speakamic

by **mfdu** » Wed Jan 03, 2007 3:04 pm

i modded my current guitar cab to work in reverse as a speakermic.

anyone else try this?

as per stav's notes in audio tech, i replaced the existing mono (unbal) 1/4" socket with a 1/4" stereo (bal) socket, wiring red to ring and black to tip (sleeve n/c)

it still works fine with a 1/4" unbal input into the cab from the amp.

but it also locks straight into a 1/4" > XLR and thumps a huge kick signal down any channel i want, when i want it.
it's only an 8" speaker. i wonder what a 12" speaker would do to my sanity?

chris.

by **chris p** » Wed Jan 03, 2007 3:13 pm

Yeah Chris, I've done this - though the results were way too ugly to post under the DIY forum - my high school principal, when looking over my end of year report, said "Well, some people are just wood butchers".

I'm still in two minds about it. It certainly adds some doof to a straight D112 set up, but I also still like the idea of adding to the kick drum track a sample of a slightly flat basketball bounce in an empty auditorium, which gets some serious doof happening. Depends on whether I'm after a live sound or not, I suppose.

You happy with the result?

by **mfdu** » Wed Jan 03, 2007 3:23 pm

sheesh, that was quick.

yeah, i'm happy with the result, but certainly aint a "100%" solution.

to my mind, it's most fun as part of a three-mic setup - skewed overhead pair + speakamic, or mono overhead, snare and speakamic.

it's definately the right choice for a "wrong" sound. not lo-fi by nature, but conducive to it for sure.

chris.
(mfdu)

by **Mark Bassett** » Thu Jan 04, 2007 12:16 pm

Haven't built one, but I've had an interesting session mastering a incubus-style record where a sub-kick type setup was used. The mix engineer's monitoring system couldn't reproduce the bottom it was capturing, so when he got into mastering he suddenly had 8dB too much 50Hz in his kick.

But that's really more about the engineer than the technique.

by **harry** » Thu Jan 04, 2007 12:40 pm

[quote]but I also still like the idea of adding to the kick drum track a sample of a slightly flat basketball bounce in an empty auditorium, which gets some serious doof happening[/quote]

yep there's something about basketballs and auditoriums that make the absolutely fattest kick drum sounds.
Whilst on yard duty in the school gym, i got really bored being the only person not kicking or throwing a ball around. I picked up a basketball near the exit doors and found the most amazing kick sound ive ever heard when bouncing it on a certain spot of the hardwod floors.
Definetly fatter or as fat as a real tr808 kick...

anyway...... carry on lads

by **Jason Dirckze** » Thu Jan 04, 2007 12:55 pm

We tried this one a few weeks ago using a modded speaker cone from an NS10... it sounded amazing! We combined it with a MD421 inside the kick, and a U47 outside, recorded to tape. LUSH

by **mfdu** » Thu Jan 04, 2007 1:19 pm

hey harry

do ya think it'd be a better kick sound if you used a soccer ball instead? after all, they're DESIGNED for kicks . . .

sorry. that was really bad, wasn't it?

c.mfdu.

by **Luke Garfield** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 11:53 pm

Chris (sigh) haha (kidding) :)

When I read that article I was going, shit, me and my mate used to used headphones as microphones when we were in yr 8. We did a mock radio program from memory for yr 8 Music.Then

Then I ran across the idea few years back when a guy told me about a session he'd just done with a producer from the states where he used a speaker in front of the kick as an option (i think from memory he had another 2 mics in place). I thought yeah that would work seeing as how the spl a kick would put out would push around a speaker cone. I think also from memory that it was an NS10 too - i think it was in the enclosure tho. Long and short this guy who I was talking too (a drummer) was quite impressed, he was also quite impressed that beer in NSW came in schooners and not pots ... SOOO...I think it's an inexpensive option, another colour in your palette and all that kinda stuff. But as Jason has posted it seems to help if you combine it with some other mics - I guess it depends what u want genre you want it for??

by **mfdu** » Mon Jan 08, 2007 9:29 am

yeah - it all comes down to the sound you (or the client) wants, isn't it?

i'd only do a three-mic kit if thats what they want. i'd only use the speakermic if it gives the results people want.

but when farting around on my own, i dig getting crunchy with it.

c (mfdu)

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