421 question

[FALKEN]

saw beck last night.

he was playing through what might have been a silvertone and a pair of ac-30s. they were all mic'd with 421s. the amps were on the floor and the mics were on those little floor stands. only thing is, they were pointing sidewise - like, off stage, directly left or right. I have tried doing this with a 57, but never thought about the side of a 421. the sound was fantastic. have I been using this mic wrong all along??? I thought it is point and shoot like a 57??

 

[Halion]

It is, but as I recall, the 421 is not hypercardioride, but cardioride, making the SM57 clearly less sensative on the sides than the 421. This is NOT a head-on miking position, but the sideways miking might just be what you love about the sounds.

 

[FALKEN]

I always thought the 421 was more directional. yes, I do like the sound of the 57 "off-axis".

 

[xfinsterx]

Well first of all ac30's sound amazing period.
That would be a hard amp to do wrong with any mic in a close proxcimity.

And no you havent been wrong all along. The 421 IS a cardiod pattern mic, and sounds great when you point it at the right things.

I assume the sound man just moved the mic around till he liked what he heard.

Or maybe he was experimenting with a mid-side technique and found he just liked the side?

Whatever the case may have been.
Moving the microphone till you like what you hear is always a good thing.

-Finster