I have a decent camera, and I like pushing the limits of what I can do with it. This reading of my favorite Poe poem was created entirely out of still photos shot in real time. It was surprisingly difficult to sync the audio...
Hope you enjoy!
Showing posts with label poetry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label poetry. Show all posts
Monday, August 20, 2012
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Living Room Laboratory: The Sennheiser MD421-U-5
It's a beautiful day (windows wide open with 70 degree weather), Mrs. Audio Guy is outta town, and Biggs is being chill.
Let's play a little!
About two months before we moved, a reader of the blog sold me an old (OLD) used Sennheiser MD421-U-5. He was cleaning out his mic cabinet, and came across this old Senny, which he had purchased in the 90's, then just never really used. He was well stocked on SM7's and RE20's, so off this mic went. To me. For little more than the cost of shipping. Woot!
I don't know exactly how old it is, but it is a fairly early serial number for the U-5 (#2097, and I've seen serials as high 55,000 on ebay), so I'm thinking it was made in the early 80's or late 70's.
A little history, the MD421 is probably the microphone most responsible for Sennheiser having a presence in the US microphone market today. Thomas Schillinger sold 600 MD421's to NBC in the late 60's, getting the microphone into the hands of recording and broadcast engineers across the country, and to date, the MD421 (and it's updates) remains one of the highest selling microphones of all time.
I've NEVER used one before.
These days, the dynamic microphones of choice seem to be the Electrovoice RE20, or the Shure SM7B. Most VO pros I know go for those, a large diaphragm condenser, or Sennheiser's now ubiquitous shotgun, the MKH416.
I don't run a booth out of my home anymore, so I thought it would be fun to throw some kit out on the living room floor. I recorded a little Poe (you know me and Poe), and to compare I also recorded on another dynamic microphone, the Shure SM57 (my personal fave "do anything" mic). The recording chain was Microphone to ART Tube PAC to NRV10 to laptop.
So how did it sound?
Here's the MD421:
And here's the SM57:
First up, this mic is QUIET. I plugged it into my preamp, and dialed up about 20dB of gain, and saw nothing. I had to hit the MD421 with 45dB of input for it to register my voice at a comfortable speaking level. By comparison the SM57 needed only 30dB of gain to match the output of the MD421. I've never had to do that before. I'm pretty confident I could scream myself mute into this thing and be NOWHERE near damaging the cartridge.
The tone is pretty smooth, and I think it fattens up the bassier end of my thin little voice. From memory, I feel it exhibits more proximity effect than RE20's I've used. Good to know if you're going for an intense "trailer" sound.
The SM57 did a much better job with off-axis rejection (picking up little surrounding noise except for what's directly in front of it), but the MD421 was certainly no slouch (remember I was recording 4 feet from an open window overlooking a fairly busy street in Studio City). Also, the MD421 was MUCH more tolerant of plosive b's and p's (a problem of mine), and something the SM57 can be a little fragile about. I feel I could comfortably use the 421 without a pop shield or sock.
I'm really excited about this mic. It probably wont see tons of action as I prefer condensers for most of my VO, but the times I need to record really loud sessions, this baby's going right up front to the top of my list. I'm this mic's third owner, and I'm really stoked to be giving it a good home!
Are you looking for a NEW MD421?
Let's play a little!
About two months before we moved, a reader of the blog sold me an old (OLD) used Sennheiser MD421-U-5. He was cleaning out his mic cabinet, and came across this old Senny, which he had purchased in the 90's, then just never really used. He was well stocked on SM7's and RE20's, so off this mic went. To me. For little more than the cost of shipping. Woot!I don't know exactly how old it is, but it is a fairly early serial number for the U-5 (#2097, and I've seen serials as high 55,000 on ebay), so I'm thinking it was made in the early 80's or late 70's.
A little history, the MD421 is probably the microphone most responsible for Sennheiser having a presence in the US microphone market today. Thomas Schillinger sold 600 MD421's to NBC in the late 60's, getting the microphone into the hands of recording and broadcast engineers across the country, and to date, the MD421 (and it's updates) remains one of the highest selling microphones of all time.
I've NEVER used one before.
These days, the dynamic microphones of choice seem to be the Electrovoice RE20, or the Shure SM7B. Most VO pros I know go for those, a large diaphragm condenser, or Sennheiser's now ubiquitous shotgun, the MKH416.
I don't run a booth out of my home anymore, so I thought it would be fun to throw some kit out on the living room floor. I recorded a little Poe (you know me and Poe), and to compare I also recorded on another dynamic microphone, the Shure SM57 (my personal fave "do anything" mic). The recording chain was Microphone to ART Tube PAC to NRV10 to laptop.So how did it sound?
Here's the MD421:
|
And here's the SM57:
|
First up, this mic is QUIET. I plugged it into my preamp, and dialed up about 20dB of gain, and saw nothing. I had to hit the MD421 with 45dB of input for it to register my voice at a comfortable speaking level. By comparison the SM57 needed only 30dB of gain to match the output of the MD421. I've never had to do that before. I'm pretty confident I could scream myself mute into this thing and be NOWHERE near damaging the cartridge.
The tone is pretty smooth, and I think it fattens up the bassier end of my thin little voice. From memory, I feel it exhibits more proximity effect than RE20's I've used. Good to know if you're going for an intense "trailer" sound.
The SM57 did a much better job with off-axis rejection (picking up little surrounding noise except for what's directly in front of it), but the MD421 was certainly no slouch (remember I was recording 4 feet from an open window overlooking a fairly busy street in Studio City). Also, the MD421 was MUCH more tolerant of plosive b's and p's (a problem of mine), and something the SM57 can be a little fragile about. I feel I could comfortably use the 421 without a pop shield or sock.
I'm really excited about this mic. It probably wont see tons of action as I prefer condensers for most of my VO, but the times I need to record really loud sessions, this baby's going right up front to the top of my list. I'm this mic's third owner, and I'm really stoked to be giving it a good home!
Are you looking for a NEW MD421?
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
"Poetry Girl" Interviewed, Reads Three pieces from "Univer-Soul Language"
Hey all!
This was originally supposed to be a monthly feature, finding authors to narrate their own work, interviewing them, talking about their influences, inspirations, etc.
Alas it was not to be.
Though before scrapping the idea, I did get this killer session with "Poetry Girl", one of the authors contributing to The Univer-Soul Language Vol 1. We spent an evening chatting art, inspiration, writing, and, well, poetry, and she was gracious enough to read three of her poems for us, very sweet and personal work.
That, and her voice is hella sexy...
The Univer-Soul Language @ Barnes and Noble
A Wild Night at Kirbys @ MySpace
This was originally supposed to be a monthly feature, finding authors to narrate their own work, interviewing them, talking about their influences, inspirations, etc.
Alas it was not to be.
Though before scrapping the idea, I did get this killer session with "Poetry Girl", one of the authors contributing to The Univer-Soul Language Vol 1. We spent an evening chatting art, inspiration, writing, and, well, poetry, and she was gracious enough to read three of her poems for us, very sweet and personal work.
That, and her voice is hella sexy...
The Univer-Soul Language @ Barnes and Noble
A Wild Night at Kirbys @ MySpace
Thursday, October 4, 2007
SomeAudioGuy Reads you a Poem, a ROMANTIC Poem!
Maybe some day I'll record something that isn't Poe...
Who knows?
It COULD happen...
Anywho, here's 'To Helen (ii)' by E.A. Poe. Enjoy!
And keep an eye (ear?) out for some original work soon from the mysterious "PoetryGirl". It's pretty exciting stuff!!!
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
Some Audio Guy Tells You a Story! A SCARY Story!
I almost forgot about this. I read this a year ago for Librivox. One of my favorite stories of ALL time, "The Masque of the Red Death" by Edgar Allen Poe.
Enjoy!
Kinda funny. I can't say "horror", heh-heh...
Sunday, May 20, 2007
I MET A LIVING LEGEND!!!: Norman Corwin Edition
Yup he's 97, and as sharp as ever.
I got to go hang out at the the Museum of Television and Radio yesterday. AFTRA was wrapping up this years mentoring program by having college students perform a radio play, complete with live sound effects. Of course I'm a sucker for this and had to be there. It was only after RSVP-ing that I realized the play they were performing was an unpublished work from Norman Corwin, and that he would be in attendance. To be honest I only had a cursory understanding of who Corwin was, but I knew enough to know that this was a pretty big deal.
I showed up 90 minutes early.
The play was a funny little romp called "The Strange Affliction", and dealt with a woman who couldn't stop speaking in rhyme, and the students had a fun time performing it. After the play we were then treated to the Academy Award winning documentary about the life of Corwin called "A Note of Triumph: The Golden Age of Norman Corwin".
As it was also so close to his birthday, a reception was held with a cake and refreshments. My favorite moment was Corwin's proclamation post blowing out the candle on his cake, that he couldn't enjoy the cake because of dietary restrictions, but that it was sweet enough knowing there were only some 500 days left for Bush.
It was a great way to spend an afternoon.
For those not as familiar with Corwin's work, first up, check out these Youtube clips of him speaking, the link should direct you to search results.
Then check out his web page here. It has tons of clips of his work in radio.
someaudioguy some audio guy narration voice over production aftra voice acting radio drama plays theater demo audiobooks
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