After trying a wide variety of microphones over the years, we will show you some of the best. The first one that we will talk about is the small-diaphragm condenser microphones at the low-budget end of the spectrum. This comparison would help you in purchasing the right microphone for your needs.
The Neumann KM 84i which is considered the greatest small-diaphragm condenser mic of all time will be our point of reference in comparing the five contenders. To test them, the 6 microphones were set up in close proximity to each other and record a single instrumental pass.
Read more about this here: https://www.musictech.net/guides/essential-guide/microphone-shootout-small-diaphragm-condensers/
Archives for September 2019
The best MIDI keyboard controller for beginners
For people looking for an easy and cost-effective way of creating electronic music with computers, the Arturia MiniLab MkII is probably the best all-around 25-key MIDI keyboard controller. Its controller is compact enough to be carried around in a bag. It has a solid build quality and sleek design that both beginners and experienced musicians would admire.
The Arturia’s uncluttered layout, with well-spaced rotary knobs and pads with only minimum extra controls, also makes it an approachable option for electronic-music newbies, as well as a good choice for advanced musicians seeking a streamlined controller for live performance.
Read more about this here: https://www.engadget.com/2019/09/08/the-best-midi-keyboard-controller-for-beginners/
Vampire Weekend Bass Guitar That Looks Like a Ukulele?
The band, Vampire Weekend, appeared on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert on Sep 11th, 2019. As we watched, we were immediately drawn to a strange looking bass guitar being played by bassist, Chris Baio. This bass was not only tiny, but looked like a ukulele!
At first I was convinced it couldn’t be a bass, since it was so small. I mean, bass guitars are longer than standard guitars for a reason – longer, thicker strings for deeper notes. But he was playing this ute-looking instrument like a bass – hand on top with fingers plucking individual strings. Plus the head stock had 4 large keys on it like a bass. But that didn’t solve the riddle, because ukuleles have 4 strings also!
My wife and I were confused and immediately started into Google research mode. Chris Baio’s Wikipedia page talked about basses he plays, but they all were pretty standard bass guitars. There was also an article on Chris at BassPlayer.com which had a gear list. But again, nothing that looked at all like a ukulele.
At last I found an article referring to Vampire Weekend’s appearance on Colbert playing the song “Sympathy,” with almost all acoustic instruments. And that article confirmed Chris was indeed playing “a guitar that looked like a ukulele.”
So What Was It?
I dug a little deeper and found out what this strange “bass guitar that looks like a ukulele is. It is called a Kala Wanderer U-Bass. It is described as a “short-scale” travel bass, which accounts for how small it was. But listening to their performance, it sure sounded like a standard bass guitar to me.
This seems like a pretty cool idea for someone who is looking for a light weight bass guitar that is also super small. Clearly it is ideal as a travel instrument (hence the name “Wanderer”). But also having something this small could make things more convenient for you in any circumstance. Maybe you have a small recording space in your home studio, for instance.
If you’d like to find out more details about the Kala Wanderer or buy one for yourself, click here to see it on Amazon.
Review: Neumann NDH 20
Neumann is known for its classic and modern microphones. Their U 87 microphone is pretty much every artist, producer, and engineer’s personal favorite. The company now produces a new set of headphones which is the NDH 20. It is a closed-back headphones specifically for studio monitoring, editing, and mixing.
It has 38mm Neodymium magnetic transducer and frequency response at 5Hz to 30kHz. It utilizes 3.5mm TRS jack, 6.3mm adaptor, spiralled 1.5-3m and straight 3m cables. At 390g, they are heavy enough to sit well on your head, although some extra padding might have been nice on the metal headband.
Read more about this here: https://www.musictech.net/reviews/studio-recording-gear/neumann-ndh-20/
In The Studio: Dynamic EQ For Vocals
The New York parallel compression drum mix technique is where you send a drum mix to a stereo bus and then apply compression to the bus and feed that signal back into the two mixes. It can be very subtle or obvious depending on the amount and character of the compression, and how the compressed signal is fed to the stereo bus.
However, at low volume, you get both preserved transients and the loudness from the compression thus, you’ll get a different result from compressing the tracks. Moreover, when the song gets louder, the effect of the compression on the bus is less prominent because the uncompressed tracks swell up and dominate the mix.
Read more about this here: https://www.prosoundweb.com/channels/recording/in_the_studio_dynamic_eq_for_vocals/