Okay gang now it's very rare that I post every day let alone two in one day! But I ran accross this short but very good video on the basics of ringing out the room.
Enjoy!
Thursday, July 29, 2010
More About Mics!
Okay so last time we talked about your standard vocal mics and some of their stregnths and weakness's. Today I want to tell you about one specific mic that to my surprise many have never heard of, that is a "sub kick" mic.
"Cardioid dynamic. For many years, a trade secret of top engineers was the use of a spare NS10M woofer 'in reverse' as an additional kick drum mic. Eventually, Yamaha cottoned on to the idea and made a proper (and reliable!) product. When used in addition to a mic inside the drum, the subkick lends incredible depth to the sound, and is also excellent on other bass instruments."
So that being said what are we really talking about here and why should you purchase one. Think back to a concert to that concert, you know the one that the drums exspecially the KICK that kick drum was incredible! I mean almost put a lump in your throat and pretty sure your heart skipped a beat! That was a sub kick! Now there are those who say that kind of power from a kick drum can only be released from the mighty powers of the compressors and gates. We could go on about that for days, so we wont!
In all seriousness this funny looking mic is nothing more than a small sub woofer wired to be a microphone! Brilliant right! Now it is a little more technical than that, but not much! One of the great things about this mic is its ability to perform, whether on the road indoors or even better outdoors! (it's awesome to be able to reproduce heart thumping kick outside!) but it will also perform in the studio and of course the most difficult venue of all, the worship service.
The key to a successful set up is to still use your standard kick drum mic for the attack in conjunction with the sub kick mic. Here is a demo video so you can hear the difference. I think you will still hear it fine even with out a sub on your computer speaker system.
If you have never heard one of these little beasts in action, stop by and reference one this Saturday! Let me know what you think!
God Bless!
"Cardioid dynamic. For many years, a trade secret of top engineers was the use of a spare NS10M woofer 'in reverse' as an additional kick drum mic. Eventually, Yamaha cottoned on to the idea and made a proper (and reliable!) product. When used in addition to a mic inside the drum, the subkick lends incredible depth to the sound, and is also excellent on other bass instruments."
So that being said what are we really talking about here and why should you purchase one. Think back to a concert to that concert, you know the one that the drums exspecially the KICK that kick drum was incredible! I mean almost put a lump in your throat and pretty sure your heart skipped a beat! That was a sub kick! Now there are those who say that kind of power from a kick drum can only be released from the mighty powers of the compressors and gates. We could go on about that for days, so we wont!
In all seriousness this funny looking mic is nothing more than a small sub woofer wired to be a microphone! Brilliant right! Now it is a little more technical than that, but not much! One of the great things about this mic is its ability to perform, whether on the road indoors or even better outdoors! (it's awesome to be able to reproduce heart thumping kick outside!) but it will also perform in the studio and of course the most difficult venue of all, the worship service.
The key to a successful set up is to still use your standard kick drum mic for the attack in conjunction with the sub kick mic. Here is a demo video so you can hear the difference. I think you will still hear it fine even with out a sub on your computer speaker system.
If you have never heard one of these little beasts in action, stop by and reference one this Saturday! Let me know what you think!
God Bless!
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Microphones!
Today we are going to talk a bit about microphones, both the definition and the appliaction. The technical source for today's discussion is Sure Technologies. Sure has many wonderful road worthy products on the market that we have all learned to rely on through out the years! So thanks again to the great folks over at Sure.
Mics
The Omnidirectional microphone has equal sensitivity from all angles, a full 360 degrees. This type of mic is the most sensitive and will pick up the most ambient sound of all mics. This extreme sensitivity comes with a price. In the live worship service application this mic will pick up all kinds of stage sound, most of what you don't want! This microphone will give you the most heartache as well as you can not aim it away from the main speakers (360 deg range) they feed back very easy. If you are forced to use this mic on stage for any number of reasons remember to keep as close to the sound source and as far from the ambient sound as possible. This will help in picking up a usable balance between the two.
The Unidirectional mic is most sensitive from one specific direction. The most common is the Cardioid (heart-shaped) response. This mic is most sensitive at 0 degrees (on-axis) directly straight into the mic. The effective coverage range is about 130 degrees, about 65 degrees off axis (either side). This mic picks up about 1/3 the ambient sound of the Omni.
Example of the on stage use of both cardioid and super cardioid with regards to floor monitors.
Cardioid Mic requires that the monitors be directly behind mic @ 180 degrees. Supercardioid allows for monitors to be as far as about 100 degrees, 50 degrees off axis and still reject sound (no feedback!).
So as you can see in this short and basic description of these mic types should help you pick the correct mics for the application, and how to adapt to a changing situation that may require you to suddenly add or change out mic's.
Mics
The Omnidirectional microphone has equal sensitivity from all angles, a full 360 degrees. This type of mic is the most sensitive and will pick up the most ambient sound of all mics. This extreme sensitivity comes with a price. In the live worship service application this mic will pick up all kinds of stage sound, most of what you don't want! This microphone will give you the most heartache as well as you can not aim it away from the main speakers (360 deg range) they feed back very easy. If you are forced to use this mic on stage for any number of reasons remember to keep as close to the sound source and as far from the ambient sound as possible. This will help in picking up a usable balance between the two.
The Unidirectional mic is most sensitive from one specific direction. The most common is the Cardioid (heart-shaped) response. This mic is most sensitive at 0 degrees (on-axis) directly straight into the mic. The effective coverage range is about 130 degrees, about 65 degrees off axis (either side). This mic picks up about 1/3 the ambient sound of the Omni.
Example of the on stage use of both cardioid and super cardioid with regards to floor monitors.
Cardioid Mic requires that the monitors be directly behind mic @ 180 degrees. Supercardioid allows for monitors to be as far as about 100 degrees, 50 degrees off axis and still reject sound (no feedback!).
So as you can see in this short and basic description of these mic types should help you pick the correct mics for the application, and how to adapt to a changing situation that may require you to suddenly add or change out mic's.
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