RE: Information on contact microphones

["Bailey, Jim" <baileyj@donmspcn.cmail.southam.ca>]

Jeff Collins wrote:

>To all those who are wanting to record sounds that the usual mics won't   
be
>able to pick up, i have been thinking about contact microphones since i
>discovered John Cage. They are an amazing way to get sounds never heard
>before out of anything...even rocks. If you too are interested in making
>yourself a couple of contact mics, you can visit...
>http://www.harmonycentral.com/Guitar/piezo-pickups.txt
>There are a ton of posts on this subject that can help you out   
tremendously.

Or, if you have an electronics surplus store nearby (as I do), they may   
have piezo-electric disks for use as speakers in some devices - I believe  
 
that's what goes "beep" in some computers. If they're not attached   
already, wires can be soldered on rather easily. They can then be used   
like a dynamic mic (caveat: they will also create feedback just the same,  
 
so beware!).

I have known about them for some time, and used them on rare occasions,   
but got more heavily involved after joining a local outfit called the   
Urban Refuse Group who, as the name implies, perform on found objects   
usually not intended as instruments. We don't do any fancy looping, just   
FX pedals, but I plan on trying stuff at home with my old tape set-up.

Hope this can help a few of you fellow loopers.
Sincerely,
Jim Bailey