Re: A few questions

[timm@xxxxxxxxxx (Tim Moody)]

Philip,
    Some good questions. The answer to the first one is the most common.
Some of that knarly tone you hear is from the mic and some of it could be
from the amp. It is hard to tell exactly without knowing the equipment they
used on the recording. The second question gets a little deeper. A "crystal"
mic, as you mentioned, will help you get some of the sound you are looking
for. And yes, the Shure "Green Bullet" and the Hohner "Blues Blaster"(not
Blue Bullet) are that type of mic, kinda. The term "crystal" refers to the
microphone element itself. Some elements are crystal(carbon) but most are
either an aluminum element or  magnetically controlled. The "bullet type"
mics are what's called a cardiod mic and most "vocal types"(SM-58) are called
an omni-directional mic. This a due to the nature of the pattern of siganl
that they can pick up. In other words, the omin picks up sound from all
around, while the cardiod only picks it up from straight on. So with that in
mind, the preferred mic type of harp players is cardiod. The element type
effects the tone and the Crystal elements really dirty it up. The third
question shows your true nature as a harp player. "Will that old telephone
element work in my mic?" Or maybe, "I wonder what my harp would sound like
if I played it thru __________?"(Fill in the blanks with your favorite
item). This is the sign of a TRUE harp fanatic. That and having to figure
out, "How they got that sound on ___________ ?"(Fill in the blanks with your
favorite unsolved harp song).

PS My kid picked up a 3.00 cassette player w/ a PA setting at a garage sale.
It is a KILLER portable harp amp. An 8" speaker with a knarly tone.



Tim Moody
MississippiSaxophone