Bansuri
Indian bamboo flute
- Range
- A3–E6
- Sources
- 76 independent: not from a mic maker
What it is
Indian side-blown bamboo flute, six or seven finger holes (Wikipedia). Played in several keys.
Range
A3 to E68220 Hz – 1.32 kHz
across VSL's three sizes; about 2.5 octaves (six-hole) or 3 (seven-hole) per Wikipedia
Where the sound goes
From the blowhole and the finger holes; breath noise is the main problem close up.
About the range
About 2.5 octaves (six-hole) or 3 (seven-hole) (Wikipedia). Examples from VSL: E bansuri E4 to E6, D bansuri D4 to D6, A bansuri A3 to A5.
Recording it
Shure: one KSM137 4 to 5 in above the blowhole, angled down at it to reduce breath; pop filter if needed. Akshat Mehrotra, a bansuri player, uses two Austrian Audio OC818 in mono, stereo, M-S or Blumlein through Neve-type preamps at 96 kHz/24-bit. Generic flute guidance (mic off-axis, angled to the foot) applies.
Mics
- 16 setups from 7 sources, 6 of them independent of any mic maker.
- On top: the mics more than one source names for this instrument, in any role, the most named first. That is a count of sources, not our verdict.
- In the full list, each mic shows how many sources name it for that role, and how many of those come from a mic maker.
No mic is named by more than one source yet: each names its own.
All the mics sources name, by setting and role (15)
Studio
Close
- AKG C414 XLII1 source
- Apogee MiC 96K1 source
- Austrian Audio OC8181 source
- Beyerdynamic MC 7401 source
- Neumann KM 1841 source
- Neumann TLM 1031 source
- Neumann U 871 source
- Rode NT2-A (pair)1 source
- Shure KSM1371 source from its own maker
X-YBlumlein
Distant
- Lawson L471 source
The 12 setups behind this: placement and quotes
- Close Apogee MiC 96Kclose, 3 to 4 in (for online lessons)
I use the Apogee MiC-96K ... a USB mic is ideal ... mics work best between 3 to 4 inches from your mouth.
1 - Main pair or array 2 × Line Audio CM4 (pair)pair, stereo pair to capture the full (bass) instrument
suggests a stereo pair, such as a pair of Line Audio CM4s, to capture the full instrument (paraphrase of summary).
2 - Close two mics (types not named)close, one near the blowing hole and one about a foot from the far end, phase-corrected afterwards
OP floats two mics, one near the blowing hole and one about a foot from the far end, correcting phase afterwards (paraphrase of summary).
2 - Close microphone (type not named)distant, 2-3 ft out and about 18 in higher than the flute, pointing down towards the centre of the flute
2-3' out and about 18" higher than the flute, pointing down towards the center of the flute. Nearer the mouth and you'll get a lot of wind noise.
3 - Close ribbon microphonedistant, above and to the side, angled down the length of the flute
best sound from the side of the instrument and not in the front, which is where most people mic it from; ribbon angled down its length (paraphrase).
3 - Distant dynamic microphonedistant, about 3 ft, aimed at the middle of the flute
a dynamic aimed at the middle of the flute from about three feet rejects breath noise better; a condenser can make breath sound harsh (paraphrase).
3 - Distant Lawson L47distant, about 3 ft
OP planned a Lawson at about 3 feet; reply: if its a great sounding bansuri you might want something less colored than the L47, but the lawson should do fine.
3 - Close Beyerdynamic MC 740distant, omni
Final choice was a Beyerdynamic MC-740 in omni, which beat a Neumann U87 in a blind test (paraphrase of summary).
3 - Close Neumann U 87 or Neumann KM 184 or Neumann TLM 103 or AKG C414 XLIIclose, placement not given
westsideryan: recorded before with a U87, turned out fine; U87, TLM-102, TLM-103, KM-184, Soyuz SU-13/SU-17 all sound fine, but not great. ... westsideryan: U87, TLM-102, TLM-103, KM-184 ... all sound fine, but not great. ... westsideryan: ... TLM-103 ... all sound fine, but not great. ... westsideryan: someone got good results with an AKG C414 XLII?
4 - Close 2 × Rode NT2-A (pair)pair, M-S (less sensitive to side-to-side head movement than XY)
a pair of large-diaphragm condenser microphones arranged in an M-S configuration, which is much less sensitive to side-to-side head movements than the standard X-Y configuration (suggests Rode NT2A pair).
5 - Close Shure KSM1374-5 in above the blowhole, angled down at it, with pop filter
KSM137 4-5 in above the blowhole, angled down, to reduce breath sounds; may need a pop filter.
6 - Close 2 × Austrian Audio OC818stereo (mono, M-S or Blumlein)
Player records with two OC818 in mono, stereo, mid-side or Blumlein; "magic is in tracking well".
7
On stage
Close
- Beyerdynamic M 881 source
- Shure Beta 57A1 source
- Shure Beta 58A1 source
- Shure SM811 source
The 4 setups behind this: placement and quotes
- Close Shure Beta 57Aclose, single small-diaphragm dynamic for PA
for live a single small-diaphragm dynamic, which rejects other instruments and floor reflections better: Shure Beta 57A or Beyer M88 (paraphrase).
5 - Close Beyerdynamic M 88close, out of the path of the blown air
Beyer M88, though an M88 should stay out of the path of the blown air (paraphrase).
5 - Close Shure SM81close, in controlled rooms
a condenser like the Shure SM81 works in controlled rooms (paraphrase).
5 - Close Shure Beta 58Aclose, festival PA (Rakesh Chaurasia, Leeds)
It looks from the video as though the sound techs in Leeds made a wise choice of a Shure Beta 58A for the bansuri and an SM57 on the tabla.
5
Advised against
- Close Shure SM58close, near the blowing end
OP (session bansuri player) records with an SM58; a mic close to the blowing end misses the lower body of a two-foot bass flute (paraphrase of summary).
2 - Close microphone (type not named)close, near the mouth / blowing hole
Nearer the mouth and you'll get a lot of wind noise.
3 - Close Shure SM58close
westsideryan: A SM58 is fine for live situations, but not optimal for recording.
4
Sources
- Bansuri Bliss: How To Prepare For A Bansuri Lesson (online lessons)
- Gearspace: LDC Microphone for Base Bamboo Flute (Bansuri)
- Gearspace: Recording Bansuri (indian flute) Sunday
- KVR Audio forum: Looking for a good microphone to record a bansuri? (May 2020)
- recording.org forum: bansuri woodwind
- Shure: Miking World Instruments with Alexander Duvel
- SoundBetter: Akshat Mehrotra, bansuri player's recording setup
- VSL Synchron Bansuris