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Q. What are the pros and cons of using a microphone on my acoustic instrument instead of a pickup?
A. Advantages: Reproduces every tonal nuance, no modifications to the instrument are necessary.
Disadvantages: Feedback, ambient noise can intrude, may require phantom power.
If you have a great-sounding instrument, and want to capture the fine nuances
of authentic acoustic tone (violin, viola, cello or bass), use a mic. However, because it captures sound through the air, breathing, body movement and bow noise can also be amplified. A mic is much more liable to feed back, so it's not recommended if you perform in a loud monitor environment. Most players use a miniature mic designed to attach to their instrument, not a mic on a floor stand. The mini mics allow the player to move around, unlike a mic on a stand.
Here's what we recommend…
DPA Microphones
DPA is a Danish company making high-quality microphones that offer a true and clear tone that is faithful to your instrument’s every nuance.
 The DPA 4099 is a miniature shotgun microphone inside a windscreen. It attaches to the side of violin or viola with a flexible arm, for convenient placement.
Because of the focused pattern of the 4099, the mic ignores most breathing or movement noise (great for us emotional players!). The soft rubber clip holds the mic securely with virtually no risk of damaging the instrument. If the mic cable gets caught on something, the clip will come off, not jerking your precious instrument to the floor. Output is standard XLR cable, and should be used with the mic input on your amp or sound system.
 The IMK4061 microphone kit is a versatile option for string players who need to amplify other instruments as well. This kit includes the DPA 4061 mini mic with windscreens, two after-length clips (work great on strings!) and several varieties of universal mounts for violin, viola, cello, bass, flute, sax, guitar, piano, or harp.
The 4061 is omnidirectional, so if you hum while you play, everyone will hear. This mic has a very wide dynamic range and can handle high sound pressure levels making it a great choice for most instruments. It is best suited for sensitive sound reinforcement and not for loud performing environments, as it tends to feed back more than the 4099.
Audio-Technica ATM-350
 The ATM-350 offers the bowed string player a more economical mini mic. This microphone works on many instruments including violin, viola, cello, trumpet or saxophone. It has a gooseneck for placing the mic in the best location and attaches to the instrument or shoulder rest with a rubberized spring clip. The ATM-350 also comes with a hook and loop mount for positioning the mic on the string after-length of a violin, viola or cello. Its cardioid directionality pattern reduces feedback and ambient noise. It sounds good, but does require careful placement for best tone. On cello, where a longer after-length allows for better spacing, the ATM-350 sounds excellent.
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Like Bees to Honey!
This week we had two long distance visitors trying out violins at the same time. Nick Schafer came from Illinois with his parents, on their way to visit family in Florida. And Carlos Kolenda flew in from Isla de Margarita, Venezuela.
 Nick will rock hard on his 6 string Viper, and Carlos had Paulo fine tune the setup on his clear Vivo. Carlos played with Paulo that night on the plaza at Durham’s Brightleaf Square. Click to watch the video from Blaise's cell phone and from Carlos's camera with a photo montage (as it got too dark to see!). Carlos is quite the creative player, check out his online files!
The Green Anthem
You are invited to participate in Julie Lyonn Lieberman's national project, The Green Anthem. Play the anthem, pledge allegiance to planet earth, and participate in three national eco-friendly competitions. You can get your FREE student kit, 34-page teacher's manual complete with seven lesson plans, mp3 files and more. Go to www.GreenAnthem.org for more details.
MENC Music Education Advocacy Week in Washington DC
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| Blaise in our booth - with belt clip amplifier, for the fashionable strolling electric fiddler! |
Blaise and his wife Cathy joined hundreds of music educators from all 50 states in this first-ever event, designed to persuade our legislators to keep music funded in our schools. Highlights include:
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar helped deliver MENC's Petition for Equal Access to Music Education (with the 120,000 signatures!) and was emcee for the Jazz concert. At 7 feet 2 inches, he really stood out from the crowd! His father, Lew Alcindor Senior, graduated from Julliard on the GI Bill and raised his son with great appreciation for the local New York City jazz scene. Kareem has supported live music for decades, even playing basketball many Sundays with the Jackson 5 kids! Only days after his LA Lakers won the NBA tournament, here he was in DC, side-by-side with teachers, asking our legislators to keep the music alive.
 Hearing Jamey Aebersold, author of at least 100 play-along jazz books, inspire players of all ages to leave the page behind and learn to improvise. How many more high school musicians would keep playing after graduating if they were comfortable in joining a group playing by ear? Download his FREE Jazz Handbook.
Learning that the US Army is our largest (and oldest) employer of musicians, with 130 performing groups! With a history dating back to the Revolutionary War, Army ensembles range from the traditional wind bands to jazz and rock, and some include strings too.
Meeting Morton Subotnick, pioneer of electronic music and one of Blaise’s early heros of the synthesizer. Did you know he has developed a CDROM curriculum for teaching children age 4 and up to create spontaneous music? |
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We welcome your inspiring story or a favorite quote.
Thoughts from Jamey Aebersold, concerning jazz education:
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Everyone can improvise. |
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“You either have it or you don't” is a myth and needs to be deleted
from our consciousness. |
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Connoisseurs Take Note!
Dan Maloney has done it again - found amazingly figured wood and integrated it artistically with his sleek violin shape. His MSI 5 string violin’s quilted maple top has figure deep enough to get lost in, and is placed over a beautifully grained mahogany body. Both woods are unified with a rich honey stain. The curly maple neck is unstained, the asymmetrical scroll balancing the composition, just like a piece of fine art. Ashworth bridge, Helicore strings, Thomastik tailpiece.
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Improv Camp in VT
 Blaise attended a Eugene Friesen workshop some years ago and highly recommends it for getting more comfortable with improvising. Eugene is a very creative cellist, and designed his first-ever Vermont Improvising Strings Academy (VISA) for all adult string players.
Cool off in Brattleboro, Vermont – August 27-30, 2009 – and learn to heat up your playing! VISA '09 will stimulate musical imagination, spontaneity and deep listening in your music making through four days of intensive classes, lessons and performances.
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 Cabrios have arrived!
The new 800 watt, 20 pound combo amplifiers from Acoustic Image are in stock. Great for all instruments, they offer new versatility for those who play through a variety of cabinets.
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We added two new Vipers to the Pit. Rounding out our selection are a spring-burst and a raspberry-burst transparent, both five-string fretless models with Barbera bridges.
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Matt Evans Seeks Greener Landscapes
With a mixture of sadness and excitement, we announce that Matt is leaving EVS for graduate studies in landscape architecture. His interest in eco-sensitive design may someday show up in a location near you! His friendly expertise will be missed, as will his foreign language speaking!
Turn Up the Bass!
 Joining our staff as you read this is Wells Gordon, an upright bass player equally at home in classical and jazz styles. He has degrees in recording technology, jazz studies and bass performance, as well as 8 years retail experience at the Music Loft, right around the corner when we were still in Carrboro. Blaise and he played in a Gypsy Jazz band back in those days as well! Welcome aboard Wells!
The Green Violin (Shop)
 Blaise has run EVS with Green values long before they were popular.
Re-use. We re-use shopping bags for our walk-in customers, and rely on packing peanuts from The Scrap Exchange (who collect industrial discards for artistic re-use), and other shipping materials from Budget Blinds, our neighbor in the next building. You may find someone near you who would appreciate a donation of your shipping materials. There was a locally-owned shipping store near us that issued credit towards future shipping for your donation of packing materials.
No disposable instruments. The ultimate economy is choosing well in the first place. We refuse to carry poorly designed gear, or gear that will not last.
Recycling. From cans to cardboard, even our shredder confetti - it all gets turned into something useful, courtesy of the city of Durham.
Location. Two of our full time employees live less than 2 miles from our shop, and we are a mile from I-40 and 10 minutes from RDU airport.
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