Bought a Beesneez Arabella GT (studio series)

[DwaneHollands]

Hi Guys,

I'm pretty stoked to get my first high quality mic. Bought an SE Reflexion filter at the same time, so that I can get my ugly room out of the equation.

I'm not a mic connoseuir yet, but this is the best accoustic I've ever recorded. To me it's very, very honest to the original sound of the instrument. I noticed that quite quickly. I've heard that's also a strong point of the API 512 preamp that I'm using. But the previous mics were quite poor, so I suppose they were the bottle neck.

I don't know if it's just me subconciously parroting what I've heard about the mic in the marketing and everyone elses comments about them, but it does sound very open to me. It sounds big too. And smooth. And I'm really loving the lush silky bottom end. In fact with the cardiod pattern it has massive proximity effect. The full omni position still has quite good bottom end on it I've found. I know it's not beesneez exclusive, but the multi-pattern power supply is just great. Going a few clicks off cardiod to reduce proximity effect is a great 'tone tuning tool'. It's new to me, but I love that flexibility!

Here is some aimless accoustic guitar playing I recorded yesterday with the mic. I've buried it back as far in the SE Reflexion filter to get the cleanest sound. Running the API 512 cranked almost to full. (I just loved the sound of it that way - I realise that it's not always the best thing to do). The mic is in full omni mode and I'm going into M-Audio Fast Track Ultra 8R convertors. (no comp/eq/processing of any sort).

It's quite dynamic in parts with some spikey bits, so just a warning for your monitor speakers.
http://www.hollands.com.au/R21Studios/A ... Filter.mp3

Anways, safe to say I'm totally impressed with the mic and I'm looking forward to experimenting with it and mining it's strengths.

P.S. Oh, you might hear a bunch of noise in the background. Small printing press running, handles being put in on machines. Cars. Because I cranked the gain on the preamp. Probably not wise.

[HA_DA_JA]

Lets take a stab at the sounds I am hearing I dont mind making a fool of myself.
Sounds like a small guitar.
Is it a resonator type guitar?
Or is a it a mahogany back n sides?
Sounds like it has an extremely low action.
ANd nice fluid playing.
Cheers
Dale

[Chris H]

Lets take a stab at the sounds I am hearing I dont mind making a fool of myself.
Sounds like a small guitar.
Is it a resonator type guitar?
Or is a it a mahogany back n sides?
Sounds like it has an extremely low action.
ANd nice fluid playing.
Cheers
Dale

Hey Dale, I will join you in your folly.......
....... my first guess is it's a Cole Clark guitar.

[DwaneHollands]

Lets take a stab at the sounds I am hearing I dont mind making a fool of myself.
Sounds like a small guitar.
Is it a resonator type guitar?
Or is a it a mahogany back n sides?
Sounds like it has an extremely low action.
ANd nice fluid playing.
Cheers
Dale

Hey Dale!

Thanks for listening and commenting. OK, it's a Cole Clark Fat lady 1. I never played a resonator guitar before, but that bright kinda 'Romeo and Juliet' sound from Knoffler - I can hear what you're saying.

Kinda biggish guitar. Hmm, I don't think it's mahogany. I honestly don't know what it's made off to tell you the truth. It's light coloured wood. (wow, I'm sure that helps heaps! ha ha)

I didn't think the action was that low, but you know after thinking about it, I think it is set up quite low. (and from listening to it again it does sound like really low action! You're right!)

The only thing about the accoustic that I'm not real crazy about, is it gets this midrange 'woodiness' when you really dig into it. I'm hoping over the years, that will mellow and round out nicely.

[DwaneHollands]

Sounds pretty cool to me - very articulate
Welcome to the BN club BTW

Ha ha thanks Angus!

Yeah I think I'll get a few more BN over the next few years. Keen on a Jade from samples I've heard...maybe a lulu too. lol.

[DwaneHollands]

Lets take a stab at the sounds I am hearing I dont mind making a fool of myself.
Sounds like a small guitar.
Is it a resonator type guitar?
Or is a it a mahogany back n sides?
Sounds like it has an extremely low action.
ANd nice fluid playing.
Cheers
Dale

Hey Dale, I will join you in your folly.......
....... my first guess is it's a Cole Clark guitar.

Chris!

Got it in one! How'd you guess?

[DwaneHollands]

Or is a it a mahogany back n sides?

Actually I've got this little Cort guitar that I bought at the same time as the Cole Clark. It was about $500 and it's all mahogany. A small parlour guitar. It's got this beautiful rich tone that I just fell in love with. I had a $1500 budget to get an accoustic and when I went into the shop and tried out all the guitars I was really only interested in the cole clark. Then I tried this little mahogany guitar and I was hooked on it. Great build quality too. Satin finish. I asked the guy how much for both with cases and I think I got them for $1600 or something like that.

I currently keep that one at home for noodling on. Need to bring it into the studio and record some stuff on it. haha.

[Chris H]

Lets take a stab at the sounds I am hearing I dont mind making a fool of myself.
Sounds like a small guitar.
Is it a resonator type guitar?
Or is a it a mahogany back n sides?
Sounds like it has an extremely low action.
ANd nice fluid playing.
Cheers
Dale

Hey Dale, I will join you in your folly.......
....... my first guess is it's a Cole Clark guitar.

Chris!

Got it in one! How'd you guess?

Ha!!! Do i get a packet of minties?

....... it sounded like a Cole Clark? They have a particular sound i thought i recognized.
Great that the mic captured it. There is a bit of something else in the recording, either the room and noise floor or the closeness of the reflection filter as you said, that takes a bit away from the clarity of the recording but it sounds like a great combo with that mic, guitar and preamp.

[DwaneHollands]

Lets take a stab at the sounds I am hearing I dont mind making a fool of myself.
Sounds like a small guitar.
Is it a resonator type guitar?
Or is a it a mahogany back n sides?
Sounds like it has an extremely low action.
ANd nice fluid playing.
Cheers
Dale

Hey Dale, I will join you in your folly.......
....... my first guess is it's a Cole Clark guitar.

Chris!

Got it in one! How'd you guess?

Ha!!! Do i get a packet of minties?

....... it sounded like a Cole Clark? They have a particular sound i thought i recognized.
Great that the mic captured it. There is a bit of something else in the recording, either the room and noise floor or the closeness of the reflection filter as you said, that takes a bit away from the clarity of the recording but it sounds like a great combo with that mic, guitar and preamp.

Haha. Classic! I tell you what. PM me your address, and I'll send you a packet of Iced Vovo's. (just don't tell Mat)

I noticed that the mic was really true to the original source of the accoustic. I was noticing things during playback that I thought the mic was doing. Then I realised - That's actually how the guitar sounds. It's a guitar issue - not a mic issue. Then I realised how accurately it was capturing the source.

Yeah - I've got to try and track down where all the noise is coming from. A lot of it was from this hissing printing press (nice and old one that huffs and hisses while it runs). But I think it might be my convertors aswell or how I'm gain staging things. Need to spend some time diagnosing I think.

[Chris H]

If it's a choice between minties and iced vovo's i will have to break rank with Trock Tradition and go the Minty......
Indeed.....If Wikipedia is anything to go by the humble Minty is a true Australian Icon as in a much more niche context, the Optro's are....... to settle any issues that may arise from my rather provocative stance re the Minty /Vo Vo divide, i suggest those who go the Vo Vo put up some further historically accurate evidence as to the origins and place in Australian history of said vo vo's

[The folowing Quoted from Wikipedia:]

MINTIES:
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Minties™ is a brand of confectionery originating in Australia. They are a hard, white and chewy, square mint-flavored lolly. They were originally packaged in 5lb (around 2.2 kg) bulk tins[1] or 3oz (around 85g) cardboard boxes, but now come in packs ranging from 150g - 1 kg. Minties are wrapped in waxed paper with a cartoon underneath the logo with the common caption "It's moments like these you need Minties". About 500 million are consumed each year. People often compete with each other in tearing the wrapper, which is square when laid flat, into the longest single strip. They were notorious for causing fillings to come out while being chewed.

History

Minties were invented in 1922 by James Noble Stedman (1860–1944), son of company founder (and Australia's first confectioner) James Stedman (1840–1913),[3] patented in 1926[4] and were manufactured by James Stedman - Henderson Sweets Limited at the "SweetAcres" factory at Rosebery, New South Wales. with head office located on George St, Sydney, Australia. Other well-known lines made at Sweetacres were "Fantales", "Throaties" "Jaffas" and "Sunbuds", and were distributed by Nestlé from around 1930.

In 1968 Stedman-Henderson was taken over by Hoadleys, which was acquired in 1971 by Rowntree which was taken over globally by Nestlé in 1981. They are now sold as "Allens Minties" (Nestlé acquired the Allens brand in 1985).

In 1930 or 1931 a factory was set up in Auckland, New Zealand. Cadbury now manufacture the lollies as "Pascall Minties". In November 2009 Cadbury New Zealand announced they were moving production from Auckland to Thailand and changing to a softer formulation (less stressful on teeth and may be consumed more quickly). Curiously, the 200g packets sold in Australia as (Nestlé) Allens Minties in 2010 are clearly labelled "Made in New Zealand".

Depression, then wartime shortages

Newspaper advertising appears to have dropped off considerably, both in quantity and quality, between 1931 and 1940.

During WWII and until 1946, supply of confectionery was restricted; what output there was went to serving troops. Advertising resumed after cessation of hostilities, anticipating eventual availability. Rationing may have been on a state-by-state basis.[10]
[edit] Place in Australian culture

Minties' first cartoons appeared in 1927; from then on providing an episodic documentation of an era. At one stage in the 1940s Minties were using three different cartoons a week, appearing on every form of printed advertising: the 3oz (around 85g) boxes in which they were originally sold, newspapers and railway station hoardings. They now appear on the lolly wrappers themselves. The cartoons depict mishaps and unfortunate experiences, sometimes featuring recognisable sporting or political figures, but more often general comic situations, captioned "It's moments like these" or "Another Minties moment". The catchphrase "It's moments like these" has become part of the Australia language. The entry for "Mintie" in a major Australian dictionary defines the phrase as "... widely current ... used allusively as an emblem of solace".[4]

The number of cartoonists to have drawn "Minties moments" is large. Many were unsigned, but some of the better known names are:

* Dick Alderton
* George Aria
* James Bancks (creator of "Ginger Meggs")
* Ian Gall
* Alex Gurney (created "Bluey and Curley")
* Peter Harrigan "Middy"
* Norman Hetherington "Heth" (created Mr Squiggle)
* Eric Jolliffe
* Hardtmuth Lahm "Hotpoint" "Hotti" or "Hottie"
* Percy Lindsay
* F G Longstaff
* Jack Lusby
* Stewart McCrae "Pep"
* Arthur Mailey
* Emile Mercier
* Syd Miller
* Minainnick
* Norm Mitchell
* Rufus Morris
* Morrissey
* Syd Nicholls (creator of "Fatty Finn")
* Petrov
* William Edwin Pidgeon "Wep"
* Hal Quinlan
* Virgil Reilly "Virgil"
* Jim Russell (drew "The Potts")
* Ted Scorfield (largest number of contributions)
* David Souter
* Les Such
* Dorothy Wall
* Harry J Weston
* Unk White



========================================
Iced Vo Vo
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


An Iced Vo Vo is a wheat flour biscuit topped with a strip of pink fondant either side of a strip of raspberry jam and sprinkled with coconut.[1] It is a product of the American-owned Australian-based biscuit company Arnott's. The brand was first registered in 1906.[1]

The Australian Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, made a light hearted mention of Iced Vo Vo's in his election victory speech of 24 November 2007, jokingly urging his team to have a strong cup of tea with an Iced Vo Vo on the way through, before getting to work.[2] This reportedly led to skyrocketing Iced VoVo sales, prompting Arnott's to send a shipping pallet of the biscuits to the Prime Minister's office in Canberra's New Parliament House.[3]

[DwaneHollands]

Haha Chris! Classic.

Well, I was going to ask Mat what these little things were, but I couldn't upload an image to a PM. I wasn't going to create a thread just about them...

But since we're on the subject...

I dunno what these are exactly, but they were at our last Church pot luck dinner the other night. Are they a super vovo?

I managed to stuff a few in my mouth to sample. nom nom. "der pwetty gwood". lol.

[13thbeach]

Now that's some sexy biscuits right there...

[Chris H]

Now that's some sexy biscuits right there...

.... Sex!..........I always suspected this was the subconscious reason you go the Vo Vo Matt!

To backup my hypothesis, here's a small quote from this link:
http://www.theenthusiast.com.au/archive ... iced-vovo/

The Biscuiteer: Arnott’s Iced VoVo

Back when I was a cultural studies postgraduate student, there was some speculation about the decision to purchase Iced VoVos as catering for the postgrad seminar series. One student – let’s call him Alex, because that was his name – protested that they resembled vaginas, adding that the name “VoVo” sounded like a euphemism for female genitalia.

This story is what cultural studies academics would call “a contested site”, because Alex later denied ever having said such a thing. But despite its possibly apocryphal nature, since then I have never been able to think about Iced VoVos without thinking about vadges.