Bouzouki
- Range
- C3–E6
- Sources
- 55 independent: not from a mic maker
What it is
A long-necked, round-backed (Greek) or flat-backed (Irish) plucked lute with steel strings in courses, played with a plectrum. The Greek bouzouki is central to rebetiko and Greek pop; the Irish bouzouki dates from about 1965 and is a different instrument with a different tuning.6,8
Range
C3 to about E66,7131 Hz – 1.32 kHz
Greek 4-course (tetrachordo) tuned C3-F3-A3-D4 (Wikipedia). Impact Soundworks sampled a professional 4-course instrument on 'all 27 fret positions'; taking that as open plus 26 frets on the D4 course gives about E6 (my calculation). The library maps its playable range to C2-F5 on the keyboard, which is a mapping, not a sounding range.
Tuning: fretted, chromatic6
The sound
Strings drive a spruce or cedar soundboard on a bowl or flat back; the sound is sharp and metallic.6
Where the sound goes
No measurement. On the Irish bouzouki most of the low-frequency energy leaves through the soundhole, which is why a piezo alone sounds tinny (a forum poster); see also Bartlett's sound-hole advice.5,2
About the range
Greek trichordo (3 courses): D3-A3-D4 with the lowest course doubled in octaves (as the page writes it, D4D3 A3A3 D4D4). Greek tetrachordo (4 courses, 8 strings): C3-F3-A3-D4, with octave pairs on the lowest two courses. Irish: usually G2-D3-A3-D4, or G2-D3-A3-E4 (octave-mandolin tuning), with unison strings on the lower courses since Donal Lunny's change. A sample library maps the Greek instrument C2 to F5 on the keyboard (a mapping, not a sounding range).6,8,7
Recording it
- Bartlett: a flat condenser 6-8 in from the sound hole.
- A bouzouki player on the Rembetiko Forum (2002): use two mics, one close to where you strum and one farther back, found by having a helper move a mic while you listen on headphones; he also records a pickup on one side and a mic on the other, hard-panned. Another poster used an SM81.
- Sample-library recordings: Pianobook's "Ideal Bouzouki" was recorded with an Electro-Voice RE320 and a pair of small condensers; Impact Soundworks' Greek 8-string library has close and room positions, models not named.2,3,1,7
Mics
- 9 setups from 5 sources, 5 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 (2)
Studio
Close
- Shure SM811 source
Contact
Stereo pair
The 6 setups behind this: placement and quotes
- Named, no placement given Electro-Voice RE320close, sample session
Recorded with a RE320 and a pair of small condensers microphones.
1 - Named, no placement given 2 × pair of small condensers (models not named)pair, sample session
Recorded with a RE320 and a pair of small condensers microphones.
1 - Close flat (boundary) condenser, 6-8 in from the sound holeclose
Place a flat condenser mic about 6 to 8 inches away from an f-hole or sound hole (mandolin, bouzouki, resonator, lap dulcimer).
2 - Close Shure SM81close (asked for advice)
Poster asks how to place his SM81 condenser on a bouzouki for recording; replies advise two mics, one close, one farther.
3 - Contact 2 × Oktava condenser (model not named)one side of a stereo pair, with a pickup on the other
Pickup on one side and an Oktava condenser mic on the other, hard-panned, gives a full sound.
3 - Close two mics, one close to the strumming hand, one further awayclose + distance
I use two mikes, one up close, close to where I strum, and another a little further away.
3
On stage
The 3 setups behind this: placement and quotes
- Clip-on mini mic near the sound holeclip-on
Mount a mini mic near an f-hole (applies to the mandolin, bouzouki group).
2 - Inside lapel microphoneinside, dangling in the soundhole
A cheap lapel mic hung inside the soundhole "sounds amazingly good".
4 - Contact large-diaphragm condenser on a standclose, on a stand, blended with or instead of a piezo
"For that lovely '70s sound you need a large capsule condenser mic on a stand"; piezos sound tinny because the low end radiates from the soundhole (paraphrase).
5
Advised against
- Contact LR Baggs Elementcontact, undersaddle
One poster calls the Baggs undersaddle "a disaster"; others use K&K, Schatten, McIntyre Feather or Headway pickups.
4
On stage
Pickups are common (a TAP body pickup is named in the forum). Irish bouzouki players on The Session use K&K, Schatten, McIntyre Feather or Headway pickups, and one found an LR Baggs Element undersaddle "a disaster"; a cheap lapel mic hung inside the soundhole "sounds amazingly good". Others blend a piezo with a mic: "For that lovely '70s sound you need a large capsule condenser mic on a stand". DPA's 4099 clip for mandolin and guitar is another option; whether a bouzouki bowl fits the clip is not stated.3,4,5
Problems to watch
A piezo alone sounds tinny and thin; some undersaddle pickups sound poor. Plectrum noise and body resonance are in the samples' noise layers.5,4,7
Sources
- Pianobook: Ideal Bouzouki (sample library notes)
- ProSoundWeb: A Guide to Microphone Techniques for Studio Recording, page 5
- Rembetiko Forum: Recording the bouzouki (2002 thread)
- The Session forum: discussion 21947 (Irish bouzouki amplification, 2009)
- The Session forum: discussion 33298 (amplifying an Irish bouzouki, 2013)
- Wikipedia, Bouzouki
- Impact Soundworks, Plectra Series 1: 8-string Acoustic Bouzouki, manual
- Wikipedia, Irish bouzouki