Tales of a Concert Junkie From Poulsbo

Over on the fantastic Tullycraft website almost daily a song is posted with whatever thought or event was written about that day. The songs range from bands covering Tullycraft songs, to Elastica, Neil Diamond, and even the Smiths. I even found a new current fave from the posts last year when I stumbled across Nana Grizol and it seems that Torsten can’t get enough of that band.

Over the last week or so, some real Tullycraft gems have emerged and the songs are fantastic. I wonder what other gems are lying around on the floor of their recording studio..hint…hint…hint.

But more importantly is the live song from their first show that was put up. The quality is fantastic and makes me wonder, what was I doing on that night years ago? Why didn’t I get tuned into Tullycraft sooner and why did I take such a hiatus from them? I truly wish I could have been there all those years ago. I’m hoping there is some way that I can get the whole show. I’ll have to try and convince Sean that one song wasn’t enough.
Here is the review that was posted on the Tullycraft site. I hope it is OK to use:

Better news is that Tullycraft is playing a show the day after I get back from southern Utah and I’m excited. It will be my first time being inside the new Crocodile Cafe and it will be my first Tullycraft show of the year 2009–since I didn’t go to Portland back in February. April 4th…I will be there!

Now that I’ve thought even more about the Røde stereovideomic, I don’t think it is the right mic for me. When I film a band, I like to be close because the further I stand back, the harder my camera has on focusing in low light situations. So, I like to be close. The Røde stereovideomic, while having nice SPL’s, is not going to do what I want that well. It also doesn’t help that Chris from Sound Professionals basically said he didn’t like it. Plus, Brian mentions in his comments this piece of information, “I could be entirely wrong about the cardioid. It just seems that from your preferred filming location an omni would be more suitable.” So, the search continues.

Chris, from Sound Professionals, linked to these two mics: NADY-CM-2S and the Røde NT4. I’m kind of a funny guy becuase looks matter to me. They shouldn’t, but they do. I do not like the look of the Nady mic at all. Something about the huge mic ball makes me think of other things. I don’t mind the Røde as much since the mics remind me of the XY configurations I see open tapers using. The Nady also has a much lower SPL clocking in at 128 whereas the Røde clocks in at 143. That makes me think the Røde is a better option, but it costs almost three times as much. I have a few things I’m planning on selling and if I get the money for them, I will possibly go the Røde route. I’m waiting for Brian to chime in here for me since he seems to know more than I do.

Here are pics of the mics:
Nady

Røde

OK, so after solving or at least believing that I’ve solved the reason why my mic was having difficulties with the loud levels, those SPL’s will get you every time. You can read about this on my updated post. I think I’m going to go with the Rode StereoVideoMic. It costs more, but since I’m selling some extra mics I have, won’t really end up costing me much in the end. The funny thing is, I was actually considering this mic at one time until I saw the new SP-PSM-8 from Sound Professionals. If I had just gone that route to begin with, then I wouldn’t have been able to excite you with all this mic talk. So, it is a good thing. I also would not have purchased the mic when I did. Of course, I will still talk about mics as I have a Nevaton post coming soon.

Here are the specs for the Rode:
Power: 9V battery powered
Acoustic Principle: Pressure gradient
Directional Pattern: Super Cardioid
Frequency range: 40 Hz – 20 kHz
Output impedance: 200Ω
Signal noise ratio: 74 dB SPL (A – weighted per IEC651)
Equivalent noise: 20 dB SPL (A – weighted per IEC651)
Maximum SPL: 134dB SPL (@ 1kHz, 1% THD into 1KΩ load)
Maximum output voltage
Sensitivity: -38 dB re 1 Volt/Pascal (15 mV @ 94 dB SPL) +/- 2 dB @ 1kHz
Weight: 288gm
Dimensions: 65mmH x 170mmW x 102mmD

Don’t even think about asking me what it all means because I don’t know! I always let others help me with all these terms and stuff! I just try to act like I know what is going on!

Here is what the Rode website says about it:
Now videographers can use true ‘studio’ stereo recording techniques in the field with ease. The X/Y configuration enables the StereoVideoMic to capture the true ambience of the recording space, while still offering a high level of rear rejection and low noise. Fitted with a shoe mount, the StereoVideoMic has the same low noise circuit design as the best selling VideoMic. The StereoVideoMic offers 9V battery operation, an LED battery status indicator, high pass filter switch, and a -10dB pad switch which allows for the mic to be used on most cameras with perfect level control. You can also use the StereoVideoMic as a remote mic on a stand, or a RØDE boom pole (optional), which truly makes this versatile product well suited for all video applications including Electronic News Gathering (ENG), Weddings, Sports Events & Interviews.
Stereo X/Y Condenser Microphone
Broadcast Sound Quality
Low Noise Circuitry
Two step High-Pass Filter – Flat or 80Hz
Rugged cast aluminium body
Custom designed integral windshield
Low handling noise
9V battery powered
Integrated camera-shoe mount

Here are some pics:

Edit–3/02/09
I want to add this to the top as I think Brian brings up a good point in the comments section. The maximum SPL (or Maximum Input Sound Level) on the SP-PSM-8 is 113. Basically SPL levels are the loudest sound pressure level a microphone can take before the mic begins to introduce distortion. So, this could totally explain what was going on. If that is the case, 113 is pretty low (for what I do) and I need higher. The SP-PSM-3 can handle 120. Better, but is it good enough? The Rode Videomic can handle Maximum SPL 134dB SPL (@ 1kHz, 1% THD into 1KΩ load). So, it looks like I will need to send the mic I’m using back in and upgrade to this one. It’s a good thing I’m selling a different set of mics to cover this. ugh.

Back to the original post…
OK, I had time to look at and analyze the wave files from the Nana Grizol show the other night. I’ll post a couple of screen shots and a sample of what the mic recorded. If I have to use battery power with the new mic, then I have to work on how to set that all up on the camera (and look at spending more money). I’m writing this up as I’m going to email SP today and point them to these posts. That way they can tell me what I need and then I can make my decision to send the mic back or not. Either way, a decision has to be made in the next day or so as I would have to get the mic back quick.

From the previous post about the mic, you’ll know I was really excited about the new stereo mic for my camcorder. I was thinking that it had to be an upgrade over the ECM-909a and after reading this: “If you have been using the Sony MS907 or similar stereo mic, this mic will make you want to list your old mic on Ebay! It sounds better (much better bass and highs), can handle loud sounds better, is more sensitive for those quiet situations, and will take care of everything in-between, too.” I was sure it would be.

That doesn’t appear to be the case. You’ll have to download the sample as the mp3 I tried to embed sounded 100X worse than it actually does. So, I don’t know what the problem is. I would right click the file and choose save as. Here is the sample:
circles-sample-to-use
It sounds as if everything is overloading, but it isn’t. Here’s a screen cap of the whole song:

Notice that the levels definitely aren’t overloading and seem to be fine. So, why the issue. Here is another screen cap of just the wave file I uploaded:

Obviously the mic isn’t handling the loud sounds well, like I was lead to believe. So, maybe the batteries were dying? Well, the next night I took Torsten to see the same band when they played up in Anacortes. I bought two new six volt batteries and put them in. The new batteries produced the same results–distortion and overloading. I do notice that the levels don’t seem to be even meaning that one side of each channel appears to be recording higher (not sure how to describe that), but the levels are not too high. Here is a screen cap of that:

Is it the old brickwalling issues that was fairly common with Sony DAT’s and mic in? If so, would using a battery pack be useful? If so, what would be a compromise for that as it will be part of my mic set-up? Hmmm…

Or is there a better mic than the Sony 909a that doesn’t need to have phantom power and would be able to avoid the issues I’m running into? In fact, I’m thinking of sending the SP mic and buying the Rode Stereo Videomic, but will the same thing happen with that? I’m so confused.