Re: [Harp-L] proper mic technique Newbie needs help



You will undoubtably get a lot of replies. Vibrato comes from the throat or diaphragm (these two differ in tone). The wah-wah comes from the hands. With a mic, you will not get a good wah without a sealed cup because the change in sound comes from the change in seal. I have found a few exercises to help with your cup (which will vary depending on the shape of the mic). 1) get a cup or glass about the size of a mic, hold harmonica and hold the glass like you would the mic, blow into the harmonica (any hole or holes on the low end). You should feel the pressure in your cupped hands wanting to blow out of your fingers. If you do not easily feel the pressure build up in your hands you cup is leaky. You just have to futz around with finger and palm position until you get a seal. The adjust may be very subtle and you may not even be able to see the difference but you will be able to tell. It is also important to use your face up against your hands and your right thumb to block part of the right side of the harp and contact the face to improve the seal. There are good vids of this on youtube. Search kudzurunner (Adam Gussow). With a good seal all you need to do is lift one finger to break the seal to get the wah. 2)The other exercise is to do the same thing with the mic but not hooked up to the amp. Just play around until you can feel pressure in your hands on a moderately hard blow note.
A cheap mic previously recommended by Richard Hunter is the Labtec mic AM-22
http://www.amazon.com/Labtec-AM-22-Deluxe-Microphone/dp/B0002BQPFG/ref=sr_1_17?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1238775922&sr=8-17
less than 10 bucks. Sounds good, I have one. I use it as a loaner now but at the time it served its purpose.
Good luck.
Jon


Abner Galdos wrote:
last Christmas I bought my son an eclectic acoustic guitar with a Micro CUBE amp by Roland it cost around $150. I got it for $100.

After reading all this stuff about amps and mic's I ask to borrow it ( this was three weeks ago).... since my son lives with me its no big deal... and I did buy it for both of us.
I have a cheap Samson wand mic.  no matter what  I do I can not reproduce any of the had vibrato (wha, wha).(placing the wand up,down. cupping this way that way)
so my question is simple.

is it me or is it the mic.......????
and can you recommend even off list what would be a good inexpensive (in-home) mic any thing in the $100 range.

I have seen your vids, and read up on it. I'm still confused on the concept. The vibrato is my only problem with using the mic....

Thanks
abner (Blueyes, I will not discuss if a newbie should or should not use amps)

----- Original Message ----- From: Buddha To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx Sent: Wednesday, April 01, 2009 8:34 AM
Subject: [Harp-L] tone and gear - proper mic technique



I meant to include this link with my previous post.


Proper mic technique will make any amplified situation sound better.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvmuGR-1CIA
_______________________________________________
Harp-L is sponsored by SPAH, http://www.spah.org
Harp-L@xxxxxxxxxx
http://harp-l.org/mailman/listinfo/harp-l
_______________________________________________
Harp-L is sponsored by SPAH, http://www.spah.org
Harp-L@xxxxxxxxxx
http://harp-l.org/mailman/listinfo/harp-l



This archive was generated by a fusion of Pipermail 0.09 (Mailman edition) and MHonArc 2.6.8.