#3137 - 08/11/01 06:26 AM
The Meekrophone Diaries, Vol. 1
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Curve Dominant
MP Hall of Fame Member
Registered: 10/29/00
Posts: 4223
Loc: Philadelphia USA
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This is in response to a request on a long-forgotten singer's thread, on which I posted that I expected to come into possession of a Joe Meek JM47 large diaphragm condensor mic, and folks wanted my impressions...
I just finished tracking my first lead vocal with it.
WOW! It is all dat...
Bear in mind, that I had been tracking my vocal parts with a Shure SM57 up until now. That mic was doing fine, as long as I was in the modern rock world. But I'm in the underground house/future music/future jazz/trip hop/neo bossa worlds of electronica now, and the switch from dynamic to large diaphragm condensor seemed logical for close-mic'd application.
For my first foray into the Meekrophone, I had an idea for a falsetto-soul interpretation of an old rock lyric I'd been dying to remix. The old version was a bashing U2-esque mess, but I always liked the lyrics. So I set up a trip-hop beat at 72bpm, added some bossa-jazz guitar chord changes, and then set up the Meekrophone and the Stedman Proscreen.
The first thing I noticed was: all of my EQ presets on the VS's compression inserts got nixed. Same for any EQ settings at the input stage. My voice is kinda bassy, so I went with a 120Hz setting on the hi-pass filter of the mic pre I'm using (ART PRO MPA). Other than that, nothing but limiting going in, and compression at the insert stage.
So then, I tracked the vocal, all falsetto, for a slow soul love ballad. And...I...still...cannot...believe...that that is me singing. I have never heard my own voice so transparently clear - the way that I hear it in my head when I sing out loud, a capella.
It's a luscious sound, clear and even across the frequency spectrum. Bob Olhson should critique this sound, just so I know it's not my imagination. I grew up on hits like "Keep On Truckin'" by Eddie Kendricks, and I never dreamed I could have tracked vocals that were so close in sound quality to that. But, damn! I can't stop replaying this track, and it was sung after a long day, with a few cocktails in me, no warm-up. The performance itself leaves MUCH to be desired, let me clarify. But I can hear every nuance of my voice. It's scary, it's so "pro" sounding.
It's got this subtle definition thing...oh, it's so swelteringly true. I know it's not my engineering skills, 'cause I'm a composer and a lyricist, and not an engineer. It has got to be the Meekrophone. It just sounds positively smashing.
E
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#3138 - 08/11/01 01:47 PM
Re: The Meekrophone Diaries, Vol. 1
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not coaster MODERATOR
MP Hall of Fame Member
Registered: 03/27/01
Posts: 5306
Loc: Nowhere Special
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Welcome to the cult of the meek. Alan Hyatt was telling me about the mic when I went down to meet him. He's frustrated because L.A. stores won't push this product although it appears to be excellent as you say. I picked up a meek twin Q which is excellent sounding. I bet your mic would sound great through it.
Have fun
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