A couple month’s ago, FOH’s always-effervescent — and ever-insightful — columnist Baker Lee wrote about the very real problems of substance abuse and addiction that face many members of our community. But that’s not the only obsession many of us are afflicted with. For me, I’m ready to come clean: I’m a total microphone junkie, and I suspect this affliction strikes many of you as well.
Microphones are something that we all use all the time, and in many cases, they represent the beginning of the audio chain; they’re an essential part of the “sound” of any source. Let’s face it, they’re easy to swap in/out during the quest for that ultimate vocal/guitar/kick/bagpipe/didgeridoo sound. In fact, getting into A/B comparisons of microphones is soooo much simpler than doing a line array shootout. Another positive aspect about amassing (actually some call it collecting) microphones is that they take up less space than consoles and, thankfully, have a relatively simple learning curve.
Something Old, Something New
But perhaps what I like best about microphones is that they are one of the few tools we use that are nearly impervious to obsolescence — planned or otherwise. There aren’t too many products used in any technology industry where items that are up to 80 years old — like an RCA 44A ribbon mic (great on horns, by the way) — are still in professional use.
If you consider an analogy in the computer field, few people out there are looking for a vintage 12-inch amber-screen monitor or a 386 motherboard. So let’s not get trapped in the “older is better” mentality with audio. Today’s loudspeaker systems are substantially improved over most systems from just a decade ago and, in terms of buyer interest, the vintage sound reinforcement console market is definitely on the slow side. But microphones? I think it’s still true that you really can’t have too many microphones — at least for me, and probably most of you as well.
One observation about microphones is what I call the “mystique factor.” This is exhibited by the reality stating the mic that’s the most expensive or having the best specs may be the completely wrong mic in any specific application, whether capturing vocals or guitar cabinets. And if we were looking at a photo of miking setup on a drum kit with an E-V RE20 on kick, Sennheiser 421s on toms, a Shure SM57 on snare, AKG 451 on hi-hat and Neumann KM100s overhead, we’d probably have look closely at the drum hardware or mic stands to determine if the picture was taken in 1972 or 2012!
That Old Kick Sound
Renowned Steely Dan engineer, the late Roger Nichols, once told me that one of his fave kick mics was an Electro-Voice 664, which he used on the band’s Gaucho album. If you think of the drum opening to “Time Out of Mind,” then you’ve heard that tight, ultra-dead sounding low-end thump. Anyway, after years of wondering about how he got that sound from a late-1950s chrome, pistol-grip dynamic mic that looked a lot like a ray-gun from some cheap sci-fi movie, curiosity got the best of me and I finally went out and bought one. Just inside the front-head sound hole of a typical 22-inch rock kick, the sound with that mic matched the record exactly. Ditto for the results on a double-headed 18-inch jazz kick, even though the drums sounded completely different at the source. Eventually, I solved the mic mystery. That signature whump came from the sound of the mic’s diaphragm bottoming out when it was exposed to high-level, close-in SPLs!
Moving ahead to the present, our own columnist David Morgan dove into checking out some new Earthworks mics, trying them out on drummer extraordinaire Steve Gadd and percussion master Luis Conte. Sorry, I won’t be the spoiler here and won’t reveal the surprise ending (catch it on page 39), although I will warn you that these new models are still in the prototype stage and are some months away from dealer shelves. Yet this serves as a fascinating look into the beta testing and prototyping phases of the pre-production process before a new mic comes to market.
But selecting the mic is only half the battle. With any mic, new or old, pricey or affordable, placement can make a huge difference in the overall sound. In his Sound Sanctuary column (page 42), Jamie Rio discusses mic techniques for instrumental and choir miking in the HOW environment. Meanwhile, on page 28, our ProAudioSpace blogmaster Evan Hooton presents the theory (with a healthy dose of reality) involved in miking large groups and ensembles.
Happy Birthday, FOH App!
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that the mobile e-version of FOH — available for Apple iOS or Android mobile devices — was launched a year ago this month and is going strong. With this app, you can archive current or back issues, do searches for specific names or products mentioned in the issue and access material and exclusive video content not available anywhere else. Best of all, it’s FREE, with direct links for getting your own copy at www.fohonline.com/app. Check it out!
