Gino discusses the new KSM ribbon microphones. Yes, you can use them on a kick drum!
This week UML-SRT hosted the international Shure Mic Tour. This event had a limited registration of 25 attendees which was filled. Gino Sigismondi, Manager/Technical Trainer from Shure Americas, along with several other representatives including Bill Ostry (Shure) and Bill King (Richard Dean Associates) provided several microphones to be used in a live mic listening/recording session. The performance was provided by the band Yer Majesty, including members Wes Moore - electric guitar, Mike Papa - acoustic guitar, Jeremy Moisson - drums, and Nate Hunter - bass.
Gino and Bill O. started us off by introducing the format of the session and the microphones we would be listening to. The focus of the 2 hour session was to compare/contrast mics on four specific instruments. These included kick drum (Beta 52, Beta 91A, and the new KSM353), acoustic guitar (SM57, and the new Beta 181 and KSM44A), electric guitar (KSM 42, SM57, and the new KSM313), and vocal (SM7B, Neumann TLM103, and the new KSM42 and KSM353). Each of these key instruments were miked in such a way as to have the three mics as close together as possible and minimize the timbral differences presented by the instrument.
Significant focus was driven towards the new Beta 181 multi-capsule (C,O,SC,BD) side-address microphones as well as the KSM 313 and 353 ribbon mics. Surprisingly, one of the 353s was placed on kick drum to show the significant strength and robustness of the new "Roswelite" ribbon material. It was also interesting to see the internal construction by virtue of mics with various cross-sectional cut-aways made to their housings. This session proved very revealing of the design motivations and sonic differences between models of microphones.
Thanks go out to Jamie Tagg, Doug Iszlai and Nick Foudi for helping to set up the studio for the event. Special thanks go out to Shure, Mike and Gino for putting on this event and allowing us to host the session. We are are also thankful to Shure for providing a generous give-away to the students at the end of the session. Congratulations to Mike Trapani for winning an SM 27 and to Thom Beemer for winning a pair of Shure headphones!
