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SurfGuitar101 Forums » Recording Corner »

Permalink reverse transducer: speaker as a microphone

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anyone use a speaker as a recording microphone?

I have started messing around using a 2x12 cabinet as a rather large microphone to capture the low end of the bass cab...i will report a bit more as the experiments continue...

dp
anyone use a speaker as a recording microphone?

I have started messing around using a 2x12 cabinet as a rather large microphone to capture the low end of the bass cab...i will report a bit more as the experiments continue...

DP, you know who else did it? Geoff Emerick, George Martin and the Beatles on "Paperback Writer/Rain" - just read about it a few months ago in Emerick's book about recording the Beatles (which is an EXCELLENT read!). The bass sounds pretty amazing on those two songs!

Ivan

Ivan
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We've done this before as we only had one mic back in the high school days and our first shots at recording in my bedroom. We just used the speaker as a mic to monitor the sound in the room. It sounded god awful.

And Paperback Writer/Rain are two of the most amazing Beatles songs, both of which have great music videos. Where those two songs directly before Sgt. Peppers? If so, a shame that sound wasn't more present in Sgt. Peppers. (Sgt Peppers is my least favorite Beatles record)

I just read some about Emerick in the last TapeOp...but, I don't think he was talking the "speaker as microphne" setup, but then again, maybe he was? I can't remember...

I heard about that sort of bass frequency "big microphone out of a speaker" setup somewhere, and I finally decided to try it.

the setup was pretty straightforward: speaker>eq>preamp>line-in.

I used the eq to attenuate (dial-in) the proper frequency...and...it seems to work!

I want to spend a bit more time with the setup and see (and hear!) what this sort of setup might produce...

Last edited: Mar 04, 2007 01:01:46

Everything in TapeOp is over my head but I don't think he was talking about that.

JakeDobner
And Paperback Writer/Rain are two of the most amazing Beatles songs, both of which have great music videos. Where those two songs directly before Sgt. Peppers? If so, a shame that sound wasn't more present in Sgt. Peppers. (Sgt Peppers is my least favorite Beatles record)

Jake, Paperback Writer and Rain were part of the Revolver sessions, not Sgt. Pepper. Revolver was full of similar sounds, both guitar and bass. That's still my favorite Beatles album. Man, I love the guitar sounds on Dr. Robert and And Your Bird Can Sing!!!

Ivan

Ivan
Lords of Atlantis on Facebook
The Madeira Official Website
The Madeira on Facebook
The Blair-Pongracic Band on Facebook
The Space Cossacks on Facebook
The Madeira Channel on YouTube

Rubber Soul and Revolver always do it for me. I can't decide which one I like more.

dp.
I remember my uncle doing the speaker microphone thing once. It was back in Kentucky when I was a barefoot kid. They didn't have much money, but he could make miracles happen if he need to.
The speaker seemed to make a pretty good mic. Of course I was just a kid, and don't really know how it truely sounded. But my aunt Betty could surely sing, and she did use that speaker mic when she did.
Joel

Lots and lots of full-orchestra classical albums have been recorded this way. While I am no expert at this, it seems that unless you want to capture only the lowest frequenices, a loudspeaker with a smallish diaphragm (cone) should be used. It also seems to me that single-speaker systems are the only viable option as a the capacitance of a crossover network necessitates one-way operation.

SSIV

LHR
... While I am no expert at this, it seems that unless you want to capture only the lowest frequenices, a loudspeaker with a smallish diaphragm (cone) should be used...

lhr:

that was my exact intentions...I am attempting to capture the lowest part of the electric bass spectrum...the rumble...I would like to capture the very lowest part of a bass drum thump also. Then, mix in this "low-low" track with a DI and a more traditional mic setup...

-dp

dp, keep us posted.

SSIV

dp
that was my exact intentions...I am attempting to capture the lowest part of the electric bass spectrum...the rumble...I would like to capture the very lowest part of a bass drum thump also. Then, mix in this "low-low" track with a DI and a more traditional mic setup...

There's a mic available in number of music catalogues, advertised mostly for mic'ing bass drum. I think it's based on a 6" or 8" speaker.
Using a large (12", 15", maybe 18") bass or PA cabinet as a mic in front of the bass drum will capture larger sound waves; lower frequencies.
I haven't done this yet, so I've got no idea about ideal distances...

Cheese is great.

Once again I read through the information at SG101 and discover something I'd never heard of. Geez, what an absolutely cool idea!

dp, I hope you'll provide us with a detailed account of this process and share the results.

Cheers,
Chuck

Hmmm. Now you've got me wondering how a smaller (4"? 2"?) speaker might serve as an acoustic pickup for a cigar-box guitar. Or ... cigar-box dobro?
The trick could be to get a good mechanical coupling of the soundboard or bridge to the cone rim, without it being too mushy.

I'm not a complete idiot. Some parts are missing.

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