Funky and Uncommon Recording Gear: Omni Dynamic Microphones

I'm going general on this, because there are many specific mics that will fall in here and fit the general description. Some omni dynamics (OD) of note--the EV 635a/PL-5, EV RE-50, Beyer M-101, Sennheiser MD-21, and the Shure-built Realistic 1070. A couple of those are still in production or reissued, and there are other offerings by Shure and Audio-Technica that I know of.

Advantages? A couple are obvious. Most will take SPL as well as any other dynamic mic. And of course they have an omni pickup pattern, although there can still be somewhat of a directional tendency at higher frequencies.

A couple of things aren't so obvious. Some of this becomes clearer when drawn into relief with a typical cardioid dynamic (CD) mic. Most CD's will have a presence boost up top as well as the proximity-boost effect--close micing a guitar speaker is pretty effective at getting a simulated Fletcher-Munson effect when doing control-room volume, keeping some of the loud-amp-in-the-room character. An OD doesn't play this game, so it's nice for contrast--lets say you don't want a mid scoop, but want a more midrangey sound for slide guitar. Most OD's have a pretty flat frequency response within their ranges, so you can often get very flat and accurate mids. Also, if the response goes deep enough, bass on an pressure-gradient omni (dynamics and most small-diaphragm condensor omnis) is generally flatter and truer than on a directional mic. Limited band-width with pure mids can be nice for sounding old-timey or intentionally lo- or mid-fi--the 635a can be great for carving out a niche for a sound in a mix.

The other element is that OD's have the omni pattern advantage with less sensitivity than an omni condensor--less reach, less truck-rumbling-by-two-blocks-away, less computer fan, and so forth. That and their SPL handling generally makes them work quite well for difficult percussion like triangles, tambourines, and so forth--if your omni condensor fails the "car-keys test" your OD might save your butt on that type of application.

Definitely a good way to diversify the tool kit--compared to another flavor of the same-old, you can use them differently and do more things when tracking.

--Bear's Gone Fission

Funky and Uncommon Recording Gear: Piezo Pickup

This is a really practical tip for the home recordist who works sporadically. MIDI, automation, and DAW's have brought a lot of easy recall into reach. But it only goes so far. Micing is hard to do a recall on, unless it's an instrument that lives in a spot and mics that are planted around it. Most acoustic guitars aren't in a fixed position through downtime.

Pickups minimize how critical the mic position and position in the room are. But most pickups are designed for live use and not recording. Some magnetic pickups can do moderately well on realism, and some are just a cool sound on their own terms; for me, I like mag's as a deliberate choice for their specific vibe, especially if I want some impact off of the low strings. Under-saddle piezo pickups are designed for gain before feedback, and they are placed in about the deadest spot on the guitar, harmonically speaking -- advances have been made, but a lot of it seems like electronic band-aids on a sound that isn't about tone but about easy going live. Internal mini-mics never seem to turn out well -- the sound resolves outside the instrument, not inside it, and catching a good set of modes in a box is hit or miss.

My choice is an antique, easy, and cheap technology. This is as old as the Barcus Berry "Hot Dot" pickup of the 70s, where the piezo crystal pickup is just in a lump like a fat quarter and stuck to the soundboard, either inside or outside the guitar. Mine is a John Pearse pickup for small-body guitars (discontinued, but I got it on clearance so get whatever's available) inside my Seagull Grand parlor-sized guitar, connected to an endpin jack. I run it into a DI box into a console pre and eq to taste, but generally not a lot of eq. Does it sound as good as a good placement of a large diaphragm condensor? Well, it certainly doesn't sound the same -- more mellow, less etched, but pretty real and life-like. If you take some time to dial in the gain structure when you set up, there's no piezo "quack" and it's much more alive than an under-saddle job.

A cool aspect is that these pickups can be really cheap, and many are designed to be a detachable outboard accessory so you can switch instruments. Not the best thing for playing live and loud, and they can pick up other instruments if you're cutting a band live. But a really nice solution for doing a solid plug-and-play sound for home recording or overdubs.

--Bear's Gone Fission

Funky and Uncommon Recording Gear: Aphex Dominator Model 700

These are fairly good limiters. They get decent write ups by the pros on RAP and other places. The praise they get is not lavish but respectful.

I used the Aphex Dominator on a project. The vocalist, JD McPherson, wanted to sound like Little Richard so I smashed his voice into the Dominator and voila we got there. Actually I think the vocalist naturally possesses one of those sort of voices anyhow but hitting the Dominator just brought it out. You could not hear the Dominator at all in terms of color or artifacts but you could hear it in terms of how it brought that snarl out of the singer's voice.

According to Bear's Gone Fission: "The thing about Aphex was that their heydey was of an analog era when people actually wanted a clean sound without artifacts. They do this job incredibly well, but it's no longer in vogue. Thus the 'tubescense' revisions."

He also said: "You gotta love trends and fads for downgrading great bits of kit to really accessible price points. If you aren't doing anything very extreme, you will never hear the sound of the Dominator, just fewer extreme transients, which makes it a great piece for tasks you wouldn't use, say, an LA-2 for. Of course, you wouldn't expect the Dominator to do what an LA-2 does, either. That's the point in my mind - I've got stuff like the SC-50 for color, and a couple Aphex pieces for transparent dynamics chores."

This is one of my all times favorite pieces of gear.

--Steven Langer

House concerts are the new live music scene

More musicians playing in homes to smaller audiences

House concerts have been around for years but with the internet creating "fractional audiences" they might be the new live music scene.

The live music scene for local, regional and even small appeal acts of national and international importance has been a dwindling thing since the 1970s. Down the street from my home is a club that on one night featured the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Faith No More before their rise to stardom. The club used to feature a lot of acts in that "on the rise" circumstance. Somewhere along the way the club's management realized the profits turned on alcohol sales rather than featuring worthy recording artists. The bar sales tend to be the same regardless. In essence, the club tends to feature a lot of club level bands rather than the up and coming national acts it used to feature.

On the other hand, I know of more than a couple recording artists who have quit performing due to objections to alcohol and tobacco smoke.

The internet has created more opportunities for recording artists and for fans to find each other. House concerts will be the thing that brings these new artists and these new fans face to face.

--Steven Langer

MXL 990 and MXL 991

The perennial cheap mic combo offered by that big music gear store

Here it goes: The cubic zirconia in the rough of these two mics is the MXL 991. It's a small diaphragm condenser microphone.

It's on the bright side of things. For comparison, we recorded tracks with the 991 and several other mics ranging in price from $19 to $1,000. How did the MXL 991 fare? Not bad at all. The MXL 991 is a cardiod pattern mic. We liked it in two places: Acoustic guitar and over a drum kit.

It's too bright for my tastes to use it in a solo instrument setting but in the context of multiple tracks I thought I wouldn't mind using an MXL 991. My favorite acoustic guitar mics range in price from $200 to $300 and I even got one that I use a lot that costs $800, which is the Blue Dragonfly. In the context of the MXL 990 and 991 package deal, the MXL 991 costs about $50. One of my friends who owns a commercial recording studio uses the 991 and owns several of them. I now know why. Yes, it doesn't as good as my fave $800 go to acoustic guitar mic but it's pretty good nonetheless. And, if someone craters the 991 while here on a session, then I'm only out $50 rather than $800. The MXL 991 possesses a little sizzle that you don't get with the Blue Dragonfly, which possesses a complex high end that normally only comes in more expensive microphones. Still, the 991's sizzle comes across as a smidge musical and it's not grating (on acoustic guitar anyway).

On a session, my friend, Steve Beckett, used the MXL 991 over a drum kit. Interestingly, he also used the Blue Dragonfly (yes, it's a great mic for this use as well). He liked the 991 on the floor tom side of the kit.

The MXL 990 is a small diaphragm cardiod pattern condenser as is the 991 but the 990 is in a different body in a side address configuration. The 990 did not do much for me on most things. Steve Beckett pointed out he liked it on toms. I'd heard from Harvey Gerst about his son Alex Gerst using the 990 on toms at recording sessions at Indian Trail Studios in Sanger, Texas. Steve played me some of his tracks with the MXL 990 on toms. I listened. I found myself reassessing my distrust of low cost mics. Yes, it did one thing that did not suck.

The Bottom Line: I would limit the use of the "cubic zirconia" 991 to acoustic guitar and to over a drum kit. I would limit the use of the "it did one thing that did not suck" 990 to toms. Street price for the pair including carrying case is $99 approximately at that big music gear store.

--Steven Langer

MXL