Audio transients are instantaneous sonic events with extremely short attack and decay times, and minimal sustain. Snare drum hits, kick drum hits, staccato piano, plucked strings, and slap bass are all good examples. Due to the low mass of the … Read More
Thelonious Monk was once heard to remark “Talking about music is like dancing about architecture.” His point was that music is a transcendent medium that is simply meant to be listened to, felt, and enjoyed rather than deconstructed, critiqued, and … Read More
Ribbon mics operate on the same electromagnetic principle as their distant relatives ‘dynamic mics’ but with one important difference: Instead of the dynamic’s cumbersome plastic voice coil (Fig. 1), the ribbon mic employs an extremely thin strip of corrugated aluminum … Read More
Condenser mics are a little more complicated – we’ll try to provide a very simple explanation! The condenser employs a capsule (Fig. 1.2) consisting of a solid metallic disc called the backplate and, on one or both sides of the … Read More
Of all modern microphone designs, dynamics are the simplest. They operate on the principle of electromagnetic induction, meaning the physical motion of components within the mic actually generates its output current by moving a suspended coil of conductive wire, the … Read More
Meet the transducer: a device that converts one form of energy into another corresponding form of energy for some useful purpose. Microphones are specialized transducers that convert acoustic energy (known as sound pressure) into electrical current for amplification, broadcast, or … Read More
Let’s say you’re a guitarist. You’ve spent tons of money on guitars, amps, effects, and mods; and years experimenting and listening to find your sound. It sounds amazing standing in front of your amp, right? So why is it so … Read More
Gayle Levant is the leading harpist in Los Angeles. She has played on countless movie scores and has recorded with some of the biggest names in music including Ray Charles, Barbara Streisand, and Frank Sinatra. The first time she heard … Read More
We’ve been saying this since we opened our doors in 1998, and we’d like to take a minute to explain what we mean. Simply put, when you put a quality ribbon mic on an instrument, voice, or other sound source, … Read More