Opinions on pop filters?

I used to use those gooseneck pop filters but now I just use those pop filters like Beatles did when they started close micing their vocals.
 
CrowsofFritz said:
I used to use those gooseneck pop filters but now I just use those pop filters like Beatles did when they started close micing their vocals.
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:-) Your trying to be too exact Crows. One of the 5th Beatles. :-) Your covers are ok as they are. No point in sounding 'exactly' the same.
 
Some of the things the Beatles did were just necessity at the time - like the Frankie Valley tributes who use Shure 55s, or the Chinese look-a-likes. 55s were never good sounding mics really, and the Chinese ones with their SM57 type capsules actually sound a bit brighter - which often means that when they source original 55s and replace the Chinese ones, they're disappointed. The Beatles with those Reslo ribbons is another example. They are quite nice for what we would now call distant mic techniques, b ut if you speak or sing into them, they're a very bland unflattering mic - not the modern warm smooth ribbon sound.
 
rob aylestone said:
Some of the things the Beatles did were just necessity at the time
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C'est vrai, Monsieur, c'est vrai.
We tend to venerate everything they did in the studio, but that should always be balanced alongside the fact that much of the reason they did certain things was precisely because they found much of the equipment and techniques too limiting for what they wanted to do. From 1967 on, it's no coincidence that as they became untouchable by EMI because of the power they wielded, paradoxically, they used outside independent studios more. They weren't impressed by the way the bass was recorded, up to "Rubber Soul," they weren't happy with Ringo's snare sound, hence the usage of packing crates to supplement, they thought that the guitars were recorded too conservatively and pushed engineers to go into the red, they weren't fans of the bass drum not being close-miked, etc, etc, etc.
It does bring up an interesting aside though ~ the way that technology in the 50s, 60s and 70s was developed to accommodate what musicians wanted, for example, the bass guitar because swing and jazz double bassists could barely be heard, or amps in the 60s because of screaming fans, which then led to new sounds that helped move various genres on. Digital recording technology {"we want more tracks, cleaner, more exact reproduction of sound, with no hiss" etc} developed right out of this kind of thinking.
And pop shields are so very cheap, yet so important, for the masses. 🛀🏿
 
Possibly not for singers but I can tell you for voice overs there are desperately needed unless you are 'deliberately' not using them for a reason.

As I have said before. Headphones and volume high.....I can hear everything and I mean everything!
 
Probably loads of the special techniques we now try to emulate we’re happy accidents. When the Beatles needed an extra instrument miking up with abbey road’s excellent comic collection was the unusual mic a real choice or a quick time saver because one was sitting there from a previous session where it had been used on a zither or some other odd thing? I’m thinking john Lennon being willing to wait fifteen mins while a tape op was sent to the stores and one was wired and patched or just using something odd? I’ve discovered these happy accidents myself. Forgetting to mute an extra mic in a space or accidentally patching the wrong effect to a bus? Nowadays new people get indoctrinated with rules and history. You see those YouTube videos where clueless people teach these mistakes to others as if they’re magic. Worse you get mistakes passed off as deliberate. Like the wonderful effect you get singing into the wrong side of a mic. Wonderful effect my bum, they just didn’t notice and had to mega eq a mistake then pass it if as deliberate! People believe it! I’ve recorded loads of things with wrong mics because I thought the mic connected was X but I’d actually plugged in Y!
 
rob aylestone said:
Probably loads of the special techniques we now try to emulate we’re happy accidents. When the Beatles needed an extra instrument miking up with abbey road’s excellent comic collection was the unusual mic a real choice or a quick time saver because one was sitting there from a previous session where it had been used on a zither or some other odd thing? I’m thinking john Lennon being willing to wait fifteen mins while a tape op was sent to the stores and one was wired and patched or just using something odd? I’ve discovered these happy accidents myself. Forgetting to mute an extra mic in a space or accidentally patching the wrong effect to a bus? Nowadays new people get indoctrinated with rules and history. You see those YouTube videos where clueless people teach these mistakes to others as if they’re magic. Worse you get mistakes passed off as deliberate. Like the wonderful effect you get singing into the wrong side of a mic. Wonderful effect my bum, they just didn’t notice and had to mega eq a mistake then pass it if as deliberate! People believe it! I’ve recorded loads of things with wrong mics because I thought the mic connected was X but I’d actually plugged in Y!
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This. I absolutely hate rules and narrow thinking when it comes to tracking and mixing. When newbies ask how to do something in an exact way, it just makes them an inputter rather than an AE.
 
I bought a PopperStopper years ago, and later my two AKG 414s came with a filter each in the kits, double-layered nylon (they look like the one Grimtraveller posted).
They do the job for me.
C.
 
When the older brigade started - you learned as you went along. There was no option. I often learned wrong. Later you discover you were wrong and then look back at what you did 'wrongly' and scratch your head, because it worked fine! I'd been adjusting bias current on my reel to reel till I got the best result. I then failed the BBC interview because my understanding of what bias current was actually doing was totally wrong - they did explain it to me before saying no of course.
 
Funnily enough you dont hear too many poppy pops and other noises on old recordings. I wonder why? Perhaps it had something to do with the BBC accent.:-)
 
My first one was a piece of #12 wire with pantyhose and it worked fine. I use the standard one that attaches to the stand now. Although I do have good mic technique it does help with maintaining a constant distance from the mic.
 
gecko zzed said:
Pop filters are andy, but you can also learn how to not need them by:

1 managing your plosives . . . it is possible to sing 'p' without a blast of air;
2 not singing directly into the mike. Singing slightly over the top or to one side can make difference; and
3 maintaining a greater distance from the mike.
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I watched a Rode Youtube video on getting the best from your NT1A, and they said all of these things.

The NT1A integrated mount pop filter is very nice.
The clip on one they supplied with Rode K2 was terrible. The clip was not strong enough for the weight of the shield, and the flexible rod would not stay put,
in the bent position.
 
In response to the Beatles references here. They didn't get into experimenting with mic placement and such until Geoff Emerick started working with them. EMI had very strict rules on mic placement and screwing around with the equipment. Placing mics closer to amps or inside the piano close to the strings was against the rules and they always had to have someone watching out for EMI staff while as to not get fired. And most was trying to get what the boys wanted which could not be done in the conventional way at times. Not sure if Emerick was the first but his first sessions he took a blanket from a photo shoot and stuffed it in Ringos kick drum and slammed the compressor on it and it blew them all away. When The Beatles became EMI's cash cow they eased up on them having to go by the rules and gave them and the engineers more freedom to experiment. Emerick's book is an absolute great read and shows how creative he was with the mics, compressor, and a 4 track console.
 
pj11 said:
In response to the Beatles references here. They didn't get into experimenting with mic placement and such until Geoff Emerick started working with them. EMI had very strict rules on mic placement and screwing around with the equipment. Placing mics closer to amps or inside the piano close to the strings was against the rules and they always had to have someone watching out for EMI staff while as to not get fired. And most was trying to get what the boys wanted which could not be done in the conventional way at times. Not sure if Emerick was the first but his first sessions he took a blanket from a photo shoot and stuffed it in Ringos kick drum and slammed the compressor on it and it blew them all away. When The Beatles became EMI's cash cow they eased up on them having to go by the rules and gave them and the engineers more freedom to experiment. Emerick's book is an absolute great read and shows how creative he was with the mics, compressor, and a 4 track console.
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I believe it was the tape machine that was 4 track. The REDD console they used was actually 8 mic/line inputs with 4 busses and 4 returns.
 
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