Interesting Microphones - less common mics - and tips and tricks

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rob aylestone

Well-known member
Revisiting some old stuff - but many people might not know very much about shotgun mics - especially one that is extremely long and strange! AKG actually suggested one of it's uses was for singing!!
 
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rob aylestone

Well-known member
How about a TLM103 copy? Oddly - this doesnt' have the Neumann logo or branding - it just looks like one, but does that make it a counterfeit? Perhaps not. It certainly isn't dreadful?
 
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rob aylestone

Well-known member
This video has some unusual results I think - I've explained some of the facts and features of double basses and then tried a variety of mics and some of the usual favourites performed less well and other better I think? Handy if you ever get presented with recording these ratheer awkward instruments.
 
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rob aylestone

Well-known member
This one is not so much about microphone comparisons, but about why recording saxophones can often be really hard to do well. Lots of the things in this video could be totally new to you but the info could be really handy. The soprano at the end clearly demonstrates what comes out of the very end of a sax - quite a nasty sound.
 
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rob aylestone

Well-known member
spantini said:
Hey Rob, I hope you don't mind. I dug up a related thread from earlier this year - one of mine.

Click to expand...
No absolutely great - add more if you have any - I started the topic to sort of expand thinking a bit on mics and mic positions. I did these a while back and forgot about them, so after re-watching them thought maybe the content might help. The strange thing with videos of this kind on Youtube done my people over 25 is they're boring and dull - so never get much exposure, but a had a messsage from somebody saying they'd never heard these kind of comments before. I think we are all guilty of not considering alternatives when we need to do things we've done before. It's also quite fun when discover new uses for things and other times when your go to mic is not the best!
 
flyingace

flyingace

Active member
I have the Electro Voice “twins”: “The Cardinal” condenser and “The Raven” dynamic mics that I bought many years ago. They are a beautiful design, I think Blue was responsible for the design of them. They are adequate, but honestly nothing special beyond looks and expected functionality. That’s not to say they are bad, they are good, just not “impressive”. Still, I keep them becuase they look great! ha ha
Sound on Sound EV Raven & Cardinal Review
 
markmann

markmann

Active member
I don't hear anyone talking about PZM mic's anymore. This thread reminds me that I still have a couple of those old realistic PZM's that I have not used in a while. I remember them sounding good for certain things so I need to bust those back out and have another go with them.
 
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rob aylestone

Well-known member
I’ve noticed that too. I wonder if this is because we actually used those PZMs to fill a hole in our mic inventory. The old Tandy ones were very good for certain things. But the reality was they were a very cheap electret mic, with all the benefits boundary mics had. The PCC160 was a nicer sounding mic and the sort of cardioid pattern was more useful. Bartlett carried on making them but now AKG seem to have resurrected them. The Tandy/realistic things were just dirt cheap and a bit magic I guess? They broke and they hissed but could be gaffered onto all sorts of things. Piano lids, walls, ceilings, floors windows. Boundaries in small rooms made them far less boxy sounding. Nowadays we have so many mics they’re just out of favour. They’ll return.
 
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grimtraveller

grimtraveller

If only for a moment.....
I'll take any mic, as long as it records and isn't hissy. I'll find a use for it. Not every mic is optimal for every usage, but a mic is a mic.
 
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RRuskin

Rick Ruskin
I've a number of "odd ball" mics not usually discussed for recording. Among them, EV RE55 omnis that get used for kick drums when I want lots of "smack" without proximity effect & RE15's when multiple amps are in the room and good isolation is needed.
 
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