I remember going to the Guitar Center store in San Jose with friend and great drummer Daniel Baeder in February 2010. The idea was to buy some microphones for drums and percussion. When we arrived, we came across the DP7 drum package by AUDIX MICROPHONES. The guy from the shop strongly recommended the
AUDIX DP7 and Daniel also said that he knew the brand and that they were really good. I decided then to have a go and bought it!
AUDIX DP7 and Daniel also said that he knew the brand and that they were really good. I decided then to have a go and bought it!
Those were busy times working as a percussionist on Cirque du Soleil’s OVO show and I didn’t really have the chance to try the mics until I left the company in july 2010 and returned to Belgium. That was when I had the chance to find out that life would change! Like a child with a new toy, I first set up the DP7’s AUDIX ADX51 condenser to produce the video “Pintando o Seis”, a solo UDU piece. The first thing I noticed was that I had to use very little EQ for being able to get a great studio sound from the UDU.
“Pintando o Seis” – Udu Solo
Then I had the chance to test the other mics with several percussion instruments. The greatest surprise was the way that the
AUDIX i5 (the snare microphone inside the AUDIX DP7 package) would handle amazingly a variety of live scenarios when miking the UDU and also the CAJON. Once again, AUDIX has provided me with a mic that requires very little EQ for getting a great sound and making a lot easier the hard challenge of “taming the bass frequencies” when miking the UDU on stage. The AUDIX i5 did its job in a great way and required only the usual cut around 100-120 hertz, the frequency range that usually “wakes the feedback ghosts up” when miking large UDU drums!
AUDIX i5 (the snare microphone inside the AUDIX DP7 package) would handle amazingly a variety of live scenarios when miking the UDU and also the CAJON. Once again, AUDIX has provided me with a mic that requires very little EQ for getting a great sound and making a lot easier the hard challenge of “taming the bass frequencies” when miking the UDU on stage. The AUDIX i5 did its job in a great way and required only the usual cut around 100-120 hertz, the frequency range that usually “wakes the feedback ghosts up” when miking large UDU drums!
It was like a “plug and play” situation with no difficulties to get a great sound. I was really impressed with the versatility that the AUDIX i5 could offer.
It was a very productive moment and it was time to develop a new project with the UDU, the CAJON and the usual “TOYS” (everyday objects) that became part of my set up during the research times.
With the essential help from a new “friend”, the BOSS RC-50 loop station, I started working on new pieces using only percussion and vocals. It all started with one single AUDIX i5 being used for capturing all the instruments I used, including the UDU and the vocals and have them straight into the loop station. That’s when my new solo project “Music from Nowhere” and also the “Creative Percussion Clinic” were born.
Live at Batuka Brasil International Drum Festival
Auditório do Ibirapuera – São Paulo – July 2011
“Creative Percussion Clinic” teaser
My next attempt was managing to get the “real” UDU sound. I purchased then the AUDIX ADX10 P, a condenser lavaliere microphone that could give the possibility of miking the UDU internally, what would give me more freedom to explore the techniques using the neck and top hole without a mic on the way and possibly getting all the nuances of sound capturing less the sound coming from other instruments and monitors on stage.
I’m a LATIN PERCUSSION endorser and I have been playing the LP CLAYTONE UDUS for quite a while. They provide a hole in the neck dedicated to the use of a lavaliere mic inside. I have been always curious about how the drum would sound when using an internal mic. I had actually to drill the hole in order to enlarge it and make it possible to fit the AUDIX ADX10P (10mm wide) through the hole.This is how I placed the mic using the putty that comes already with the LP CLAYTONE UDUS :
I’ll be soon producing and posting a new UDU solo piece using the AUDIX ADX10 P . Stay tuned!
That’s how I realized that AUDIX MICROPHONES make the best microphones for my applications. I’ve been in touch with AUDIX since my performance at the NAMM SHOW in January 2011 with the Boris Gaquere & Renato Martins Duo when I had the chance to meet vice president of sales Cliff Castle. We have been in touch since then and this month we decided to officially sign an endorsement contract.
Thanks a lot Cliff! It’s a great honor to officially join the team!
I have added a couple of new AUDIX mics to my set up and I will be posting soon my first impressions on them: the AUDIX OM5 for vocal applications and the boundary mic ADX60 known for being used inside the cajon or outside with the addition of the LP CAJON MIC MOUNT made specially for this microphone in collaboration with LATIN PERCUSSION. That’s gonna be fun! I will keep you posted!
