Pictures of Microphones

I love pictures of microphones.  I could browse the web for days just looking at and reading about various mics.  There are so many different kinds with a variety of applications and sonic possibilities.  In browsing the photo album on my phone, I realized I have gathered a decent collection of shots featuring collections of microphones I’ve used on assorted gigs.  While I wish I had been more consistent in taking these photos and collected pictures from every show I’ve mixed, I would like to showcase a few in today’s post.

First up, the photo that started it all.

I started taking these pictures after a Springfield church chose the Gillioz Theatre to host their annual holiday variety show.  When striking a stage, I always start by pulling all mics (and clips, if stored with) from their stands and putting them in one place so I can keep watch and get them back to their homes as quickly as possible to avoid the possibility of any microphones “walking off” in the rush of load-out.  It was something about the sight of this chair-full of microphones that prompted me to whip out the camera-phone and snap a picture.  My pile makes it a bit hard to see all the models, but I believe this night’s package, which as with all the following selections were selected by yours truly, featured the following:

• Audix D6 (kick)
• Audix D4 (floor tom)
• Shure KSM137 (drum overheads–the Gillioz is a very live room and I often would choose to not close mic toms)
• Shure SM57 (guitar cabs)
• Shure SM58 (vox)
• Shure Beta 58 (vox)
• Shure SLX2 wireless handheld with Beta 58 capsule (emcees)

This show was quite some time ago and, as most church bands do, featured a wide variety of instruments and players, so I don’t remember the exact input list.

Now let’s look at a photo from Delta Sol Revival playing First Friday Live at the Gillioz Theatre.

I’ll do my best to reconstruct the input list (audience mics added for recording purposes):

1. Kick – Shure Beta 52A
2. Snare – Shure SM57
3. Overhead L – Shure KSM137
4. Overhead R – Shure KSM137
5. Aux Snare – Shure Beta 57A
6. Aux Percussion – Shure KSM137
7. Bass Direct – Radial JDI
8. Bass Cab – Shure Beta 56A
9. Keys L – Radial JDI
10. Keys R – Radial JDI
11. Guitar – Shure Beta 57A
12. Sax – Shure Beta 58A
13. Aux Vox – Shure SM58
14. Lead Vox – Shure SM58
15. Audience L – Shure KSM137
16. Audience R – Shure KSM137

This package was comprised completely of the Gillioz Theatre’s house inventory, which is obviously all Shure.

Next up, mics used for J-None’s First Friday Live performance.

For this show I supplemented some of my own mics to compliment the theatre’s Shure package.

1. Kick – Audix D6
2. Snare- Shure SM57
3. Hi-Hat – Earthworks SR20
4. Rack Tom – Sennheiser e604
5. Floor Tom – Sennheiser e604
6. Overhead L – Shure KSM27
7. Overhead R – Shure KSM27
8. Guitar – Sennheiser MD421
9. Tracks L – Radial JDI
10. Tracks R – Radial JDI
11. Aux Vox – Sennheiser e835
12. Lead Vox – Shure Beta 58
13. Audience L – Audix ADX51
14. Audience R – Audix ADX51

You’ll notice I always use the Shure SM57 on snare.  I just can’t argue with the results.  The KSM27s worked okay on for overheads, but lacked a bit of the pattern control I prefer to create a wide stereo image.

The next feature is from one of my personal favorite Springfield, MO bands, The Bootheel.

1. Kick – Audix D6
2. Snare – Shure SM57
3. Rack – Sennheiser e604
4. Floor – Sennheiser e604
5. OHL – Audix ADX51
6. OHR – Audix ADX51
7. Bass Direct – Radial JDI
8. Bass Cab – Audix D4
9. Guitar SR – Audix i5
10. Guitar SL – Shure SM57
11. Drum Vox – Shure Beta 56A
12. Aux Vox – Shure SM58
13. Lead Vox – Shure SM58
14. Audience L – Shure KSM137
15. Audience R – Shure KSM137

This is when I fell in love the Audix D4 on bass cab.  This was also my first time using the Beta 56A for drum vocals, which worked really well as Warren, drummer for the Bootheel, adds a lot to the music with his harmonies, but also hits incredibly hard, which can be difficult to work with in the mix.  The Beta 56A provided good rejection of the drum kit and with a little HF rolloff on the console EQ, kept extra cymbal bleed to a minimum.  If I could do this again, I’d move the Shure KSM137s to the kit, as I’m not sure I like the ADX51 for overhead use.

Moving right along, here is the package used for Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin when they opened for Neon Trees at the Gillioz.

For this show, I opted to omit the overheads. As the opening act, SSLYBY was set downstage of the proscenium opening and main drape. I felt there was no need to reinforce the cymbals as I knew the room would take care of that and some bleed would inevitably make it into the vocal channels.

1. Kick – Audix D6
2. Snare – Shure SM57
3. Rack – Sennheiser e604
4. Floor – Sennheiser e604
5. Bass Direct – DI in head
6. Bass Cab – Audix D4
7. SR Guitar – Heil PR40
8. SL Guitar – Sennheiser MD421
9. Vox 1 – Shure SM58
10. Vox 2 – Shure SM58
11. Drum Vox – EV N/D857B

This was a great mix–and only 11 channels!  I’m a big fan of large-diaphragm dynamics on guitar cabs.  The cab on which I used the Heil PR40 is one I had worked with before and was always challenged to keep it from sounding harsh.  The PR40 tamed the tone nicely, requiring no console EQ other than a simple high-pass filter.  The EV on drum vocals worked beautifully.  SSLYBY likes to switch places on stage, moving from instrument to instrument between songs, and when one particular member sings behind the drum kit, it can be quite the challenge to get his vocals to stand out in the mix.  He sings softly and plays hard.  My dad gave my this N/D857B when I was about 12 years old, and it has been in my collection ever since (honestly, I’d say it started my collection).  I had it with my that night and decided to give it a shot.  The hyper-cardioid pattern rejected all the stuff I didn’t want and the mic’s response curve worked great for his vocals.  My only complaint is that EV no longer makes it.

Here we have a photo from Kids & Chemicals playing First Friday Live.

Kids & Chemicals is an electronic group backed with live drums.  This freed up the resources to go a little crazy on the drum mics, which I am always happy to do.

1. Kick In – Audix i5
2. Kick Out – Audix D6
3. Snare Top – Shure SM57
4. Snare Bottom – Sennheiser e604
5. Hats – Earthworks SR20
6. Rack – Heil PR40
7. Floor – Sennheiser MD421
8. OHL – Shure KSM137
9. OHR – Shure KSM137
10. Tracks L – Radial JDI
11. Tracks R – Radial JDI
12. Vox w/ FX from stage – Shure SM58 > Focusrite Saffire 2i2 > Radial JDI
13. Crowd Address – Shure SM58
14. Audience L – Shure KSM137
15. Audience R – Shure KSM137

I really liked using the Sennheiser e604 for snare bottom as it required no stand in an already crowded space.  The Heil PR40 and Sennheiser MD421 on toms were great.  Also, the Earthworks SR20 just feels right on hats–very fast and articulate.

Finally, a shot from the last band I mixed at the Gilly, Plaid Dragon.

1. Kick – Heil PR40
2. Snare – Shure SM57
3. OHL – Shure KSM137
4. OHR – Shure KSM137
5. Bass – Radial JDI
6. SR Guitar – Sennheiser MD421
7. Center Guitar – Audix D4
8. SL Guitar – Shure SM57
9. Acoustic Guitar – Radial JDI
10. Ukulele – Radial JDI
11. Synth – Radial ProDI
12. Upright Bass – Radial JDI
13. Violin – Shure KSM137
14. Aux Vox – Shure SM58
15. Drum Vox – Shure Beta 58A
16. Lead Vox – Shure Beta 87A

The Beta 87A for lead vocals belongs to Inge, the lead singer, and sounds wonderful on her voice.  The D4 helped add some meat to her small, single 10″ guitar amp.  I had owned the PR40 for a while at this point, but had never tried it on kick, which all the studio rats rave about.  As you can tell from previous input lists, I’m quite partial to the D6, but Plaid Dragon is a bit “unconventional” so I felt it was an appropriate time to get a little crazy myself.  The results were excellent and I look forward to using the PR40 on kick again when appropriate.

Plaid Dragon – “SoND” Live @ Gillioz Theatre

Springfield, MO has an excellent music scene. The Bootheel, Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, The Spacetones, Lilly Bee & The Pollinators, Knife Death, Delta Sol Revival, Kids & Chemicals, Speakeasy, Ryan Spilken–I challenge you to find a Midwest college town, or even a larger, more mainstream market, with a music scene as delightfully diverse.

Before leaving Springfield and the Gillioz Theatre, where I hung my hat for many shows, I had the pleasure of working one last concert. Fittingly, the event featured SGF’s own Plaid Dragon playing by themselves, in my favorite “an evening with” fashion.

This show would be the final installation in a series conceived over a few porch beers by Gillioz media czar/talent buyer, Vance Hall, and I aimed at featuring local performing artist known as “First Firday Live.”

I handled the live audio production for the event, mixing FOH and multitrack recording straight to Logic from the Gilly’s Midas Verona 400. I used the direct outputs of each channel of the Verona to feed the line inputs of a Mackie Onyx 1640 for analog-to-digital conversion into Logic over Firewire. After the show I turned the tracks over to Plaid Dragon’s synth/guitar player, Sam Gibson, for a final mixdown.

The show was bittersweet, but 100% Springfield, Missouri live music. I could not have picked a better send-off from the town and venue that will always be “home.” Please enjoy a video featuring Sam’s mix of Plaid Dragon performing “SoND.”

Delta Sol Revival @ First Friday Live

In the midst of a busy late fall/early winter show season, the fellas over at the Gillioz Theatre have whipped up a nifty free concert series coinciding with Springfield’s “First Friday Art Walk.”  For the first Friday of every month, the theatre doors are opened to showcase a local band/musical artist performing along side a visual artist of their choice.  I was enlisted to mix FOH for the show as well as capture a multitrack recording of the show to be mixed down for internet distribution and promotional videos for the artists and the Gillioz.

The opening night of “First Friday Live,” as it’s so aptly named, featured tunes by Delta Sol Revival and live painting by Nicholas Tarr.

Local camera wielders (that’s what I call video people), Ben Clayton (of Ben Clayton AV) and Peter Jodlowski, shot and edited this pretty nifty little video.

To hear the audio from the entire November First Friday Live set with Delta Sol Revival, check out the player below from the Gillioz Theatre’s soundcloud page.  Stay tuned for tracks from J-None‘s December performance as well as the rest of the series as it happens.