Followup: Concertina Mic Systems

[Jim Besser]

Having decided to give up the unreliable Microvox concertina mic system, I tried an experiment last night.

 

We played a huge dance in a very noisy hall. And my band is very loud - drums, horn section, etc.

 

I had the sound guy set me up with two very good AKG directional condenser mics, one on each side of the instrument, about 8 inches away from the sides with the bellows extended, pointed slightly down.

 

The sound was probably the best I've experienced. Friends reported that the concertina had a rich, warm sound in the hall, in contrast to the somewhat harsh sound of the Microvox. For a change, I could actually hear myself in the monitors. And I didn't get the popping and ripping sounds in the PA that I used to get when I switched instruments in the middle of a set and had to move the Microvox mics from one box to the other (if I didn't turn the volume to zero, you could hear the velcro ripping sound over the pa; if I did, I got pot noise from the volume control).

 

It also felt a lot freer, not being tied to a bunch of cables.

 

The next phase in this research project: see if I can find high quality dynamic mics that will approach this level in sound. The condensers are too fragile for our chaotic stage environment, and they require phantom power, which my own sound system does not have.

 

I'm still not certain this is the direction I'll take, but I was pretty impressed by good this sounded and how much more comfortable I felt, not being trussed up by cables.

Edited October 30, 2016 by Jim Besser

[Patrick McMahon]

Yeh, but could you dance around, while performing, like this guy? :

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYSCHKmvcIY

 

[chas]

Has anyone mentioned the Myers concertina mics? We changed from our ancient Microvox to Myers a couple of years ago and have been very happy. Their special saddle clips mean you can swop instruments pretty quickly. No velcro involved. The only thing I hate about these little mics attached to the box is that the leads always seem so thin and flimsy. But these seem trouble-free and they're cheaper than the big names.