Hi everyone!
I auditioned last night for the job of mandolinist with a band and I thought I'd share my brief journey with clip-on mics in the hope that it might prove helpful for others.
This band is all acoustic, but the musicians often play through a PA, so their instruments all have pickups - guitar, banjo, violin, mandolin, bass. Neither of my mandolins have pickups and I had no interest in having one installed, so clip-on mic was the way to go for me.
I know very little about mics and I am easily confused by this stuff. I'd seen a photo of Chris Thile with his clip-on mic. Prior to that, I didn't really have a notion that such a thing existed. I started out googling things like "thile clip-on mic mandolin" and found discussions of "ATM350" and "phantom power" and "preamp." So, I started thinking I need a preamp that will provide phantom power to my mic. Further googling landed me here:
https://www.mandolincafe.com/news/pu...s_001188.shtml
Apparently in 2010, Don Stiernberg was using a L.R. Baggs preamp with his transducer pickup.
OK, fine. L.R. Baggs seems to make a lovely little Gig Pro Belt Clip preamp. It provides phantom power. I ordered one for $130.
Next, I needed an actual clip-on mic. I read about the Audio Technica 350, the DPA 4099s and the Audio Technica Pro35. Here's an interesting thread:
https://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/t...-on-microphone
I was concerned how I was going to mount a clip-on having seen pictures of the violin mount that Thile uses for the DPA - I didn't want to spend $600 on a mic. I read that the Audio Technica clips could mount on my Tone-Gard.
$300 for the ATM350 seems a bit much so I ordered the much less expensive Pro35 for $150.
A few days later, I had my Gig Pro preamp and my Audio Technica Pro35.
First challenge - where to mount the Pro35? I don't have pickguards on my mandolins, so that was out. The Tone-Gard was the only option. The gooseneck on the Pro35 is very short so I struggled to engineer the solution. Ultimately, I found that the clip fastened very securely on the rubber pad around the Tone-Gard "finger" on the bottom arm and the gooseneck was long enough to position the mic right above the lower f-hole.
Fast forward to the audition: 40 minutes of vigorous playing and the mic did not move.
Second challenge - how to provide phantom power to the mic? So, the question was how to make my Pro35's XLR connection work with the Gig Pro's TRS input. The Internet told me that one can theoretically pass phantom power through an XLR <-> TRS adapter, but I could not make that work. I even purchased a cable with XLR on one end and TRS on the other. That didn't work either.
It then occurred to me that my Focusrite Scarlett digital interface is essentially a mixer with mic XLR inputs that can provide phantom power. And they have preamps. So, I plugged the Pro35 directly into the Scarlett, hit the phantom power button and ran a TRS cable from the monitor output to my PA and - voila - it worked.
I returned the L.R. Baggs Gig Pro.
So, now I was so excited that I decided to try out the ATM350! I got the ATM350UL. The "UL" refers to the mount, which, in this case, is a clip and 9 inch gooseneck. The gooseneck on this mount is much longer than the Pro35 and the clip is MUCH bigger. I thought perhaps I could get a better mount on the back of the Tone-Gard. After much experimentation, I got very frustrated with the mount. The gooseneck is so long and the whole contraption so much heavier than the Pro35 mount that it wobbled a good deal and I was worried the clip would function as a fulcrum and scratch the back of my mando. Moreover, the clip is much bigger than the Pro35 and simply got in the way.
I recorded both the Pro35 and the ATM350 positioned at about the same location over my lower f hole and I will say the ATM350 sounded better, but not $150 better given that this mic would be used in bars and restaurants as part of a large loud mix. If I were soloing in a concert hall - I'd make the ATM350 work. For my purposes, the Pro35 was the clear winner.
I returned the ATM350.
So, I prepared for the audition and practiced assembling my rig quickly: mandolin, clip-on mic, mic power module, XLR cable, Scarlett digital interface, TRS cable out from monitor to PA. All the connections worked. The last annoyance was what to do with the thin cable and power module hanging off the mandolin.
It turned out I had an ancient iPod belt clip. I was able to slide the power module and XLR connection in the bottom, roll up and twist tie the cable from the mic to the power module and slide it in the top. This proved quite comfortable and stable.
So, this was my rig for my audition: mandolin, ATM Pro 35, a small mixer and some belt clip technology.
I highly recommend the Audio Technica Pro35 for mandolin if you have somewhere to clip it - pickguard or Tone-Gard. The Audio Technica ATM350UL is great, but mounting it was a challenge for me.
Key takeaways for me from this experience: don't try to jerryrig phantom power - take it off your mixer. Don't worry about a preamp - again - take it off your mixer! AT Pro35 for the win. And clip technology can be problematic on a naked mandolin.
Thanks for reading! I hope this was helpful. And I'll let you know the result of the audition in a little bit!
Bookmarks