The final video series on recording techniques from Recording Magazine is on electric bass guitar. This 4-part video demonstrates several microphones, placement and distance, combinations of mics, DI boxes and reamping.
CLICK HERE to go to the Recording Magazine video page for this lesson.
This 4-part video series from Recording Magazine demonstrates mic placement, types, proximity effect, reamping, and much more. Awesome videos, the only complaint is that the high-gain tone they got was absolute crap.
CLICK HERE or on the image below to go to the Recording Magazine Website.
More from Recording Magazine. This is a 5-part video covering mic placement, distance, types, mono and stereo techniques. All the videos Recording Mag has up on their site are excellent, I’ll post links to Electric Guitar and Bass series later today.
Since these videos can’t be embedded CLICK HERE to go to the video page.
Recording Magazine produced this excellent video demonstrating how MS works.
I can’t embed so CLICK HERE to go to the Recording Mag website with the video.
The definitive guide to the vast variety of Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi pedals. This site has a ton of photos and component details, more info about the infamous fuzz pedal than you ever wanted to know.
I have the Small Black Russian model. What’s your Muff?
Shotgun shell microphones, well that’s something different! A unique idea, a useful product and inexpensive. I don’t remember exactly how I came across 12 gauge microphones but I’m really glad I did. I sent an email to Brad Martin, the guy that builds these mics to request some samples to review. www.12gaugemicrophones.com
12 Gauge Microphones
Brad makes two models, the Red12 omnidirectional condenser, and Green12 cardioid condenser. The mics don’t just look like shotgun shells, actual Winchester (red) and Remington (green) shells are used for the body, they’re the perfect size to house an XLR-M jack. Both mics use 10mm electret capsules and require 48V phantom power, though 9 or 12V would probably work also. To create the cardioid pattern, the Green12 has a 6mm cutout on each side below the capsule. The jack is glued in so unfortunately I couldn’t peek inside to see the other components.
Connecting these to a cable is a tight fit but easy enough. Finding a clip to attach them to a mic stand was a little more difficult. The mics don’t come with clips and these are super skinny with a diameter of just 19mm. I hate having to use duct tape but that was about all that worked when I first got these. Standard spring clips should also work if you’ve got some.
Green12s in Shure A75M mounts
How do they sound?
These don’t sound like most small diaphragm condensers, they don’t have extended highs or super fast transient response. These have lots of mids, like comparing Genelecs to NS-10s. Maybe that’s what you need, maybe not. They have a fairly strong output level and moderate self-noise.
Here are some examples of the mics in a spaced overhead technique on acoustic guitar.
First up is the Green12 Cardioid condensers.
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Now here is the Red12 Omnidirectional condensers.
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I don’t have any great small diaphragm true condensers but I have two other electret mics, the Audio-Technica AT2021, and the Karma Audio K-Micro.
To compare these, I set up some test files to play out of a monitor with each mic 12 inches away, midway between the tweeter and woofer. The mics were at the same distance and were going through the same preamp with the same amount of gain.
Here is the test file.
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Here is the One of the Green12 cardioid mics pointed at a Yamaha HS50 monitor. Please note, the hum you hear is not the mics but my neighbour’s dishwasher that started up right when I started recording these examples. (yes I know this is a stupid excuse)
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Here is the Red12 omni condenser
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Up next is the Audio-Technica AT2021 cardioid condenser
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And lastly the Karma Audio K-Micro omni condenser
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Each of these mics sound very different. The K-Micro had the most output level, about 2.5 dB hotter than the Red12 and pretty close to the Green12, but almost 10dB hotter than the AT2021.
The differences in level between each model in the 12 gauge stereo pairs was about 1/10th of a decibel, although there was a slightly brighter mic in each pair.
Tonally, the Red12 sound the best to me, the others seem to have a shrill high frequency ringing, each at different frequencies. The Green12 has a more pronounced mid frequency and low frequency rolloff.
Obviously if you don’t like DIY gear, you’re not going to like the look of these. All the people I’ve shown these to thought they were really cool. They make a good useful gift for musicians and engineers.
For $35 each the Red12 work pretty nicely on acoustic guitar, and would probably be great for dirty room mics. The Green12 for $50 has a more contoured frequency response that I didn’t prefer for acoustic guitars, especially one that already has a lot of midrange. I could see it working well under a snare, or as an extra mic on electric guitar to get an aggressive tone.
Are these my favorite mics in the world? Definitely not. Would I recommend them? Yes. They work well, they’re hand built and met my expectations for the price point.
Buy 12 gauge microphones at www.12gaugemicrophones.com
