mstreck Posted December 31, 2002 Share Posted December 31, 2002 My drummer tells me that he heard of a microphone that is a sheet of Plexiglass(?) and can sit right in front of his kit. The Plexiglass picks up the vibrations from the kit and acts as a mic. Has anyone heard of (or used) these? I'm not sure if they even exist... or if they do they're probably not designed for what he wants to do. Sometimes, I think our drummer's on crack! Thoughts? Mike Petting Hendrix Do you know what it's like to fall in the mud and get kicked in the head by an iron boot? Of course you don't--no one does--that never happens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brakka Posted December 31, 2002 Share Posted December 31, 2002 Your drummer might indeed be on crack, I don't have enough info to tell. But he's right. It's called a PZM, which if I remember correctly means pressure zone mic. Church choirs use them a lot. http://www.gbaudio.co.uk/images/pzm.jpg That thing is mounted on a sheet of plexiglass or a wall (or the underside of a grand piano lid). The mic picks up sound pressure hitting the plexiglass. The best thing about it is how it deals with phase. A normal mic will pick up a sound directly, but will also pick up the same sound reflected off of the walls, floor, and other things. The slightly delayed sound will mix with the original, canceling some frequencies and boosting others. Since the PZM mic is right against the flat sheet of plexi, it wont get as many reflections. This reduces phase problems for a better sound. I have heard of people using them on drums. Great for a simple stereo setup (I think I remember reading that the last PJ Harvey disc used PZM's for the drums). The downside is that the PZM will pick up a lot of things besides the drums. If you are in the studio and the drums are isolated, It could work nicely. Radio Shack sells a PZM that is supposed to be decent. The price is VERY decent (under $50). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mstreck Posted January 1, 2003 Author Share Posted January 1, 2003 Wow! Thanks a million! Impressive technology! Guess I need to apologize to our drummer... a hard thing for a guitarist to do! If anyone has any onstage experience with these PZM things, I'd be glad to hear about them! Thanks, Mike Petting Hendrix Do you know what it's like to fall in the mud and get kicked in the head by an iron boot? Of course you don't--no one does--that never happens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Flier Posted January 1, 2003 Share Posted January 1, 2003 Yeah, the Radio Shack PZM's are about $30 and you really can do amazing things with them if you're on a budget. They can be mounted on pretty much any stable surface, preferably a large one (4x4 feet or more). Lots of people tape PZM's to a wall or ceiling to record drums. You can also mount a couple of them on the inside of a piano lid for a nice stereo piano sound. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roy d Posted January 1, 2003 Share Posted January 1, 2003 Crown also markets this design (and I think invented it) in higher quality models. They sound great and eliminate any phase cancellation. The better ones do require phantom power. Roy http://www.soundclick.com/bands/8/alexisdmusic.htm "once it stops bein' a mystery it stops bein' true" David Mowaljarlai - Ngarinyin Aboriginal Elder Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mstreck Posted January 26, 2003 Author Share Posted January 26, 2003 Originally posted by roy d: Crown also markets this design (and I think invented it) in higher quality models. They sound great and eliminate any phase cancellation. The better ones do require phantom power.We just bought a Crown PZM on eBay for $35... I'll let you all know how we make out! Thanks, Mike Petting Hendrix Do you know what it's like to fall in the mud and get kicked in the head by an iron boot? Of course you don't--no one does--that never happens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Berolzheimer Posted February 4, 2003 Share Posted February 4, 2003 For going a bit more upscale Schoeps makes mics based on the same concept, more $$$ but ya get whacha payed fer. Theirs are called BLMs (boundary layer microphone) Shoeps mics generally are a little bright, very open sounding & have tremendous reach & depth. Paul Berolzheimer Progenitor of 2 amazing sound sources Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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