Hi Phil,
So far I have been using the shakuhachi only in traditional
ensembles and have not dealt with miking the instrument. I have however
spent a great deal of time thinking and experimenting with different
sound reinforcement techniques for the acoustic bass. Maybe this
information can be of some use.
First, have you tried clip on/attachable microphones? This
would easily solve the mobility problem, but it seems anything attached
to the bamboo decreases resonance. Perhaps you will have to sacrifice
some of the shakuhachi's natural sound in order to reproduce it well at
loud volumes. Another thorny issue is the amount of sound that comes
out of the holes of the instrument. Dave Liebman, a well known jazz
saxophonist, uses a veritable mic array on his soprano saxophone which
helps solve this.
I have recently found a PA speaker that I would encourage all of
to try who are investigating miking the instrument. The JBL Eon 10.
Impeccable sound and only 20 pounds!
Hope this helps,
Adam
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Thu May 01 2003 - 15:16:52 PDT