"Unorthodox" Mics

[RevSwitchblade]

I use some of my mics to record things that I've heard the mics aren't necessarily good for. For example, I sometimes use an Audix D-3 for acoustic guitar, and I have always heard it's supposed to be used for horns and drums(percussion) and guitar amps as it can handle extreme dynamics. That's true, but I also like the response for Ac Gtr. So I'm curious what other people use that might be considered "unorthodox".

 

[FunkDaddy]

If it sounds right, what makes it unorthodox?

People get too wrapped up in labels and what's "supposed" to go with what, instead of experimenting and finding their own sound.

That said, I understand you're just asking people about mics they've used outside what they're recommended for

 

[moresound]

Hey REV I like your signature line it's so true.

Maybe one of the weirdest microphone uses is a boundary microphone in a kick drum ... Not what it was intended for but if you get riders from major touring acts there it is every time. A beta 52 kick drum mic just in side the hole and then the beta 91 boundary microphone to be placed inside for the attack of the beater. The two microphones combined give a great kick drum sound that will take your head off and move your guts around with that famous brown note.

 

[bouldersoundguy]

Maybe one of the weirdest microphone uses is a boundary microphone in a kick drum

One act I worked with would put a Crown PZM in the kick and a pair taped to the top of the kick to get the rest of the kit.

I've used them dropped in the backs of amps with good effect and cleaner stage.

The EV 664 is surprisingly useful for a change of tone. There are lots of mics out there and most of them have more uses than you'd think.

 

[thebigredhotdog]

not sure if it's standard practice in studios, but i've learned to like dynamic mics (sm57 is fine to me) for acoustic guitar over condensers. whatever works for you, i guess.

 

[RevSwitchblade]

Yup....

Cheers Moresound, and I have to say that Walken consistently kills me.
Also I'm glad you understand what I'm going for Funk Daddy. Thanks for the replies so far. I'm looking forward to seeing what other madness my fellow musos are getting up to. I'm gonna put up more of my "mic-ing eccentricities". Any new ideas are great to see. I think it will be helpful to the lesser experienced recordists that look at this site, and maybe give some new ideas to us older dogs. You know how hard it is for us to learn new tricks sometimes, we get in our groove and have to make a concerted effort to try something new. I know that when I was first learning this engineer stuff, the guys that were teaching me, showed me all kinds of great things that I was super grateful to learn. I try to pass that kind of knowledge along to the kids that intern at my studio, and I thought it might be a cool idea to try a little bit of that here. Once again thanks for the replies, I believe that they will be both interesting and informative to all.

 

[moresound]

I want you to explore the room!

Not to long ago REV ..... someone posted a video of Rush's drummer with a boundary mic gaffe taped to his chest during a session, now that was weird!

 

[bassbrad]

If it works for you, use it. I have a Teac/Tascam Omni mic that was in a Porta 01 bonus pack years ago, plastic high impedance a true crap mic to most people, but it's the best thing I have for a drum ambient mic and it records acoustic guitar like a dream. I use a CAD KBM 412 bass drum mic for all sorts of things, getting that low end on guitar cabs, bass & contra bass clarinet, tuba and for a scream vocal that overloaded everything else I had. I also have an old pair of Sony Electret condenser mics, they take a AA battery to work that work wonderfully for recording classical music ensembles, clavinet, pianoforte and piano accurate and dynamic with just the right touch of ambient.

 

[grimtraveller]

When I'm going to hum guide vocals or instrument parts onto the multitrack and I just couldn't be bothered to set up the mic, I'll use a headphone as a mic. I've recorded the tambourine with the headphone as a mic. It wasn't marvelous but it was clear and useable.
I use my cheapo drumset mics as vocal mics. One of them is actually pretty good. But I'll use anything on anything, I've used my crummy dynamic Shure Prologues as overheads for the drums and I've even used one condenser and one dynamic as dual overheads. I'm still dizzy !