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Re: contact mic (OT)

Subject: Re: contact mic (OT)
From: "faza.rm" faza.rm
Date: Mon Oct 16, 2006 4:07 pm (PDT)
thanks..
the quality of the sound is little importance to this project.. as long as =
it can pic up small
vibrations it would work for me... my only worry right now is the flooring =
material... i am
thinking of putting the contacts mics on the top side of the floor instead =
of the bottom..
this seem to generate the best sound.. except that it is more prone to be d=
amaged.. I am
going to cover the mics with kind of heat shrinking material so the sand wo=
uld not mess it
up..
I have a couple of weeks before the opening and i have to settle on stuff t=
his week.. I think
i will go with plywood. I also have access to clay from the ceramics depart=
ment. someone
told me that dry clay might be a better conductor than plywood..
thank you all for the suggestions...



--- In  "Greg Weddig" <> wrote:
>
> On Broadway for shows with tap dance, in addition to putting a
> wireless mic on each shoe, the stage can be covered in plywood panels
> with contact mics on the underside of the panel.  Now mind you this is
> a complex floor assembly to support the needs of the show and in my
> recollection they ended up using more of the foot mics than the
> under-floor mics.
>
> Of course I have no idea what it would sound like with sand on it, I
> would imagine "squeaky" (small grains?) or "crunchy" (bigger grains?)
> would help transmit the sound to the contact mics.  The sand layer
> would need to be deep enough so audience members would not bottom out
> on the substrate.
> I would suggest doing a mockup with a few different materials, seeing
> which sounds the best.  It will have to support the weight of the sand
> and the people, you might want to talk to a flooring
> contractor/installer for advice.
> Try rubber cement on the mics, make sure it doesn't eat away at the
> mic material.  I used thin double stick tape, not the foam stuff, when
> attaching contact mics to large (5' x 10') sheet metal for thunder
> effects in opera.
>
> --greg weddig
> Baltimore, MD
> http://www.ourmedia.org/user/627
> http://home.earthlink.net/~gweddig
>
>
>
> --- In  "faza.rm" <faza@> wrote:
> >
> >
> > Hello all..
> >
> > I have one quick question about the contact mics...
> > I was trying to use metal sheets to fix the mics on to get the best
> sound possible.. now to
> > cover such a large area with sheet metal was too expensive for me..
> i was wondering if
> > there is another material that would be ideal for contact mics.. i
> gather wood would absorb
> > the sound vibrations too much..
> > any suggestion would be much appreciated...
> >
> > thanks
> >
> >
> > --- In  "faza.rm" <faza@> wrote:
> > >
> > > Thank u all for the reply...
> > >
> > > OK here is where i am at right now..
> > > I have got metal sheets to fix the contact mics.. the size of the
> sand pile is about 10ft x
> > 10
> > > ft and i have got circular arrays of about 200 contact mics...the
> idea is to increase the
> > > audio level as the viewer walks closer to the subwoofer.. so each
> array is connected to a
> > > mixer...
> > > My question is what would be the best glue to fix the contact mics
> to the metal sheet??
> > > aslo do u think i should keep the metal sheet lifted off the floor
> to get maximum
> > > vibration.. for some reason this gallery has carpeted floor so i
> am thinking it might
> > absorb
> > > the vibration..
> > > anyways i will keep this updated as i go along..
> > > again.. i do appreciate the feedback,,
> > > thanks
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > --- In  "Aaron Ximm"
> <aaron.ximm@> wrote:
> > > >
> > > > On 9/30/06, faza.rm <faza@> wrote:
> > > > >
> > > > > I am doin this installation for a gallery. There will be a
> subwoofer inthe
> > > > > middle of the gallery
> > > > > and a pile of sand around it.. the viewers are required to
> walk on the
> > > > > sand..
> > > > > I am trying to buy contact mics and burry them in the sand so
> that the
> > > > > sounds of their
> > > > > footstep will be picked up and transmitted to the speaker...
> > > > > However the contact mics that  i got does not seem to be as
> senstive as i
> > > > > thought it would
> > > > > be.. i am just fixing them onto the floor..
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > This a great question for the phonography and perhaps
> lowercase-sound
> > > > mailing lists, where more people do this kind of work...
> > > >
> > > > I would first try bonding the mics to a large thin sheet of
> metal and put
> > > > the sand over that. A tight coupling will let the sheet act as
> one large
> > > > sensative receptor. You still may find you need a lot of gain
> however.
> > > >
> > > > Australian sound artist Joel Stern told me recently about an
> altoids-tin box
> > > > he got as a direct-in (DI) box for using piezoelectric contact
> mics, he
> > > > called it a preamp but I was wondering if was doing impedance
> matching since
> > > > it changed the frequency response of his piezos. He got it from
> someone
> > > > online for around US$25, but I don't remember what they're
> called, alas.
> > > >
> > > >  best,
> > > >   aaron
> > > >
> > > > --
> > > >   aaron.ximm@
> > > >   quietamerican.org
> > > >   oneminutevacation.org
> > > >
> > > >   83% happy
> > > >    9% disgusted
> > > >    6% fearful
> > > >    2% angry
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > >
> >
>







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