recordinghacks

One of the coolest products I saw at NAMM was the Kelly Shu, a true isolation shockmount system for permanently installing a microphone in a kick drum. If I were gigging, I’d buy one of these in a heartbeat.

Here’s a tour of the Sennheiser/Neumann factory in Wennebostel, Germany; watch as a K67-style capsule and a U87Ai are made today, using some vintage techniques and a couple new ones too. From Discovery TV’: “How It’s Made.”

My favorite picture from NAMM: Rocket Shells founder Paul Hewett standing atop a carbon-fiber snare-drum shell. Those shells must be indestructible. (I saw John Good of Drum Workshop last weekend, too, but he sure wasn’t standing on one of his snare drum shells.) Rocket Shells was formerly a custom drum manufacturer, but has recently left […]

The All-Industry Drum Circle is a NAMM tradition: 200 people sit in a huge circle beating on surdos, djembes, congas, tambourines, cowbells, agogo bells, and anything else within reach. It is an awesome cacophony. The guy in the black shirt is Paulo Mattioli, a master djembe player, Remo endorser, drum circle leader, and all-around nice […]

Q: What do all these have in common? ADK, AEA, AKG, Alctron, AMT, Audix, Avant, Beyerdynamic, Blue, CAD, Cascade, Charter Oak, DPA, Earthworks, Electro-Voice, Heil Sound, JZ Microphones, Lauten Audio, Mojave Audio, MXL, Nady, Neumann, Nevaton, Royer Labs, SE Electronics, Sennheiser, Shaker Microphones, Shure, Sontronics, Telefunken USA, Violet Design, and me! A: We’ll all be […]

Jerry Silvia’s cardioid ribbon mic, the SC-5C, was briefly released in 2006. Silvia Classics then signed an exclusive distribution deal with Telefunken USA, who launched the mic under the name RM-5C.