New Microphone. Trying to recreate Chicago's famed horn section circa 1969...

[CC_PDX]

I picked up a new large diaphragm condensor mic from local manufacturing shop Ear Trumpet Labs last week. I was intending it mostly for live use with one or two others (mando or fiddle or acc. guitar, standup bass). It is wonderful for that, so trying it out for recording as well.

 

[Siegmund]

You tricked me!

From that title I was really curious how many tracks you were going to have to stack to recreate Georg Solti and the Chicago Symphony playing Mahler.

 

[debra]

There are about as many fans of different microphones as there are different microphones...
I have made recordings with a Zoom H2 recorder and thought they sounded pretty good. But now I use a Tascam recorder with two AKG c214 (large diaphragm) mics and I must say these recordings sound better. I read more reports that large diaphragm microphones are generally better for recording accordion sound, but there are really good small-diaphragm mics that sound fine as well... I find the differences in sound between different accordions to be much more pronounced than the differences in mics used for recording them.

 

[JerryPH]

Well done, it sounds good!
Next logical move if you want to go that direction is to get a 2nd mic and make the move to stereo sound.

A few years back I went through a phase where I tested about 40 different mics over the course of many weeks, including the ones that Paul has.
I played with the bottom of the barrel $20 condenser mics (takes a LOT of work to make them sound OK, but they are great for the spoken voice), a matched pair of the Neewer NW-410's which at the time were $99 and sound surprisingly good, far better than their price indicates and would be for me, the ultimate budget solution for musicians.

For my condenser mics, I finally decided on a matched pair of the sE Electronics sE4400a. For my ears they were simply the best sounding mics for the accordion... they didn't add or remove anything, just recorded the accordion exactly as I was hearing it live, and they were a bit more receptive to adding EQ than the AKG C214 (which added a harshness that I did not hear on the 4400's), but we are truly talking nit picking levels here. In my very non-scientific tests, they even out performed a set of $5000 mics that I tested, which really surprised me (Neumann KM 86's)... am super happy with them.

 

[JeffJetton]

Well done! I wouldn't have thought that song would've worked as well as it does on accordion, but it's quite well-suited! Might have to steal that idea for my own repertoire.

 

[CC_PDX]

Well done, it sounds good!
Next logical move if you want to go that direction is to get a 2nd mic and make the move to stereo sound.

A few years back I went through a phase where I tested about 40 different mics over the course of many weeks, including the ones that Paul has.
I played with the bottom of the barrel $20 condenser mics (takes a LOT of work to make them sound OK, but they are great for the spoken voice), a matched pair of the Neewer NW-410's which at the time were $99 and sound surprisingly good, far better than their price indicates and would be for me, the ultimate budget solution for musicians.

For my condenser mics, I finally decided on a matched pair of the sE Electronics sE4400a. For my ears they were simply the best sounding mics for the accordion... they didn't add or remove anything, just recorded the accordion exactly as I was hearing it live, and they were a bit more receptive to adding EQ than the AKG C214 (which added a harshness that I did not hear on the 4400's), but we are truly talking nit picking levels here. In my very non-scientific tests, they even out performed a set of $5000 mics that I tested, which really surprised me (Neumann KM 86's)... am super happy with them.

Yes. For the same reason I think I will stick with my matched pair sE Electronics SE8 small condensers and their natural stereo sound for most of my studio recording and use the EarTrumpet Labs for live single-mic’d acoustic duos and trios through my Fishman Loudbox Artist. It’s a fantastic combo that picks up all the nuance of mandolin, fiddle and box—still sounds very acoustic, but simply louder to overcome venue noise.

 

[jozz]

if you have such a fashionable accordion it makes sense to have a 'boutique' microphone

sounds good!

 

[JerryPH]

if you have such a fashionable accordion it makes sense to have a 'boutique' microphone

Hah! "boutique microphone"... love it...

 

[CC_PDX]

I resisted for years, not being a fan of the vintage steampunk aesthetic, but hearing them in use and having performed on other musician’s ETL’s 4-5 times made me a believer. They are hand built at a great local workshop here in Portland with deep ties to the folk/bluegrass/indie scenes. Some fantastic in-workshop live sessions on their website.

Media & Artists — Ear Trumpet Labs

www.eartrumpetlabs.com

 

[NickC]

Nice playing. I love the looks of these mics. There is one for double bass that I'd love to try.