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| Moderated by: Richard Hefner | Page: 1 2   |
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| How to amplify Erhu without Mic? - Erhu - Other Instruments - ezFolk Forums | |||||||||||||||
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Shanghai Angels Approved
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I'd like to amplipfy my erhu with something like a guitar pick up...but I'm unsure if that works. Where do I begin? I thought of using piezo pickups.
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Will Approved 
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There are piezo disc transducers that use a removable putty to mount it to your instrument. The problem is finding the appropriate place to mount the disc. (Sometimes, the ideal sweet spot may a position that cause the disc to fall off.) http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Dean-Markley-Artist-Transducer?sku=304005&src=3WFRWXX&ZYXSEM=0&CAWELAID=26021994 
____________________ Will http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/297/ Loose Change & Friends http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/245/ http://loosechangeandfriends.com The Earth Tones http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/337/ A Bunch Of Coconuts http://abunchofcoconuts.com |
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Shanghai Angels Approved
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Last edited on Wed Aug 27th, 2008 08:08 am by Shanghai Angels |
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Shanghai Angels Approved
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Will, the prob with erhu is you cant put a putty on the snake skin as it's too slippery and the skin will flex too much. Not a secure way to of amplifying the erhu. 
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davidmdahl Approved
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On those rare times when I want to amplify my erhu, I use a K&K Sound Silver Bullet Microphone: http://www.bluestarmusic.com/product-exec/product_id/308/nm/K_K_Sound_Silver_Bullet_Microphone_Instrument_Pickup_1_4_jack The clamp attaches to the neck, and I bend the pickup itself to the backside of the erhu. It has taken a bit of getting used to, but I like the results. Best wishes, David
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Shanghai Angels Approved
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david, that looks good. How does it sound? Is it as good as a hand held dynamic Mic?
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davidmdahl Approved
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Shanghai Angels wrote: david, that looks good. How does it sound? Is it as good as a hand held dynamic Mic? It is as good as anything I have tried in the price range. I use it for live sound, but for recording in a studio, a condensor mike would probably be better. Best wishes, David
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Shanghai Angels Approved
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David, good for you.I tried the violin pick up today properly...and concluded that a mic is still the best way to amplify an erhu. Ayyone else here tried another method?
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KenK Approved
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When I bought my erhu, I asked the guy at the store where I'd put a pick up someday. He pointed to the spot where the neck joins the body. I've not tried it yet, but I sometimes do mic my erhu. I just put the mic near the back of the erhu. Works ok but the mic and pa aren't too good, so the sound isn't great. Pretty soon I'll be installing a K&K pu in my flamenco guitar. It's been highly recommended by many. That said, a mic always seems better than a pu, but depending on the situation, you may have problems w/ feedback. KenK
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davidmdahl Approved
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I use K & K pickups on other instruments to good effect, such as my dan tranh (Vietnamese zither like guzheng), but have not tried them on the erhu. It is easy enough to hide the ugly part of the pickup in a larger instrument, but I have not wanted to mount a pickup and jack on my beautiful erhu. I wonder what the 12 Girls Band uses, or those erhu babes at the concluding ceremony of the Beijing Olympics. Come to think of it, the latter were probably not wired at all. <g> Best wishes, David
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Shanghai Angels Approved
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I agree that a Mic will still produce the best tone but at expense of potential terrible feedback...which is NOT what we want during the show. I tried a piezo on the body and neck joint...and it does not pick up any signal at all. I guess Erhu is just one of those 'hard to amplify nicely without feedback' instruments. Sigh.... I think the 12 girls band use those mini lavelier clip -on mics that are used by Newsreaders on TV. They put this tiny clip-on mic inside the soundbox and sticks the mic wire with cello tape or something to keep it in place...and it is wireless too.
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Will Approved
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Try out one of K&K Sound's transducers. It's a wafer-thin crystal piezo transducer disc that mounts with thin double-sided adhesive tape. I've used the Hot Spot model on my autoharp and ukulele; it comes with 1/4" end jack that can be mounted on the body with Velcro. http://www.kksound.com/transducers.html
____________________ Will http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/297/ Loose Change & Friends http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/245/ http://loosechangeandfriends.com The Earth Tones http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/337/ A Bunch Of Coconuts http://abunchofcoconuts.com |
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Shanghai Angels Approved
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Will wrote: Try out one of K&K Sound's transducers. It's a wafer-thin crystal piezo transducer disc that mounts with thin double-sided adhesive tape. I've used the Hot Spot model on my autoharp and ukulele; it comes with 1/4" end jack that can be mounted on the body with Velcro. Will, I doubt it'll work on erhu. Piezos work on picking up vibrations...and the snake skin's vibration is too soft and too flexible for piezos to pickup...and it will not pick up any signal. I tried it already. I've tried on all positions of the erhu...body, neck, snake skin etc. Still cant pick up. I guess a Mic is the only way for Erhu.
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Will Approved
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You're probably right. Here's an article that I found about a professional player who uses a wireless condensor mike mounted inside the sound box: http://www.gearwire.com/hsunami-erhu.html How about a Plexiglas electric erhu? http://tansungwah.blogspot.com/2008/06/electric-erhu-with-effects-pedal.html
____________________ Will http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/297/ Loose Change & Friends http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/245/ http://loosechangeandfriends.com The Earth Tones http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/337/ A Bunch Of Coconuts http://abunchofcoconuts.com |
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KenK Approved
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Shanghai Angels wrote: I tried a piezo on the body and neck joint...and it doesHello Shanghai Angell, I always assumed "the guy at the store" knew what he was talking about. I'm surprised that you got nothing. I believe for a western violin you'd put the pick up on the bridge. When you put a pu on an acoustic guitar, it's always the bridge, same w/ acoustic bass. You might have a pretty good idea w/ the lavelier mc. Someday, I'll want a pu so I'd like to know what works best for you. KenK
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KenK Approved
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Hey Will- That gearwire article was very helpful. Sounds like that guy knows what hes doing. KenK
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Clyde Approved 
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Great job on these postings all of you, thanks for posting. God Bless Music units the world and is the common language that needs not translation
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Shanghai Angels Approved
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KenK wrote: Shanghai Angels wrote: I tried a piezo on the body and neck joint...and it does Hello Shanghai Angell, Kenk, the violin body is solid, not soft like snake skin...so naturally it works with piezos. If the snake skin is solid then it will work. Looks like a small Condenser Mic fitted inside the Soundbox is the only way to go. Using a Mic on mic stand is very common but does not look so nice though.
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mikebgn Approved
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Well for dynamic mics, since playing erhu is usually in a sitting positon, and using a standard mic stand with boom is kind of awkward looking, what we've done is to custom make a erhu dynamic mic stand by doing this: a) take a standard cheapy metal music stand and rip off the top half so that you are only left with a short stubby but sturdy base with short neck left at bottom. b) attach good ole SM58/57 or whatever to a standard mic clip. c) attach the mic clip to this mic clip accessory (see picture attached) that simply clips to whatever is left of the neck on the base - adjust height of mic to point to back of soundhole when sitting. -mikebgn ps - I'm not sure how well a condenser mic would work in this situation, as the sound pressure coming out from the soundhole is quite high and I suspect it may overwhelm a condenser. With a dynamic, you just get the mic a good distance (3-6 inches) behind the sound hole... Attachment: imsc.jpg (Downloaded 43 times) Last edited on Sat Aug 30th, 2008 03:40 am by mikebgn |
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Shanghai Angels Approved
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Mikebgn, that's a great idea. Is there any photo of the finished product?
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| ezFolk Forums > Other Instruments > Erhu > How to amplify Erhu without Mic? | |
