bass drum micing cool

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The explanation is right there in the linked article - the speaker's polarity has been reversed so that it acts like a big microphone.

Yamaha makes this which is based on the same principle.
 
ssscientist said:
The explanation is right there in the linked article - the speaker's polarity has been reversed so that it acts like a big microphone.


In case someone reads that wrong:
The polarity isn't reversed to make it a microphone, the polarity is reversed to make the microphone (the speaker) in phase.
So, the speaker is already a microphone, in a sense..even if the polarity isn't reversed.
 
It's real easy. Take a speaker cab of yours, plug a cable from the speaker's input jack and plug that into a DI box, run the DI to a pre, and presto...speaker microphone.
 
Adam P said:
It's real easy. Take a speaker cab of yours, plug a cable from the speaker's input jack and plug that into a DI box, run the DI to a pre, and presto...speaker microphone.
................ really
 
Adam P said:
It's real easy. Take a speaker cab of yours, plug a cable from the speaker's input jack and plug that into a DI box, run the DI to a pre, and presto...speaker microphone.

So the sound goes into the speaker which then comes out of the input of the speaker??
You need some sort of output.
Im thiking you would need a combo amp with a direct output maybe.
Not actually sure how this one works. :confused:
 
ecktronic said:
So the sound goes into the speaker which then comes out of the input of the speaker??
You need some sort of output.
Im thiking you would need a combo amp with a direct output maybe.
Not actually sure how this one works. :confused:


I assume that it's completely in reverse, that the sound would come out the input jack.... but I wouldn't know.

But, what I did, from what someone in that link suggested, is unhook the cabinet from the amp and hook the cabinet up to a DI.
 
A speaker and dynamic mic are essentially the same thing. A magnet is suspended in a coil of wires. The magnet is attached to the diaphram or speaker cone. Current in the coil of wires creates an magnetic field that pushes and pulles the magnet, and by proxy the speaker cone, depending on which way the current is flowing. The speaker cone creates pressure peaks and nulls in the air, aka sound. A dynamic mic works in exactly the opposite way. Sound hits the diaphram and causes it to move in and out (vibrate). The magnet in turn moves in and out of the coil of wires. Because the relationship between electricity and magnetism is reciprocal, the movement of the magnet in the coils causes current to flow back and forth in the wire (audio signal), which can be recorded and played back.
 
Right. A speaker cab's input jack isn't really just for "input". All it does it provide connections to the wires that go to the speaker's terminals. Its a totally passive setup. So: air moves speaker cone, cone moves magnet inside coil, coil produces electrical signal, electrical signal is sent along wires to speaker's input jack terminals, cable plugged into jack sends signal to DI input, the rest is history. It's not difficult. At all. Don't think about it, just do it. You don't have to use a guitar amp. You can use a speaker cab. You can use any speaker...just wire up a speaker cable to a male TS plug and plug it into your DI box.

I would venture to guess that if you hooked a dynamic mic's positive and negative terminals up to a power amp output you would get sound out of it for a split second before you blew the diaphragm to kingdom come. One day I'll actually get around to trying this, but I have to find a mic that's expendable.
 
What is the quality like and what kind of sound does it produce? Is it something really useful at all? And does the kind of speaker matter?
 
so let me get this right....


use a TS (or TRS?) cable to go from the input of the amp to the input of the DI box and then the output of the DI box to the mixer????


is this statement correct... if so i wanna give it a shot
 
wishtheend said:
What is the quality like and what kind of sound does it produce? Is it something really useful at all? And does the kind of speaker matter?

according to that link i posted it gives you the low end fequencies and then your supposed to put a mic in the bass drum as well to get that punchy sound... and then mix them together
 
Alot of two-way push-to-talk walkie talkies etc operate like this. When the button isn't down, the element acts like a speaker, and you can hear the person on the other end. When you hit talk, it acts as a reverse, and the same element is the microphone. It's alot cheaper and saves space over having a seperate mic and speaker in those little things.
 
By itself it usually sounds like shit but sometimes when blended in can give you a nice low/mid thump. You probably want to record a regular mic as well.
 
Nick The Man said:
so let me get this right....


use a TS (or TRS?) cable to go from the input of the amp to the input of the DI box and then the output of the DI box to the mixer????


is this statement correct... if so i wanna give it a shot

Not from the input of the amp (where you would typically plug in your guitar cable). You want to use the connection directly to the speaker (which is typically via TS jack on the speaker cab, unless you're using a combo, in which case you'll have to connect the TS cable directly to the speaker's terminals). Then you plug the other end of the TS cable into the DI box input. Remember, this is totally passive...you're not running anything through any electronics or turning anything on until you go from the DI to a preamp.
 
So if I've got a big-arse yamaha PA speaker and I would want to try this to get more low-end out of my kick, where exactly would I need to place the giant speaker to pick up more low-end?
 
rweiss said:
So if I've got a big-arse yamaha PA speaker and I would want to try this to get more low-end out of my kick, where exactly would I need to place the giant speaker to pick up more low-end?

once again, according to the picture it looks like it should be placed about 1 1/2 feet away
 
damn now i gotta kind a speaker .... i was talking about a combo amp


ill have to take a look at what i have
 
A HA i was just looking at a bass amp i have sitting here and there is a input labeled Preamp Out ........... could this be a input specialized for this technique
 
Nick The Man said:
A HA i was just looking at a bass amp i have sitting here and there is a input labeled Preamp Out ........... could this be a input specialized for this technique

No that won't do it. Preamp out just gives you a direct signal out of the amp. It has nothing to do with the speaker. You can still do this with a combo. Just unhook the speaker clips from the speaker. Cut an expendable guitar cable and strip out the conducters. Wrap the bare conductors to the speaker terminals directly.
 
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