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DIY contact mic?

Posted:
Tue Jul 31, 2007 4:04 pm
by jkhuri44
anyone have a recipe for a DIY contact mic??
i Googled "diy contact mic"...but maybe my searching sucks!!!

Posted:
Tue Jul 31, 2007 6:45 pm
by chris p
You goin' into the spy business, Jamil?

Posted:
Tue Jul 31, 2007 6:47 pm
by jkhuri44
hahahaha!
no! :twisted:
i wwatched em being used at a session i was at on kick drum....to get a kick "click" to be mixed into the mix later on, with heavy EQ...
got me thinking about using em outside, and on objects...to get interesting sounds..
they are really expensive to buy retail...and only a few ppl seem to make em, usually for scientific audio recording, like the "insect reocrding mic"
so...any DIY options would be great !

Posted:
Tue Jul 31, 2007 11:08 pm
by chris p
The buzz phrase you are looking for is "piezo microphones"
Also known as acoustic guitar pickups: you know, the ones that you stick on or under the bridge of an acoustic guitar.
There's a whole range at a variety of quality/price. As far as DIY is concerned, you could always balance, amplify or isolate the signal from the transducer, but you'd want to experiment first with the pickup to make sure its delivering the sound you want.
Good luck with it.

Posted:
Wed Aug 01, 2007 12:39 am
by jkhuri44
sweet.. :)
well if thats the case, i dont need to DIY it!
i thought these were diff mics all together...
thanks chris!

Posted:
Tue Sep 04, 2007 12:15 pm
by jon.l.hunter
I heard that those little speakers that you get in birthday cards can double as a contact mic
don't no if its true

Posted:
Tue Sep 04, 2007 1:07 pm
by Kurt
Yes, it's true.
I bought a bunch of toy phones full of lollies to rip the piezos out of for use as drum triggers. They worked a treat and I got lollies too!