So How Do They Sound?

In fact, I didn’t lie to Metlay (this time, anyway). I do indeed have a friend (hard to believe, I know). His name is Wayne Benham and he plays blues harp around New England, sitting in a lot and occasionally working with bands on a more extended basis. I’ve worked with him in recording sessions on occasion.

Anyway, after the box showed up and Metlay gave me his lecture on professional conduct, I called up Wayne and went through my shuck ‘n jive, wheedled a bit, and hit on him to give up a Saturday to the cause. He was very gracious, pointed out that he owned a Shaker, and agreed to stop by the very next Saturday!

When he got here, he played and we listened to all four mics, plus Wayne’s prized Green Bullet, through both a small Fender amp and direct into the board. We recorded everything onto five separate tracks and then spent a fair amount of time listening to the results and talking about the issues and problems.

In keeping with his professional practice, Wayne simply turned the level on the mic up all the way for maximum amp overdrive. This worked fine except for the XLR mic, which promptly went into lethal feedback, so Wayne had to back things down a bit, which he did at the amp.

Anyway, the Crystal Shaker had the brightest sound, cutting and edgy, a little more acoustic in nature. While less prone to feedback than the others, it buzzed when it wasn’t being held. Not a big problem. The Dynamic Shaker, particularly the XLR version, developed “the Brown Sound,” a dark rich funky distortion that actually sounds pretty cool. The Madcat was much more acoustic sounding than the others. Wayne noted that it really freed him up to do some things that he couldn’t do with the other mics. He opined that it would take a fair amount of practice to really get everything working right with the Madcat, and to make full use of it. He thought it would probably do a lot, once he got the hang of it.

While Wayne likes the weight, heft and retro metallic aura of the Green Bullet, he also noted that it becomes slippery and hard to hold while playing on stage, and that the Shakers, with their lighter weight and more viable shape, were a significant improvement in that regard. He likes their sound, and often chooses his Dynamic Shaker on stage. Happily, a quick test of his Dynamic Shaker vs. the test unit revealed very close to identical performance, indicating good build quality and consistency.

Interestingly, the Dynamic Shakers didn’t do at all well directly into the console, just sounding dark and undistinguished. They really need a good tube amp. The Crystal Shaker and the Madcat sounded considerably better into the board, but still lost the wonderful distortion quality of the amp. So, while it’s possible to take ‘em direct, I’d recommend always using a tube guitar amp, and miking that.

Fun ‘n Profit Time

Shaker mics are very much specialty items, suitable for amplified harmonica and little else (although we found they made dandy “phone patch” mics for voice). If you do a lot of that kind of work, a Crystal and a Dynamic (XLR) Shaker could be a good addition to your mic closet – the Madcat is such a specialty item that it is really up to the harp player to choose it and learn to use it. Having a Shaker in your collection will make harp players feel appreciated and understood, and will ease that embarrassing moment when the only mic left is your AKG 414 and the band mentions that, oh yeah, the singer plays harp on the bridge. They don’t cost very much, they will last far longer than you will, and they really do their job!

Happy harps!

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