mic rant - the aftermath...

["anti:clockwise" <anticlockwise@tensionheadache.org>]

first off, wanna out myself that i mis-speaked:

the mic i referred to as the "AKG C-87 mkIII" is actually made
by audio-technica, and it's mkII. it's characterized by a-t as
"unidirectional". (sorry about that - i get so excited when i
see the word "C-414"... i just go all akg on myself!)

now! onward!

Date: Thu, 01 Nov 2001 11:07:01 -0800 
From: Mark Sottilaro <sine@zerocrossing.net> 
[snip]
>
And while I'm at it, one of the best cheap mic values I've ever come
across is the $50 RadioShack PZM. If you come across one in your 
travels, pick it up.
<

now, i'm pretty sure those were discontinued - but they were awesome.
_especially_ at the price, and also because they offered a AA battery
option... yeah, if you find, get.
now, crown themselves make 2 or maybe even 3 different flavors of pzm,
one of which seems to recall the radio shack ones.

things to note about the the radio shack variation: they came with the
cable hardwired into the mic, almost an accident waiting for a place to
happen if you are not consistently careful about packing them up. and
that hardwired cable terminated in an unbalanced 1/4inch plug - so
convenient! yet so limiting... and since the AA battery casing is an
integral part of the cable, you really want to be careful with them, it's
a bitch to swap a new cable for a crapped-out one.

i'd be pretty sure that the lo-end crown ones STILL aren't as cheap as
the radio shack ones were, but pzms are almost always the kind of thing
you like to have around.

THEN!

Date: Thu, 1 Nov 2001 11:38:39 -0800 (PST) 
From: BILLYBUDDHA@webtv.net (William Mcallister) 

Subject: RE: Hypercartiod microphones (+ Tabla content) 

[snip]

>
I used to use the cs1000 on my Udu drum but had problems with feedback
trying to get it loud enough in the mix so I could hear myself over the
other bandmates. 
<

i am pretty sure the C1000S is a regular cardiod, and does not extend
itself to utterly rejecting off-axis info. which might well give you the
kind of conniptions you describe.

>
I also switched to a Countryman Isomax microphone on the udu which is
fantasic. 
<

oh... that would totally work. lav mics are generally designed to reject
everything that's not yelled directly into them, since lapel mics often
see the worst of the action - exterior ENG shoots on windy days, people
breathing heavy, even the occasional daub of makeup... they might not
reproduce with utter faithfulness every frequency from 10 - 30K.... but
how often do you want everything in the spectrum coming thru an
instrument mic anyway?

FINALLY!

i completely neglected the piezo-sitck-on solution. very handy, very
reasonably priced!

there used to be a commonly available one marketed under the name C-ducer
(sorta like contact, sorta like seduction... with a producer involved.)
they're awesome, and i'd have to think there's still something like them
out there (if not them themselves.)

you use double-sided magic tape to stick these 4 or 6 inch, flexible
pickups onto whatever you wanted picked up. they came with a little
boost-box (which i think took a 9-volt.) we often used them on empty beer
cans 1/4 full of pennies for that heavy-metal shaker effect! sometimes we
used small bits of funtak to adhere the pickup strips if the stickyness
of  tape was gonna damage the finish of whatever we were sticking
them on.

a:c

++++++++
just what the world needs....
another frikkin url