Microphones and Dynamic Processors

Goals

• Reinforce the information you learned last week by reviewing the material and seeking out enrichment material.
  
  
• Be familiar with the brands of acoustic and electronic drums, cymbals, and hardware in this week's section of the ProGear guide.

Study

• Start with the theory lesson for this week.
  
  
• Read pp. 265–334 (microphones) and 342–350 (mic preamps) in the ProGear guide (twice). The preamp pages are from the Studio Gear section of the ProGear guide. We're skipping ahead because the need for preamps is related the discussion of condenser microphones in the theory section of the lesson. Look up any terminology you don't understand in the Sweetwater Glossary. Grow your collection of flash cards.
  
  
• Seek out magazine reviews, YouTube videos, forums, and other websites with information about the material in this section of the ProGear guide. Add any links that you think are interesting to our shared Supplemental Resources page. The title there is for MMP280, that is the long term number for the class. The point of this page is to share leads with your virtual study group.
  
  
• Read the buying guides:
  • Studio microphones
  • Mic stands and accessories
  • Sennheiser wireless mics
  • Neumann microphones
  • USB microphones
  • Acoustic treatment
  • Mic preamps
    
    
• This week you can pick the microphones and preamp companies to write case studies about. If you're in the class, register your choice on the web page we started the first week so that someone else doesn't pick the same one.
  
  
• Look for other sources of information on the Internet. The more angles you look at the information and connections you make with your own interests, the quicker and deeper you'll gain knowledge.
  • Check out at the links to microphone and preamp study on our Supplemental Resources page . Add sites that you find on your own explorations that you think other people studying music retail products would be interested in and benefit from. Type in text describing what can be found, select the appropriate text, and then click on the INSERT LINK icon and paste in the URL. This will turn your text into a link that others can click on.
  • Ball State students can access courses on Lynda.com, including lessons found by searching within the site for "microphones":
    • Drum Recording Session with Josh Freese
    • Drum Setup and Mic'ing in the Studio with Ryan Hewitt
    • Music Production Secrets with Larry Crane
    • Audio Recording Techniques with Bobby Owsinski

Assignment

• Write up two case studies, one on a company that makes microphones, another that makes preamps. Incorporate feedback from your instructor regarding your previous case studies.
  
  
• Extra credit: collect business cards at Gear Fest and turn in a list with each name, company, job title, and email address.

[ Music Retail Products ]