Ceramic or crystal mic with breakup at low volume

[Isaiah]

Hi everyone. Newbie here with a microphone question. As a harmonica player, I use crystal and ceramic microphones for their distortion characteristics. I've been looking to get a similar effect with a very quiet wood top, open-backed banjo and a mandolin. I know I can use analog and digital effects for distortion, but does anyone know of a microphone element that gives that vintage breakup sound at fairly low volumes? Thanks for the help!

-Isaiah

 

[Mo Facta]

You could try a carbon microphone.

Check out these guys: http://www.placidaudio.com/

Or, you could find a Shure 104c: http://www.shure.com/idc/groups/tech_pubs/@global_managed/documents/webcontent/us_pro_104c_ug.pdf

Cheers

 

[Isaiah]

Thanks! I've been thinking about playing with carbon mics for another project, but they aren't really the sound I'm looking for hear. Carbon distortion is because of peaky, uneven frequency response. ceramic distortion is more like over drive -- breakup at high levels.

 

[Mo Facta]

Ok, fair enough. I agree about the characteristics of the carbon mic. And I really can't think of a microphone that breaks up into distortion at that low a level.

That being said, I would recommend trying a vintage ribbon mic into a mic pre like a UA 610 or something from else the 50's. A tube pre would be probably best if you want a smooth distortion. You could also try your other ceramic and crystal mics with it.

You could then bandpass the result using an EQ either directly after the preamp going into your recorder or try to accomplish it digitally. Come to think of it, you may want to try this plugin by SSL (it's free):

www.solid-state-logic.com/music/LMC-1/

It has a cool degrading compression effect that's usually used on room mics but it might give you the sound you're looking for.

I dunno. Give it a whirl.

Cheers