold the shamisen on such a sharp angle?

#7

I guess I’ll need to save up for a better Mic & Camera. I’ll also need to figure out how to use recording software XD.

I didn’t really notice that I was holding my Shamisen at such a sharp angle. I think I was just tense or something.

#8

I was sitting here listening and thinking “what is he talking about?”. Then I compared it to my old video: http://youtu.be/zNgtHD_TUGM

My video was recorded with a ZOOM Handy Recorder Q3HD. It has 2 mics angled at 120 degrees so you get stereo sound. I’m not a good recorder and when I listen to my video it feels like the mics were distorting a bit. Now this can be tinkered with in the settings so I’ll fix it. After all it is made to be able to record live heavy metal concerts for example.

Anyway I think your recording sounded nice. Did you record with 2 microphones? You will get a much better recording with stereo sound. It gives that prescence that makes the instrument come alive.

Another thing that would cool to cover on the Bachido Blogcast would be how to position mics and if you play with an amplifier, what settings should be used etc etc.

#9

I recorded with one mic positioned about 1 1/2 ft away. It is an old mic that is slightly damaged with a minor dent. I should try recording with 2 mics… but I’m not sure how to do that.

Oh and a Bachido Blogcast covering shamisen studio recording would be sooo nice.

#10

When recording an acoustic guitar you put two condenser mics with 120 degrees between them so that the center of them is at the 12th fret, center of the string. The distance can be up to a meter for a different sound.

I’m not sure how well this works for the shamisen but the idea is that it should give an audio coverage for the whole spectrum. I should try recording my shamisen this way. The only problem is that my recorder has the mics attached to the camera which means it would only be interesting with the audio.

#11

Good playing Stev!
And great idea Karl! i’ve been thinking that i want to record but my “equipment” for recording is … beyond horrible :DDD

#12

Yeah, sounds really good Steve !
When I record shamisen in a studio I find
A big part of the process is spending a great deal of time
experimenting with the placement of the mics. Yes obviously
Multiple mics are needed to get a really good sound .
Steve, you should try to get involved with other musicians who are
Recording their music. The shamisen is unique enough that people
Looking to make a song with an ethnic feel will sometimes be seeking out
Live players to add into their mixes. If you get the chance to have many experiences
In different studios you’ll come to learn for yourself which mics you prefer and how to
Set the angles just right etc.

#13

Stev, good idea. Personally, I know very little about mics and equipment, but that would be a good topic to have Luke on as a guest. He knows all about that. :stuck_out_tongue:

I do know that we use $30 instrument mics for our gigs, and they sound really, really good. Luke will know the name of it.

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