Red Diamond Sizemore Vintage (video with pro audio)

[Jay]

Very excited to have acquired this Red Diamond mandolin here on the classifieds. Thanks you Mandolin Cafe!

I have been experimenting with the mics/mic placement and assume there's some others who like to geek-out on this stuff. This is the configuration that I landed on.

Soundelux U195 - 16" from and pointed at lower F hole
Audix ADX51 Stereo Pair - 16" from and pointed and center of body, panned hard left and right

Mandolin - Red Diamond Sizemore Vintage, 2015, #262R

Both of the tunes are ones that I made up.

Any thoughts/suggestions appreciated.



Edit: Youtube embed doesn't seem to be working. Here's a link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lolPBOc95E

[mingusb1]

Hey, the mandolin sounds really good as do the tunes. If I learned those tunes I'm sure I'd throw in quite a few double stops and slides, but they sound good as they are. How much do those mics run say on the used market (assuming you can find them used)?

Cheers,
Z

[Old Growth]

Sounds great, dry and terrific. Soundelux mics are relatively pricey and are "exceptional". Love Soundelux mics.

[Hubs]

Sounds very cool! Congrats!

[bgpete]

Terrific from every point of view - playing, instrument, audio, tunes!

[Gary Alter]

Very nicely done Jay, your RD (and you) both sound great!

[Jay]

Sounds great, dry and terrific. Soundelux mics are relatively pricey and are "exceptional". Love Soundelux mics.

Yeah. I've watched some stuff on David Bock and he seems like a guy who is very committed to his craft, much like Don Macrostie. That mic, the U195, is particularly interesting for mandolin because it has a Fat/Normal switch. If you set it to Fat it will boost the low-mid range from around 400hz and below. For this video, I had it set to Normal, but I have recorded mandolin in Fat mode many times as well. It adds some nice 'weight' to the instrument.

[Lo-Fi]

This sounds fantastic. Both playing and audio quality. I really liked that first tune of yours. Thanks for posting.

[tmsweeney]

nice axe Jay!

[Chuck Leyda]

Great playing and great mandolin!

The mics sound nice. The Soundelux is outta my price range but I'll keep my eye open for the Audix. I've been using old Rode NT5s. They get the job done but the Audix might be a nice upgrade.

Can I ask about your signal path? Any processing done? I think I hear a bit of verb but might be the room/mando. Are you using preamps or audio interface? Whatever your using sounds really good!

[Denny Gies]

Nice stuff, Jay. Just keep at it, you're good.

[Jay]

Great playing and great mandolin!

Can I ask about your signal path? Any processing done? I think I hear a bit of verb but might be the room/mando. Are you using preamps or audio interface? Whatever your using sounds really good!

I was really trying hard to capture the true sound of the instrument. The room has acoustic treatments in it so its very dead. I added what I would consider a very small amount of reverb to compensate. It may have been a little too much. In addition to that there is a very light amount of EQ to slightly boost the lows and highs. There is also compression and limiting to clamp down on the peaks a little. I tried hard to play everything note at a consistent volume so that wouldn't be needed, but that's pretty challenging. The audio interface is just a Behringer UMC1820. So nothing fancy happening with preamps at all.

Again, just trying to add a decent video out there of another RD to supplement what is already there from the likes of Carter Vintage and Music Emporium. The videos from those guys are certainly a level or 2 above, mostly due to the player. I watched this one many times.

https://youtu.be/cLZSrKo7RN4

The playing is so precise and consistent. The pronounced high end is very noticeable. It says there was no processing at all, so I guess that's all down to mic character and mic placement.

[Chuck Leyda]

I think you and the mandolin sounded great. The reverb and compression sounded good to my ear. It just added a little space.

I'm doing some home recording but I'm a novice so I appreciate the info!