Harmonium

This is adapted from the chapter "Piano Miking Techniques" in Mike Stavrou's book "Mixing with your mind"

I've struggled with getting a good harmonium sound "on tape". On Saturday we did some recording and the sound was ok, but on Sunday night I read more on microphone techniques for recording. Today I put some of it into practice and I wanted to share the results with you.

The principle to remember is this:

There is a science to everything, understanding which one can develop the feel needed for the art.

Science, folks. It works. Do it systematically, and take notes while you are learning, to turn your experimentation into systematic exploration.

The most obvious, and probably wrong, way to mike up a harmonium

The most obvious way to mic up a harmonium is to put a mic directly over the reeds, pointing down on them.

This is the most immediately obvious thing to do for a beginner (and what I did until today) - I mean, that's where the sound comes from, right? And you want to record the sound of the harmonium, right?

This is where you will get the brightest, hottest sound. However, it's also the most treble, because you are essentially recording the "metal" of the harmonium - the reeds.

To attenuate that treble you will have to cut the treble end of the EQ. The result is that you will get either a harsh, cutting sound (with no EQ), or else a muddy, indistinct one (if you attenuate the treble).

What you want to do is record the "wood" of the harmonium, the resonance of the box - especially if it is a good one.

If you get a rich, resonant bassy sound you can boost the treble via EQ and you'll boost the harmonic overtones. The reverse is not true - if you record the reeds you have no bass to boost via low-end EQ.

Do you want it to look right, or sound good?

Where you put the mic is not a function of how it looks. It's a function of how it sounds.

To discover where to put the mic:

• Set up your mic and put on your headphones
• Turn up the mic so that the sound in your headphones is louder than the room sound
• Have someone play the harmonium while you move the microphone around it, finding zones of resonance and character. Make a mental note of any interesting areas
• When you find an area with a smooth, resonant sound, lock off the microphone and get ready to roll to tape (or to disk, more probably these days)

No substitute for hearing

There is no substitute for experimenting and hearing what it sounds like. The atmosphere, the player's technique, the size and shape of the room, standing waves created by other instruments being played in an ensemble - all of these conspire to make each recording session a unique experience.

At the same time, you'll get some idea of where to mike up a particular harmonium if you use it regularly.

Example

Here is my example. Today I did a few test runs with a couple of mics in different places around the harmonium. I didn't have an assistant to play while I checked, so I just did some different position. There is really no substitute for moving the mic around while someone is playing though, and getting an accurate picture of the three dimensional sound field around the harmonium.

The first mic I used was the Shure SM 57, a dynamic mic that is a staple for live sound miking of instruments.

The second mic was the Behringer B2Pro, a dual diaphragm condenser mic. I had the bass cut set to level, attentuation to 0db, and polarity pattern set to cardioid.

I boosted some of the recordings by 8-10dB, to try to get a similar relative level between them. Frequency analysis was done before boosting.

01. SM57 directly overhead
First off the ranks, the Shure SM 57 directly over the reeds:

A frequency analysis is useful for EQ'ing purposes, and when you are trying to find out which instruments occupy which frequency bands. Here's an frequency analysis of the resultant recording:

Here's an mp3 of the recording:
01. Shure SM57 directly over head

02. SM57 rear lower corner
For the next take I tried in the rear lower corner, where it was particularly resonant:

Here's an frequency analysis of the resultant recording:

Here's an mp3 of the recording:
02. Shure SM57 rear lower corner

03. SM57 side over the clasp hole
Next I tried it over the hole in the side where the clasps are:

Here's an frequency analysis of the resultant recording:

Here's an mp3 of the recording:
03. Shure SM57 side over the clasp hole

04. SM57 side front lower corner
Next I tried it on the side, toward the front and at the bottom. It's all about capturing the resonance of the cabinet:

Here's an frequency analysis of the resultant recording:

It can be amplified and EQ'd later. The main thing is to find a spot where it has good resonance and tone.

Here's an mp3 of the recording:
04. Shure SM57 front lower corner

05. SM57 directly in front
This one would be difficult for someone to play, but I tried it to get an idea of the sound possibilities:

Here's an frequency analysis of the resultant recording:

Here's an mp3 of the recording:
05. Shure SM57 rear lower corner

06. SM57 front side lower corner
I kinda liked the sound on the front, so I tried a mic position that would be easier to play with:

Here's an frequency analysis of the resultant recording:

Here's an mp3 of the recording:
06. Shure SM57 front side lower corner

07. B2Pro directly overhead
Now we move on to the B2Pro, starting with the obvious overhead position:

Here's an frequency analysis of the resultant recording:

Here's an mp3 of the recording:
07. Behringer B2Pro directly overhead

08. B2Pro rear lower corner
This was kind of in the middle actually, but pointing down, at the back.

Here's an frequency analysis of the resultant recording:

Here's an mp3 of the recording:
08. Behringer B2Pro rear lower corner

09. B2Pro front side lower corner
Now on the front, in the lower side corner:

Here's an frequency analysis of the resultant recording:

Here's an mp3 of the recording:
09. Behringer B2Pro front side lower corner

10. B2Pro side midway bottom
And finally, midway along the side, pointing down:

Here's an frequency analysis of the resultant recording:

Here's an mp3 of the recording:
10. Behringer B2Pro side midway bottom

Conclusion

To be honest with you, I like the sound when it's miked up directly in front. That's probably not practical for recording.

The SM57 is pretty bottom heavy. The B2Pro, as a condenser, has a greater frequency response, and I'd probably go with that for recording the harmonium, depending on what else is going in the mix. To fill out the bottom end in a recording with not much else down there I'd use the SM57.

My favorite sound overall was the last one, number 10. That's where I'll start from in our next recording session.

What do you think?

Which one do you like best? Got any further tips for recording harmonium?

Let me know your thoughts.

Here is Mother Devaki showing me how to play my new favorite tune.

I'll try to get a recording of it at Sacred Chant this Friday, or the Sunday feast on Sunday.

This is a repost of an offering I made two years ago. Thirteen basic kirtan melodies with chord charts. I only got round to annotating the first 6, and no-one ever asked for more, so I didn't do them. If I get some feedback asking me to annotate the other 7 I'll do it. Even better, why don't you do it and contribute the annotations? :-) I might make small videos showing how to play them as well.

At the moment the basic chords are there so you can play along with bass, guitar, harmonium, accordion, or whatever. Eventually we'll put the melody notes in as well (they go on the bottom line, under the mantra).

I originally devised this system to be used with the sa-ga-re-ma (sargam) Indian system of musical notation, because it's key agnostic, which means that with one song sheet you can do the kirtan in any key. However, in the interests of a shallower learning curve we've released this one using the Western C-D-E type system of notation.

These kirtans are simple three chord melodies ala Harer Nama Volume 1 by Sri Prahlad.

Here are the tracks from the Basic Kirtans 1 CD:

Track 1: Tuning notes
Track 2: Intro 1
Track 3: Mantra 1
Track 4: Mantra 2
Track 5: Mantra 3
Track 6: Mantra 4
Track 7: Mantra 5
Track 8: Mantra 6 (double time)
Track 9: Mantra 7 (double time)
Track 10: Mantra 8
Track 11: Intro 2
Track 12: Mantra 9
Track 13: Mantra 10

And here is the accompanying booklet, in .xls form:

Basic Kirtans 1 Tracks 1-6 (.xls)

and in pdf form:

Basic Kirtans 1 Tracks 1-6 (.pdf)

You'll also want these chord diagrams for harmonium:

Chord Diagrams

Enjoy!

This is the more complex version of the Damodarastakam, using passing chords to bring out different emotions.

The chord structure is:

Dminor Cmajor Gmajor
Dmin Cmaj Gmaj
Dmin Cmaj Amin D#maj
Dmin Cmaj
Dmin Cmaj Amin D#maj

In the key of E, when we change up:

Emin Dmaj Amaj
Emin Dmaj Amaj
Emin Dmaj Bmin Fmaj
Emin Dmaj
Emin Dmaj Bmin Fmaj

Here is the simple version of the Damodarastakam in 3/4 time for harmonium. We use only two chords - D minor and C major (E minor and D major when we change up).

D is a good key to use for both male and female voices. When I'm in the street I'll use F, but when we're indoors around D (C# - E) is the best range to use.

On the 27th of October the month of Damodara begins. This month is the time of the festival of Kartika, and Vaisnavas sing the song Damodarastakam each day, along with offering a lamp to baby Krishna.

Dama means "bound" and udara means "abdomen". Together they form Damodara, and this is a name of Krishna that refers to his pastime of being bound by his mother Yasoda to prevent his running away after having been naughty and threatened with punishment. It refers to the ties of the devotees' love that bind the Lord to them.

The word astakam refers to a poetic form with eight stanzas or verses (from asta - "eight"). The Damodarastakam is spoken by Satyavrata Muni in the Padma Purana.

This prayer is sung to the accompaniment of musical instruments such as harmonium, mrdanga, cartals and guitar. There are two main melodies that are used to sing it - one is in 3/4 time ("waltz"-time), also known colloquially in ISKCON as "2-beat", and the other is in 4/4 time - known colloquially and misleadingly as "3-beat".

I have been requested by a number of devotees to provide them with guidance on the musical accompaniment for this song, so in the days leading up to Kartika I will post videos here showing how to play the mrdanga and cartals for these two different melodies and time signatures, and also a number of different chords that can accompany these melodies on harmonium and guitar.

If Krishna Dharma prabhu publishes an english rendition before then I will endeavour to record a version of that for the pleasure of the Vaisnavas.

I'll start soon so that you have time to practise before Kartika arrives.