Djembe
- Peaks up close
- up to 105 dB SPL
- Sources
- 76 independent: not from a mic maker
What it is
A West African goblet drum with a goatskin head, 30-38 cm across and 58-63 cm tall, played with bare hands (Wikipedia).
Range
playing range; overtones go beyond 4 kHz8
Where the sound goes
The head and the open base. Wikipedia describes three strokes: bass (65-80 Hz, a Helmholtz resonance of the open body), tone (300-420 Hz) and slap (700-1000 Hz, overtones past 4 kHz). The base radiates a lot of low-frequency air: "if you only mic the top, you miss all of that moving air" (forum, HomeRecording.com) and "a lot of bass resonates out from the bottom" (Coppinger).
About the range
Playing range 65-1000 Hz (Wikipedia infobox); overtones beyond 4 kHz (same page, citing the acoustics literature; I did not open the cited papers).
How loud
Sound pressure level measurements as published. Different kinds of figure (a playing level, a peak, a dose at the player's ear) can't be compared with each other, and neither can figures at different distances.
| Playing level | |
|---|---|
| 105 dB or more | skilled player, drum tuned to solo pitch secondary8 |
| Peaks | |
| 105 dB or more | Skilled player on a djembe tuned to solo pitch ('about the same volume as a jackhammer') secondary8 |
| 105 dB or more | Experienced players secondary9 |
"More than 105 dB" for a skilled player on a drum tuned to solo pitch, "about the same as a jackhammer" (Wikipedia; distance and weighting not stated, secondary source, not checked). SOS Daley: "high SPL value". A forum poster warns to pad the bottom mic "like a heavy metal kick drum".
Recording it
Two schools. Live (Pro Sound Web): any good instrument mic a couple of inches from the head, on the side away from the player, optionally a second below. Studio, two mics: Coppinger puts an AT4050 16 in (41 cm) from the centre pointing across, and a 421 8 in (20 cm) under the rim; Krys (Daley) uses a 421 on the front and an SM57 on the back, summed to mono; Garza (Daley) uses a 421 on top and a condenser about 1 m behind the open end. One mic: a condenser about 1 m away (Instruments du Monde, a retailer).
Mics
- 8 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.
- Shure SM57 3 sources, 1 from a mic makerTop, bottom, close
- AKG D112 2 sourcesBottom
- Sennheiser MD 421 2 sourcesBottom, top
All the mics sources name, by setting and role (9)
Studio
Multi-mic plan
- AKG C 4141 source
- AKG C451 EB (earlier version of the AKG C451 B)1 source
- AKG D1122 sources
- Audio-Technica AT40501 source
- Sennheiser MD 4212 sources
- Shure SM572 sources
Main pair or array
Stereo pair
The 6 setups behind this: placement and quotes
- Multi-mic plan top: AKG C 414 + bottom: AKG D112top and bottom
a condenser on the head, at a 45 degree angle, like a snare (I use AKG C2000B or a C414) ... a dedicated low frequency mic on the bottom (I use AKG D112). Remember to reverse the phase on one of them
1 - Multi-mic plan top: Shure SM57 + bottom: AKG D112top and bottom
I mic top and bottom, usually with a sm57 on top and a D112 kick mic on the bottom ... usually with a sm57 on top and a D112 kick mic on the bottom
2 - Main pair or array 2 × condenser (unnamed)one stereo pair or single mic about 1 m away; or close mic a few inches
For recording a djembe, a condenser microphone is recommended ... a distance of about 3 ft (1 m) ... is generally recommended
3 - Multi-mic plan above the head: Audio-Technica AT4050 or AKG C451 EB (earlier version of the AKG C451 B) + under the drum: Sennheiser MD 421one mic above the head, one under the drum
The 4050 is one of my all-time favorite under $1,000 condenser microphones ... I love the overhead detail that lets us hear the snap of hand against drum head ... this recording is proof that it's a great choice for djembe (full and rich sounding even without a mic underneath) ... This confirms 421 as my first choice mic under djembe
4 - Multi-mic plan head: Sennheiser MD 421 + bottom opening: Shure SM57head and bottom opening, summed to mono
Garza addresses its high SPL value with a 421 for the top skin (engineer Javier Garza); Krys places a 421 in the front ... Krys will place a 421 in the front and an SM57 on the back, and record them to a mono track
5 - Room condenser (unnamed)behind, about 1 m from the bottom opening; ambience and low end
a condenser microphone placed behind it, about a metre away from the bottom opening, for ambience and to catch the low frequencies (Garza)
5
On stage
Close
- Shure Beta 56A1 source from its own maker
- Shure Beta 57A1 source from its own maker
- Shure Beta 98D/S1 source from its own maker
- Shure SM571 source from its own maker
The 2 setups behind this: placement and quotes
- Close any good instrument mica couple of inches from the head, on the side away from the player; optional second mic below
Just about any good instrument mic can be used on hand drums ... a couple of inches from the head ... Some jembe players will want a second mic on the bottom
6 - Close Hand drums advice Shure Beta 98D/S or Shure Beta 56A or Shure Beta 57A or Shure SM57one mic aiming down between the pair, just above the heads
One microphone aiming down between pair of drums, just above top heads
7
Advised against
- Bottom Audio-Technica AT4047under the drum (tried; judged dark, a 421 would be better)
Because it sounds dark, I expected more from the 4047 as the bottom mic
4
Problems to watch
Boom from the bottom mic: roll off its mids and highs (HomeRecording.com); do not put it inside the opening, 4-6 in outside (forum); keep it off-centre of the hole. Phase between the two mics (flip one).
Sources
- homerecording.com: Recording Djembe? (2013 thread)
- homerecording.com: Recording a djembe drum.. (2011 thread)
- Instruments du Monde: How to record djembe sound
- Coppinger, R. (2013) Djembe Microphone Comparison
- Daley, D. (2006) Recording Latin Percussion, Sound On Sound
- Hogan, J. & T. (2016) Accordions & Didgeridoos: Mic Techniques For 'Exotic' Instruments, Pro Sound Web
- Shure: Microphone Techniques for Live Sound Reinforcement
- Wikipedia: Djembe
- UBC Wiki: Djembe