Episode 40 - Tuning a Cello in 4ths - and recording it.

Cellos are usually tuned in 5ths - C-G-D-A, and my rather horrible one is quite difficult to record, so I thought I'd have a go at tuning it down into 4ths - so C-F-Bb-EB and it seems to have helped the tone, being a little more mellow but the reduced string tension seems to prevent notes starting very cleanly unless I change the way I play? The recordings work better, and I tried an SM57, e906 that I'd usually use on guitar cabs, plus my favourite AKG 414 and if that was still too bright, a U87. SM57 turned out to be just about OK, the Sennheiser really is not good for strings - the good mid-range for guitars really makes it nasal sounding. The 414 did a good job, not too screetchy, but the U87 seems best to my ears.

What you are hearing is what was played - no compression or reverb to soften it up. In this recording, it's just an 8 bar section where all my cello samplesdidn't sound right - so just two notes really, and that gave the sample game away - so I figured the real one would solve a problem, if I could record it.