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Under Jay Cloidt's mentorship, I used Countryman Isomax's on the Kronos Quartet when I did their live sound. We used double stick tape hundreds of times, but stuck them on the bridge, not the body. Still, no damage or marring. Unfortunately, I think there is a fundamental problem with close-miking acoustic string instruments, since the body is such a complex resonator (see Max Matthews' canonical paper on modelling a violin body using filter banks). The Kronos' lavaliers were there for higher gain during effects or tape heavy pieces, not so much for a natural sound. We also used AKG C747 miniature shotgun mics: http://www.akg-acoustics.com/english/microphones/c747.htm to strike a balance between isolation, natural sound, and unobtrusiveness. Put them on tiny floor stands and point them up at the underside of the instrument. A mix using the AKG's for unprocessed reinforcement and the Isomax's potted up into pre-fader effects sends was workable. The Isomax's also worked well for providing detail in halls that were too big for chamber music, as long as you had good EQ and time to set it to knock down the midrange peaks. -Alex S. At 8:53 AM -0800 2/24/03, Richard Zvonar wrote: >At 8:24 AM -0800 2/24/03, Greg House wrote: >>The C1000 has a weak bass response...Records well a "zingy" >>sounding acoustic ...it's too thin sounding for good vocals. >> >>...for all-around stage work, the SM57...Beyer M201 (or even the >>M69) for a more neutral sound. The Audix dynamic mics are nice and >>crisp... Shure SM7 or EV RE20 would give better bass response >>without a lot of feedback issues. > > >Thanks for the informed opinions. > >Does anyone have suggestions for small mics that are suitable for >mounting on instruments? At the moment I'm particularly interested >in something for violin and viola. An obvious problem is the >mounting itself, since it's critical not to mar the instrument in >the process. One solution is a mini-gooseneck that could attach to >the chin rest. > >Contact mics are another area of interest, particularly for >percussion (back to the main topic) and miscellaneous sounding >bodies such as machines and architectural elements. > >-- > >______________________________________________________________ >Richard Zvonar, PhD >(818) 788-2202 >http://www.zvonar.com >http://RZCybernetics.com