Re: [Harp-L] How does Toots record his harmonica? -- Was---- mic for acoustic playing

[Winslow Yerxa <winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx>]

I spent time with Toots in the studio when he was doing his LA recordings for the CD East Coast West Coast. That day included a duet with Herbie Hancock and  some things with Alan Broadbent and Charlie Haden. I think they'd already laid down the stuff with Robben Ford and Jerry Goodman. Oscar Castro Neves was there but in a production capacity (This CD was produced by the same team that did the Brasil Project CDs).

Toots brought two battered-looking SM-58s which he cupped around the harmonica just like he does onstage. After trying them both, he chose one (I remember one sounding hotter than the other).

I asked him about photos I'd seen of him playing through a pop filter into a stand mounted condensor mic (I think, in the liner notes to  his "Your Precious Love" album, done sometime in the late 1980s) and he made some sort of vague dismissive comment.

Winslow

Winslow Yerxa

Author, Harmonica For Dummies ISBN 978-0-470-33729-5

Resident expert at bluesharmonica.com

Harmonica instructor, jazzschool.com

Columnist, harmonicasessions.com

--- On Mon, 3/22/10, Randy Singer <randy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

From: Randy Singer <randy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [Harp-L] How does Toots record his harmonica? -- Was---- mic for acoustic playing
To: "harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx" <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>, "richard hunter harmonica" <turtlehill@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: "Rob Paparozzi NYC" <Paparozzi1@xxxxxxxxxxx>, "Phil Garfinkel audix" <Phil@xxxxxxxxxxxx>, "Cliff Castle audix/judy" <ccastle@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Monday, March 22, 2010, 12:01 AM

i agree with richard.

also, in the old days, when I did a session it would sometimes take too long for the engineer to get a good sound on the harmonica.

now, I always bring my fireball and the engineer is amazing how perfect it sounds.

I have made many new engineer friends with the audix fireball!

I have three of them as well.

thanks audix

ps

some correct if i am wrong but I believe that is the secret toots uses in the studio to get his great harmonica sound.

he just cups a 58 and gets that close mike sound. I wish I could hear him with an audix.

can anyone collaborate this info?

Begin forwarded message:

> Re: [Harp-L] mic for acoustic playing
> Posted by: "Richard Hunter" turtlehill@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Sat Mar 20, 2010 10:00 am (PDT)
> 
> 
> 
> "John F. Potts" wrote:
> <...although a Fireball stays clean, does not overdrive and has no 
> <proximity effect, I think it sounds pretty cool in the way it does 
> <respond to cupping variations. So, with all due respect to Greg, I 
> <do not consider it to be a mic that only sounds good in free air.
> 
> I agree that the Fireball sounds different when it's cupped--darker and deeper--though it doesn't respond to hand articulations the way a good Bullet does. 
> 
> One of the great things about a Fireball V is that it has a very smooth, beautiful tone even when it's cupped. This makes it an ideal mic for recording acoustic-sounding tracks in rooms with less than ideal acoustics--instead of exposing the mic to the room (and whatever horrible sounds live in the room), you cup it and get a great acoustic tone without room sound. I have recorded a number of tracks for clients on the road in hotel rooms using the Fireball, and I have never had any complaints about the sound of the harp. 
> 
> No mic does everything. That's why I own more than one mic. And my tests show that an amp that sounds awful with one mic might sound brilliant with another. But the Fireball does a lot of things very well. For players whose work is mostly acoustic, or (as per John's comments) those who use lots of effects, especially those who don't need the mic for vocals too, the Fireball V is a great workhorse mic at a very reasonable price. 
> 
> Regards, Richard Hunter
> 
> author, "Jazz Harp"
> latest mp3s and harmonica blog at http://myspace.com/richardhunterharp
> more mp3s at http://taxi.com/rhunter
> Vids at http://www.youtube.com/user/lightninrick
> 
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Randy Singer      
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