Microphones Mic'ing a classical harp

jrbcjim

Member
Can anyone offer a few pointers on mic'ing a harp -- the big classical one?

My company is doing Fantasticks in 500-seat house. The piano and the harp will be placed USR behind the traditional platform. We have the option of running the harp through the FOH sound system, or placing a powered speaker downstage of the harp.

I've got a couple of condenser mics at my disposal, and a pair of dynamics too. Phantom power is available.

Any suggestions would be welcome.
 
I would use a large diaphram condenser on the lower registers and a small diaphram on the upper registers. Bang for the buck, I like the Rode NT1A for the low side, and don't HP on the console. For the high side, the Rode NT5 will give you some nice air. You can HP this on the console. Give yourself a few feet from the source with each mic. Ideally, a shell or softgoods hung behind the harp will help with filtering out other backstage sounds. Give yourself about 30 minutes to fiddle with mic placement.

I use this same approach for grand piano except I mic quite a bit closer and have the mics within 8 inches of the hammers to capture the attack.
 
Also, if the Rode NT5 are too pricy, I have had lots of luck using the Behringer C2 which you can buy in a matched pair for around $60.00. I have 6 of these in my mic box and am constantly suprised at what I can do with these $30 mics.
 
Give yourself about 30 minutes to fiddle with mic placement.

Agreed. It's helpful to have some nice isolating earphones (Senn HD280 or Shure in-ears) and a mic preamp/headphone amp that can provide phantom and run on batteries (Sound Devices MM1) to be able to swap mics & check your mic placement up on stage as they're playing.

Nothing like moving a mic on stage & having to run back & forth to the board to check it on cans

-Blanton
 
The most important thing with micing a harpist is to have time to get it set up right. You have to be sure to keep any microphones well out of their way (their hands sure do move).
I've mic'd a lot of harps however usually not the large classical concert harps. (Hell I've mic'd 10 harps on the same stage at the same time, with bagpipes playing nearby...Or a band that had 3 harps, a keyboard and a fiddle, that was interesting.)

If you want the best sound you'll just have to fiddle a little bit. I do have to say I love harps with pickups (however I always mic them along with using the pickup).

I've used all sorts of mics on harps. The important thing to remember is how WIDE the register is on the harp, if any other instrument can play the note, the harp can too. That goes from a low rumble bass to a sweet high.

Seen all kinds of approaches depending on what was on hand from using SM57s because thats all that was on hand, to all kinds of other mics.
It really does depend on what you have on hand, there are ideal solutions and not-so-ideal ones. And personal taste helps too.

Perhaps sit down with the harpist long before anyone else gets there to work it out and try out different mics and different placement. Make sure you can cover the entire register, and using more than one mic is a must IMO.
 
Just one more thing - because of the back & forth movement of the harp (harpist starts playing, they pull it towards themselves, and then rock it back to its base when finished), and for good channel separation (I mic'd two side-by-side once) I have used a Countryman B3 taped to the sound board (a la PZM) on a wireless mic pack. Worked really well for live sound, probably wouldn't record this way. Tons of GBF, pretty balanced sound too.
 
I've used the Shure MX202 for the same thing before (just not wireless), worked great actually. Just need to watch out for monitors and other players with the B3 (since it's omni, even though it's against the surface it still has a wider pickup area than a cardioid). Would be quite excellent in the mid and higher registers. Not as great in the lowest registers.

Just one more thing - because of the back & forth movement of the harp (harpist starts playing, they pull it towards themselves, and then rock it back to its base when finished), and for good channel separation (I mic'd two side-by-side once) I have used a Countryman B3 taped to the sound board (a la PZM) on a wireless mic pack. Worked really well for live sound, probably wouldn't record this way. Tons of GBF, pretty balanced sound too.
 
Thanks to all who have chimed in here for the insight. As I stated in my New Member post, I know a little about what I'm doing, but probably just enough to make me dangerous. Any suggestions are welcome.

As to the use of the sound system, someone in the company has suggested using a guitar amp placed near the harp for reinforcement, but I'm inclined to run the harp through the FOH array, just bumped up a little to give it -- and the piano -- a little more presence. Am I on the right track?
 
Last edited:
I would defiantly use the FOH system and not a guitar amp. A guitar amp would not do the harp justice, I don't see any reason to use one for this application. If other musicians need to hear the harp, I'd have to say I'd suggest monitors.
 
I would definitely use FOH, mainly because the range of the speakers will produce a finer sound for the harp than a guitar amp. Some frequencies may get lost in a guitar amp.
 
Can anyone offer a few pointers on mic'ing a harp -- the big classical one?

My company is doing Fantasticks in 500-seat house. The piano and the harp will be placed USR behind the traditional platform. We have the option of running the harp through the FOH sound system, or placing a powered speaker downstage of the harp.

I've got a couple of condenser mics at my disposal, and a pair of dynamics too. Phantom power is available.

Any suggestions would be welcome.

For live applications an omnidirectional microphone wrapped in foam and placed inside the harp (ie below the soundboard) works well. Great signal to noise ratio when lots of other instruments are around, also great gain before feedback if quarters are tight.

I have even used my reference mic when nothing else was available.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back