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David's Tip of the Day: Bullet Mic Cupping for Dynamic Effect - Part 2, Amplified

Posted Thu, 10/25/2012 - 06:55 by David Barrett Admin
David Barrett Admin's picture

When playing amplified (bullet mic in your hand), if we assume you have a good cup to begin with (not one riddled with holes), when your hands are...

1) Completely Open = Very acoustic sounding = Used for special affect = Low in volume

2) Slightly Open = Amplified sounding, but not bassy = Used when you want to be heard over the band more, due to the fact that you're less bassy = Slightly lower in volume, but heard easier due to less muting = Louder overall volume

3) Standard Cup = Amplified sound = Good bass, with full bodied mids and distorted highs = baseline volume/tone

4) Tight Cup = Overly muted sounding = Used for special affect = low in volume due to the overly muted mids and highs = Great for soft passages in a solo for contrast or accompaniment playing

Experiment with variations of how open or closed you are... you'll be surprised how much a small movement of the hands, or even just fingers... or ONE finger! will make in your sound.

Make these changes dynamically as you play. VIDEO RECORD yourself so you can see and hear the effects you're achieving.

Watch the opening video where I play with John Garcia in Music Theory Study 6 and you'll see me use a lot of these dynamic ideas when playing amplified.