I put a pickup in my cello recently so I could go on tour with a group later this spring. Now I'm doing the requisite wanking that all string players do when they first get amplified. Fortunately I don't own any phasor or flange. All you get in this vid is some extended techniques and delays, but I do have a loop-station on standby so prep yourselves for some zoe keating/laura kent style jams.
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Electronic Music other: amplified cello
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Written January 26 2009 , Tags: strings, pickup, amplified, cello
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crap, forgot to add the link.
what kind of pickup?
never mind...looks like a gage realist
I got the david gauge realist. It's the only one that seemed to properly pickup both pizzicato and arco sounds, mounts under the bridge (no putty touches my baby) and doesn't require a preamp so I don't have to futz with a little box. It was put together by Ned Steinberger, and the david gauge shop is super close to where I work. Win win win!
I'm really getting into the idea of doing more solo cello stuff now. I'd like to pick your brain sometime. What do you use? The sound is really good! Improv was really cool as well.
I use a K+K big twin pickup...one piezo mounted on the bridge and one mounted on the body between the two bridge feet...it gives an OK sound, but to be honest, I've been looking at other alternatives, including the realist. I think I may get a realist and a akg c411 and blend the sounds... about 11 min too long.
I got the pickup because I'm going to be touring in april with a trance americana group. The front-woman has a k+k on her hajuh (moroccan instrument) and it sounds good. I'm not sure how the gauge stands up to loud amplification or distortion...I'll have to check it and get back to you. I'm worried that feedback may be an issue. In this video, I was playing through a PA, but it wasn't super loud since it was fairly late at night.
The Realist sounds SUPER natural if it's amplified but kind of sucks if it's recorded direct. I'd probably mic an amp if I ever wanted to lay anything down. Then again, I do the same with guitars for the same reason. about 11 min too short.
hecanjog said: "about 11 min too short." the first 4 seconds was great! Yeah, I think part of the reason the K+K works well with distortion is that it's a simpler signal than the true acoustic sound of the cello. But I am interested in integrating a more 'acoustic' and less effected sound into my sets as well, and the piezo sound is definitely not good for that.
most of the feedback problems can be cured by positioning yourself away from speakers and not using onstage monitors (I use in ear monitors myself). I do sometimes use a feedback destroyer to notch out problematic frequencies, but I don't have the automatic setting on. I have the destroyer find the notches when I sound check (by turning up the gain) and then leave them be. The auto setting can attenuate your signal if you're not careful. that's good advice! What monitoring system are you using?
I basically use my etymotics ER-6s straight from my soundcard...they're teeny little in-ear headphones. You might want to look into getting a headphone amp that can take in a feed from the soundboard and blend it with your own cello...sometimes it's really hard to hear on stage.
The realist is less prone to feedback, I've heard, but it's worth trying it out to see what levels you can play at. Especially since the top of the cello essentially is a giant microphone. This is the best article on reducing feedback that I've read: link jesus guys, how hard do i have to try to de-rail this post
this sounds great!
oh, and keep up the good work, jdg. Page 1 | 2
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