I have a gig coming up with a superb acoustic guitarist at a blues/beer/BBQ festival. I was planning to play through the vocal mic, but I was wondering if any of you have ever tried playing a Shaker MadCat mic straight into the PA?
Would that give a clean sound that is responsive to changes in hand cupping / wahs etc.?
I have noticed that sometimes I can get a little too far away from the mic when doing hand wahs, etc, and I forget to move back in, thus rendering me a little too low in the mix.
That is a cheapo japanese crystal in a madcat finger loop. Madcat uses alot of guitar pedals after the mic, then into a Peavy amp. To me it is a thin overly processed sound. Madcat has enough control of his tone to make it sound acceptable. He must like the result. I've heard him through a vocal mic into PA and he sounded much better.
I've been using the madcat for years now and love it. Yes, you can play the wah wahs and cupping etc. with the madcat but it does take a little practice. I like to slip the mic down between my middle and ring finger to position the bulk in the center of my hand so that cupping is possible. Good luck.
@Cliffy -- Rather than using any mic like a Shaker or anything else for REAL acoustic harp, my approach is more old school, where you'd use a mic like an SM58 or SM57 going straight thru the PA, but set up much hotter so that you don't have to be on top of the mic, just as if you're a vocalist trying to prevent unnecessary wear and tear on his vocals, and buy doing this, it now becomes considerably more responsive to not only a good cupping technique, but also as to how you hold it, including how far away. Many vocalists who tend to sing with tons of power often tend to stay more away from the mic and so when they want to sing a lot softer, they can close in as needed, and so ditto for harmonica, and that's real acoustic harp and having the mic constantly in your hands, especially constantly tight cupped minus distortion is never gonna be true acoustic harp at all. ---------- Sincerely, Barbeque Bob Maglinte Boston, MA http://www.barbequebob.com CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
Bob... Thank you so much for your advice! Thanks also to biker and dted and Michelle for your perspectives.
I have never played live acoustically with a really hot mic. It makes perfect sense, though, and I can't wait to try it. I'll be sure to let you know how it went.
I Have tried something similar but I didn't get on very well with it.
Like Bob has said, I much prefer a vocal mic, run a bit hotter and with a little reverb on it to give it some bite.
I'd also add that you can do a lot by concentrating on directing the sound at the mic using you hands. Watch this clip of PT, he's always cupping the harp, opening and closing it at the end closest to the mic and opening is ALWAYS pointed straight at the mic.
I took a few trumpet lessons once, my teacher said you should try and visualise the air and the sound traveling through the trumpet and straight out the horn end and onwards after that.
I've find a similar thing useful when playing into a mic. Try and visualise the column of sounds coming from inside you, through the harp, through your open cup and shooting out the other end straight into the mic.
– Slightly abstract explanation I know, but hope it helps :)
EDITED TO SAY: Someone else posted this tip and clip (or similar) on the forum a while ago. I couldn't find the original thread and can't remember who the original poster was. Credit where credits due.
before I got my 545 from Greg at Blows me away my go to Mic was a Shaker Mad Dog Mic. It is the big brother to the shaker madcat and I now will use it as a back up mic. It has a Buttery sound that is in the vein of Butterfield.
