RE: [Harp-L] Tom Ball avoids windscreens like the plague

["Bradford Trainham" <bradford.trainham@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I use one when I sing live because...  The sound man can turn up my mic gain
a little...  I can sit a little back from the mic and thus be more or less
in the mix vocally...  And when P's pop, they pop a little less with the
wind screen. 
But I can't think how it would make any difference with a harmonica.
Brad Trainham
 

-----Original Message-----
From: harp-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxx [mailto:harp-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf
Of MundHarp@xxxxxxx
Sent: Saturday, March 29, 2008 5:57 AM
To: mxharpguyl@xxxxxxxxx
Cc: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [Harp-L] Tom Ball avoids windscreens like the plague

 
I agree 100%!  Windscreens in recording studios are there to reduce  the
effect of the vocalists breathing noise, on the sound track.
 
Some years ago, I was doing an acoustic harp session in the studio, and the
engineer said "there is a strange intermittent noise"... It was my "self
winding" mechanical wrist watch! The condenser mic was sensitive enough to
pick up that almost imperceptible noise. Now I simply take my watch off
when playing in the recording studio. 
 
Also like many guitarists, sometimes when playing through a valve (tube)
amp you get a hum from the transformer that sounds terrible on the recorded
track... Often this is caused by interference from fluorescent lighting, or
poor earthing (grounding) on the mains supply.
 
I've often recorded with the smallest battery powered "Pig Nose" when I
haven't managed to get my Fender tube amp to behave.
 
This seems to give an ok tone with no "hum" at all. At a very recordable
low volume.
 
I do believe that tube amps give a better sound with amplified harp than
solid state. But solid state amps seem to produce less background noise.
Well, mine do anyway!
 
By the way I've been using a couple of "Crystal Balls" JT-30 mics for more
than a decade, and they are (for me) the best "amplified" style harp mics
I've ever come across.
 
 
Best wishes,
 
John Walden
London
England.
 
 
<<  In a message dated 25/03/2008 14:35:20 GMT Standard Time,
mxharpguyl@xxxxxxxxx writes:

<<  I can't imagine why you would use a windscreen on stage.  No one in a
crowded bar or stadium will notice that there is non-singing  sound coming
through the microphone like wind or crickets or god-forbid,  crowd noise.

I have used them in recording for vocals and harmonica.  It's mostly so the
really nice condenser mic's don't pick up unwanted sound  on the recording
(because they pick up EVERYTHING), there will be enough  work done just
editing out your breathing and other sounds that you can't  get away from.

On Tue, Mar 25, 2008 at 10:16 AM,  <captron100@xxxxxxx> wrote:

> A question re those microphone  foam pop filters/windscreens that has 
> been bouncing around my head for  years -- Once on Harp-L our esteemed 
> fellow poster, Tom Ball, stated  that he avoids windscreens "like the
plague".?
> Whenever i see a  performer using them for vocals, I wonder -- 
> specifically, what  detrimental effects are caused by adding a windscreen
to a microphone?
>  ron
> _______________________________________________
> Harp-L is  sponsored by SPAH, http://www.spah.org


 



   
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