micing a flute

[jnorman]

what have you found to be the best way to mic a flute? (not jazz - this would be classical or traditional. medium sized, fairly dead studio room.)

1. stereo or mono?

2. close mic(s) vs distant mic(s)

3. combination of close mic with room mic?

4. any compression at all?

5. what kind(s) of reverb? (large hall, room, plate, etc) add delay to the reverb or not?

6. if mixed with other instruments, where do you pan them? does anything ever get panned way out to one side?

7. should the player play like they are performing in a hall to an audience, or should they try to play to the microphone?

8. anything else to consider?

thanks.

[Jazz Ad]

For classical, distant twin head.
You want the sound from the air, not directly the instrument.

[jnorman]

jazz - thanks for the reply. by "twin head", do you mean a stereo mic such as the akg c426b?

[Jazz Ad]

Yeah that's how you usually get the best results.
Classical groups of musicians usually balance pretty well by themselves without the need of additional mixing.
The exception would be piano. You want to use an inside mic and reinject a bit of it into the mix.