The downside is that microphones bleed, picking up sound from all over the place, not just the intended source of amplification. Have you ever watched a comedian on stage and heard some heckler in the audience slurring and thinking he’s so clever? This is a prime example of microphone bleed—and when your sound is the one being interrupted, it’s much more frustrating than funny.

Picture this: you’re playing close to a loud drum kit and the crash cymbal is bleeding through. Thus, if you turn up, the crash cymbal is turned up along with your violin. If you are playing in the usual live environment, there’s a different and better way.

Using a microphone to amplify a violin is as simple as speaking into a microphone. You place the microphone close to the sound source. It then picks up that sound and generates an electrical signal that gets amplified and projected by the speakers. There are two primary ways to do this.

First, you can use a standard mic on a boom stand and aim the mic toward your instrument. This method is effective in the studio; however, as it is largely imprecise, it is far less ideal in live performance settings.

The second way is through a mounted violin microphone or mic system. Typically a small mic is mounted to the side of the instrument or placed in the f hole. Some are positioned over the bridge area to directly pick up the sound, but feedback and bleed can still be a stubborn nemesis.

Since this is our website, we must shamelessly mention the CloseUp© System, which attaches lightly to your violin and is a closed system—including preamp, DI, and EQ tech all in one—that preserves natural sound with minimal feedback and bleed.

Violin Pickup vs. Violin Mic

Pickups are becoming a more popular method of amplifying violins, particularly as more violinists step into non-classical genres. Typically they are mounted on the instrument, near or under the bridge or tailpiece. This technology is relatively new compared to the violin itself. While it can be argued that the quality of these products has improved, the sound quality is far from natural or true to the instrument. If this is of low importance and higher volume is necessary, pickups can be a reasonable option for certain situations as they are relatively inexpensive and produce no bleed.

One example for violins is the piezo pickup (pronounced pee-YAY-zoh). Piezos also are relatively inexpensive, starting at under $50. A piezo pickup can be mounted to a regular acoustic violin and then easily removed when you don’t need it, or want to use it on another instrument. In addition to piezo pickups, there also are magnetic and electrodynamic pickups, which are newer technologies for the violin and tend to be more expensive. Generally, they also are thought to sound warmer than piezos, which some consider to be harsh sounding. For the most part, however, anyone who takes pride in the sound of their violin and/or is used to a mic or mic system will find most pickups intolerable.