by Michael Dawson
March 2010
Earthworks microphones have been quietly building a fan base among professional studio engineers and drummers since the early part of the millennium. The first time we crossed paths with these distinctive industrial-looking condensers was during a visit in November 2006 to Saturday Night Live drummer Shawn Pelton’s home studio. The mics popped up again this past summer when we were sitting in on a recording session at Cyndi Lauper drummer Sammy Merendino’s space in Harlem. Other big-name pros, like Steely Dan’s Keith Carlock, The Late Show’s Anton Fig, the Killers’ Ronnie Vannucci, and session great Steve Gadd are also waving the Earthworks flag, both on stage and in the studio. Now it’s time for us to take a closer look at what makes these microphone systems so special.
Earthworks’ systems include three-mic DK25/R and DK25/L packages (overheads plus a kick drum mic), as well as the extensive DFK1 set, which also features DP25/C and DP30/C periscope condensers for close-miking the snare and toms. We were sent one of each system to check out.
Tags: drum fullkit system, drumkit
"After spending a day in the studio checking out different configurations, placements and comparing...
