I liked the 991 on guitars when I tried it, for what that's worth.


I still prefer the SM57, though. I wish someone made an SM57 without the midrange spike, though.

Wouldn't that be not-the-57 then? Wouldn't it be... any of the other dynamics out there?

Probably, but I haven't found any dynamic mics that would fit the bill. The SM57 has a certain character to it (midrange spike notwithstanding) that I haven't been able to recreate.

The character of the SM57 IS the midrange spike.

It is like the microphone equivalent of a V30.

And there is a reason why the damn things still find themselves set up next to much nicer mics in big studios everywhere.

That reason, is also, the midrange spike.

I don't know... it seems like it's got a grittier quality than most mics. Then again, I might be imagining shit.

It does, but it is largely because of how it pimps the mids. It brings out weird details in stuff.

Indeed.

I have heard the Audix i5 is basically a 57 with a toned down mid spike, but I may be wrong.

Bit more to it than that but I guess that generally works

They fill the same general role. The i5 is brighter and hotter output too. "Cleaner", if you will. More refined. Same purpose, but it is not a 57 and doesn't really sound like one.

Cam, re: the harmonica mic- dirty, bandwidth-limited... probably cool for distortovocals live (save versus running into a DS-1 or something and have a wall of squalling feedback in the monitors) and I've seen them on stages used as such. Also, use it as a room mic for drums and pound it with a compressor.

I would also like to use the harmonica to mic things like acoustic guitars and other acoustic instruments.
Just for weird multi-tracking purposes.

Are you Tom Waits?

I sent my buddy a link to a tom waits song for his birthday.

What song? And is there a story behind this?

He and I grew up together. I remember he introduced me to tom waits. Everyone else was just sending him boring happy birthday messages, so I thought I would do something a little different. Well, with tom waits I guess it's really different

you can never go wrong sending Tom Waits to someone. Unless you are my chick, who doesn't get it. She pretty much has the same taste in music as me except for the Waits and Cave recording which I love. My daughter even loves Waits, and she's not yet 8. She is very much getting it.

Does he do that..?
It was something that I kinda thought up independent of example, though I was sure someone had done it before.
Just sounds like a cool idea.

Honestly, I don't know whether he does or not, but he probably has. It's the sort of noise he would use. If you've spent some time listening to Waits you'll understand.

I just might download an album of his..
I've been trying to branch out a lot lately.
The smart thing next would be to start learning some of these peoples' fucking riffs.


But alas, I am lazy..


Also, does anyone think an accordion recorded with a nice condenser functioning as a room mic in conjunction with a dirty harmonica mic later re-amp'd into a fuzzed out blaring tube amp would sound like Jesus with some spring reverb and all the ambient fixings?
Just a random production thought that popped into my head and has been nagging at me for weeks..

That would sound kickass.

Also, my favorite Waits record is Alice. Waits gets weirder as he gets older, which is... odd. So get Real Gone, Alice (maybe too mellow and jazzy for you? Still superdark though. Check out the title track if nothing else), Bone Machine, Blood Money, Mule Variations... to get an idea of where he's been in the past two decades. For him, for you, I'd start recent-ish and work back. Not that you can go wrong with Rain Dogs or Swordfishtrombones or something. You've got going on 40 years of awesome to work from though.

Actually, Cam, I am going to make you a Tom Waits comp, right now.