InfoComm 2012

June 13-15, 2012

Las Vegas Convention Center

Las Vegas, NV

Visit Earthworks at Booth #C10425, where you can view and demo our microphones and preamplifiers. We’ll also have Earthworks product specialists in the booth to answer any questions.

Need a pass?

Download a Free VIP Pass from Earthworks.

Designed for professionals in the audiovisual, information communications and systems integration industries, InfoComm showcases the latest technologies for audio, video, display, projection, lighting and staging, digital signage, conferencing, digital content creation, networking, signal distribution and much more.

Kimbra’s energetic live performances and powerful vocals reproduced by Earthworks microphones without missing a beat as she tours the globe.

Milford, NH, April 11, 2012 – Kimbra is quickly becoming somebody that you ought to know. With a slew of SXSW showcase gigs, nationwide tours in support of Gotyé and Foster The People, tens of millions of views on YouTube, and a cover of the hit Gotyé song she lends her powerful vocals to, “Somebody That I Used to Know,” performed on Fox’s hit show Glee, Kimbra is bringing her music to the masses, one powerful performance at a time. And Earthworks is there to capture that sound all along the way thanks to Kimbra’s FOH Engineer Angus Davidson. Covering every instrument on stage, Earthworks microphones have brought Kimbra’s lively and moving performances to the masses as the intensely talented musical force tours the globe.

Angus Davidson, FOH engineer for Kimbra and Crowded House, is no stranger when it comes to using all Earthworks microphones on stage. “Previously, with Crowded House, we also enjoyed tremendous success using 29 Earthworks mics, which we used on vocals, drums and instruments,” Davidson noted. “Everything was miked with Earthworks microphones.”

For Kimbra’s performances, Davidson went the all Earthworks route once again. The new SR40Vs are being used on both Kimbra’s and her band’s vocals. On drums Davidson uses a pair of SR40s for overheads, 2 DP30s on snare (top and bottom), DP30s on toms, SR30 on high-hat and SR30 with KickPad on kick drum. SR30s are used on the guitar amps, as well as for audience mics, and some things are fed direct. “An integral part of sound for Kimbra and her band is the exclusive use of Earthworks microphones,” Davidson remarked.

Monitor Engineer for Kimbra’s tour is Rod Matheson, who worked with Kylie Minogue for 18 years, did a world tour last year with Bristish trip hop duo Massive Attack and has done monitors for countless other artists throughout the world. “In my opinion, Rod is one of the finest monitor engineers on the planet,” Davidson said. “He has an exceptional set of ears and is a very particular and fastidious engineer who gets great results. Rod was a little dubious at first, about using all Earthworks microphones, but after using them the first time, he agreed that these mics were in a league of their own.”

The newest addition to the Earthworks lineup, the SR40V, has found a welcome home on stage with Kimbra. “The Earthworks SR40V is an incredibly flat microphone. The benefit to me is that I can make it sound any way I want, depending on the application. Because of the super fast rise time of the small diaphragm, I can add and subtract EQ without it ever sounding ‘tubby or flabby.’ Its natural presence and tightness is quite unique,” noted Davidson. “Kimbra has an incredible vocal range from a whisper to a huge full voice. Regardless of how she sings, I can always place her vocal exactly where it needs to be in the soundscape. No other vocal microphone I have used can compete with the SR40V. For me it is simply the best vocal microphone ever.”

With a background that spans three and a half decades of live and studio work, Davidson has a unique perspective on microphone technologies over that time. “When I was starting in this industry 35 years ago there was an enormous focus on the “rise time” and “transient response” of microphones,” Davidson noted. “Somehow over the past 30 years that function of microphone audio physics seems to have been lost.  David Blackmer’s unique microphone technologies have allowed all of this to work really well for the first time. Earthworks microphones very clearly illustrate how important rise time, transient response, fast diaphragm settling time and extended frequency response truly are.  These microphone characteristics provide an enormous depth of field, with incredible detail over the audio spectrum, not to mention their incredible phase coherency, particularly when we use these mics on every drum.” Davidson remarked on his experiences with the technologies found in Earthworks mics specifically on a drum kit, “I’ve listened very closely to recordings where we’ve used Earthworks mics on every element of the drum kit. The detail, separation, and accuracy of the stereo sound stage is unbelievable. The drums are crisp, detailed and really natural sounding.”

“In contrast, you could select a number of other ‘Specialty’ mics to use on a kick drum and get that huge round fat bottom end with the click of the beater, but it is a very one-dimensional sound,” Davidson continued. “There are all sorts of microphones out there that do a great job, specifically on one thing, but there are very few microphones that I have ever used that do “everything” equally well, like the Earthworks do. I don’t use two microphones on kick drum; instead, I use a single Earthworks SR30 with a KickPad. This combination with the addition of a little EQ makes the kick drum really beautiful and natural sounding, with no B.S. to the sound.”

Davidson continues with this natural sounding approach beyond drums to each instrument on stage. “I also don’t want to be pulling ridiculous monster sounds for every instrument that’s on stage,” said Davidson. “Instead, I feel that we should be balancing what is there, and not trying to reinvent the wheel. I like the idea of creating a sound stage that makes you feel a certain way; by the way you mix it, and not having to make every instrument and vocal sound bigger than everything else. There seems to be a trend to create thunderous bass, but at the expense of everything else. Why would you keep applying EQ, compression and all types of signal processing and not treat the signal with the respect it deserves? I want to be able to look on stage, and be able to clearly hear everything I can see. The essence of this is to pick a microphone that will do that effectively, and then place it perfectly to best reproduce the source it is hearing.”

Before turning his attention back to the demands of the tour, Davidson offered these final thoughts. “Earthworks microphones look at the sound and give it an enormous amount of respect at the start, and that makes our job ten times easier. So, when I see someone playing something, I want to be able to hear it clearly and distinctly. The Earthworks mics make that job easier than it has ever been. They are so detailed and so clear. It’s like an artist walking around all the time with dark glasses on, and then one day taking them off and discovering that it’s ‘light out there’.”

Kimbra is preparing to unleash her debut studio album Vows to the United States on May 22, 2012. For tour dates, news, videos and more, visit Kimbra online at kimbramusic.com.

About Earthworks

Earthworks manufactures extended frequency condenser microphones and zero distortion preamps that are expertly tuned to sonic perfection. Each Earthworks microphone is backed by a fifteen year warranty and is hand tuned, tested and built in our Milford, New Hampshire facility. For additional information, visit the company online at www.earthworksaudio.com.

To see more pictures from Kimbra’s performance at The House of Blues Boston, the full album is on our Facebook page.

“It’s the purest piano pickup that I’ve ever heard. Like does not describe how good I feel about the PM40 PianoMic System.”

-Stevie Wonder

By Paul Vnuk Jr.

Date: September 2011

Recording Magazine

At its simplest, piano miking is a balance of microphone choice and proper placement. But which mic, and where to place it? Is the lid at full or half-stick? I want stereo, but what about phase and tonal issues when adding a second mic? What if it the lid needs to be closed due to bleed from outside instruments?

Much of the time a simple large-diaphragm mic or two in a fully open piano is a great solution, but the minute you add other musicians into the mix, or a coughing, cell phone-addicted audience in a solo recital, you may need to find some other solutions. I have taped boundary mics to the piano lid, placed packing blankets over the piano at half-stick, placed mics on the floor under the soundboard, and gone through every large- and small-diaphragm condenser in my collection in my attempts at getting a believable piano tone minus bleed.

For me the solution arrived a few years ago when the church where I do sound purchased an Earthworks PM40 PianoMic System, and now that Earthworks has expanded the line with the new PM40T touring model, I get to fill you in on what they can do for you.

The system — solutions to problems

The PianoMic system consists of a pair of Earthworks miniature-diaphragm omni condenser mics, mounted on a telescoping metal bar that rests on the piano edges parallel to the keyboard. Sounds simple enough, but looking closer you will see that each of these areas is actually an innovation designed to tackle a specific area of the piano miking problem.

The mics are a matched pair of what Earthworks calls random incidence omnidirectional microphones. Unlike a guitar or a violin with a single focused sound hole, inside a piano the sound resonates from everywhere, and these mics are designed to not care where the sound emanates from.

Some mic specs: 9 Hz-40 kHz frequency response, a sensitivity of 15mV/Pa (-36 dBV/Pa), a peak acoustic input of 148 dB SPL, and self-noise of 22 dBA. Each mic is 1 1/2″ long and approximately 1/2″ at its largest diameter, attached to a 4 3/4″ flexible but sturdy gooseneck arm. The mics are US-made and have a 15-year warranty.

Setting the bar

The goosenecks attach to the telescoping metal bar that extends from 46 to 64″ with a set of adjustable compression clamps like you would find on typical mic stand. The mic goosenecks are permanently spaced 16″ apart, or 1/3 the width of a standard piano keyboard, the distance chosen to eliminate phase issues.

Each end of the bar is attached to a flat L shaped/felt lined bracket that gently rests on the straight parallel sides of the piano body, so the bar hovers just above the strings and dampers.

On the original PM40 model this bar is one single piece; on the new PM40T touring model it is actually two pieces that connect via a specialized internal XLR connection, making it easy to collapse for storage and travel. Each model includes its own specialized aluminum flight case, the PM40T’s being much easier to transport due to its break-apart design.

Attached to one end of the bar is a thin, durable cable that terminates into a 5-pin male XLR connector that plugs into the included DI box. This box has two standard male XLR connections on its opposite end for connection to your mixer. It also distributes the necessary phantom power to each mic.

Earthworks recommend two things for setting up the PM40T: One, do not try and place the armature on the curved part of the piano, and two, for the most natural sound try and place the bar so the mics are 2 to 3″ in front of the dampers, meaning the side away from the keyboard. All in all, set up takes less than 10 minutes. Clip the bar together, adjust to fit, plug and go. From there you can make small tweaks to the mic positions for treble and bass response.

Setup and use

The PM40T exhibits the clean and unobtrusive realism that Earthworks is known for. In other words, it sounds like your piano. If your piano is in poor shape, with noisy pedals, bad dampers, and buzzes, you’ll hear all of that…

Working with these mics I noticed an instant difference in our piano sound, and the musicians on stage noticed a huge change in their in-ear monitoring system. Not only was the bleed from the other instruments significantly lessened, but even with the lid fully closed the sound retained its natural character without sounding boxy like a boundary mic on a closed lid.

In a mix this system gives fuller bass tone at much louder volumes with little chance of feedback. And even though the mics are essentially in a fixed position, you can adjust the goosenecks pretty liberally to tweak the highs and lows and find the sweet spot. See the Earthworks website for figures and diagrams with suggested placement tweaks.

Conclusion

At $3000-$3200 street the PianoMic is not a cheap investment, but then again neither is a good-sounding, well-maintained grand piano! If piano recording or mixing in a live setting is part of your world, this system commands serious consideration.

Prices: PM40/40T, $2999/$3199 (street)

More from: Earthworks Inc., www.earthworksaudio.com

We have arrived in Anaheim for The NAMM Show 2012 and can’t wait for the show to open tomorrow morning! You can visit the Earthworks booth at NAMM 2012 in Hall A, Booth 6290, January 19-22, 2012.

We’re really excited to have David Morgan, FOH for James Taylor, in the booth on Saturday. He’ll be available to answer questions about the different Earthworks microphones he has used on tour with James Taylor. He has a lot of experience with many of our microphones, from the SR40V to the PM40 and everything in between, and can speak to the challenges he faces in his work as a Front of House Engineer and how Earthworks microphones have worked for him. David has also written reviews on Earthworks microphones, including the PianoMic and the Drum FullKit.

We have several talented pianists scheduled to perform on a $235,000 custom Ravenscroft piano in the booth on Friday and Saturday (see times below). The Model 220 Custom Piano will be miked with an Earthworks PM40 for visitors to listen to at a listening station in the booth. Earthworks has many talented endorsement artists who will be stopping by the booth throughout the show. To find out who will be in the booth and when, stop by the booth or follow @earthworksaudio on Twitter for updates.

Schedule

Friday, January 20

11:00 – 11:30 — Songwriter, composer and pianist James Raymond will be performing on the Ravenscroft Piano

2:00 – 3:00 — Arranger, composer, producer and pianist Randy Waldman will be performing on the Ravenscroft Piano

Saturday, January 21

10:00 – 6:00 — David Morgan, FOH for James Taylor, will be at the booth and available to answer questions about the Earthworks microphones he uses on the James Taylor tours

11:00 – 12:00 — Composer, arranger and pianist Dave Grusin will be performing on the Ravenscroft Piano

For more info on Earthworks at NAMM: http://www.earthworksaudio.com/media-room/namm2012/

Not sure which Earthworks microphone is right for you?

Check out the link below to find out which Earthworks microphones are best for different application, as well as the polar patterns available in the microphones from each series.

Microphone Application Guide

After getting an October Nor’easter, we knew it was going to be a long winter here in New England. So, to brighten things up here and afar, we are giving away one of the newly redesigned and highly versatile SR20 microphones to one of our Facebook Fans. We love all of the comments, likes, interactions and photos shared with us on Facebook, and this is our way to say thanks.

The Prize: The Redesigned SR20

As a vocal microphone, the Earthworks SR20 accurately captures voice at 6 inches with a bit more bass warmth available if you move closer. It has no presence peak, only natural, easy-to-use, on-axis pick up, and uncolored off-axis rejection. It has low handling noise and is well protected from popping of P’s. As with other Earthworks mics, you will find you need less EQ because it sounds great just as it is.

Removing the windscreen assembly reveals it’s alternate persona. The Earthworks SR20 effortlessly captures a wide range of real acoustic sources, like choir, guitar, mandolin, banjo, accordion, horns and flute, but especially drums and other percussion. For acoustic guitar and all stringed instruments the Earthworks SR20 sounds perfect at 6 inches and yet provides enough gain before feedback to let it cut through the mix.

Enter here: facebook.com/earthworksaudio

Good luck and happy holidays!

Milford, NH – November 23, 2011 – Coldplay’s current massive world tour is using a number of Earthworks microphones. Their live sound engineer Dan Green recently auditioned a number of Earthworks microphones from UK distributor Unity Audio, specifically for drummer Will Champion’s kit.

“Since moving to the Earthworks drum microphones my drum sound has really expanded. The transient response of these microphones is incredible. Before I used to rely on transient enhancing plug-ins to get a similar sound, now it is all from the SR40 overheads. One of the other benefits of the new DP30/C periscope microphones are their new very rugged flexible arms, this gives me so many options on placement. They are a great addition to any Studio recording or Live performance.”  Dan Green – Coldplay FOH engineer.

The full complement of drum microphones includes, SR40MP (matched pair) for overheads, SR30/HC for kick and hi-hat, including the Earthworks KickPad™ for the kick mic,  5x DP30/C drum periscope mics for snare top & bottom, and all toms.

Dan also took the opportunity to test Earthworks new SR40V hand held condenser and ordered several for backing vocals and the industry standard M30 measurement microphone for analysing PA systems.

Coldplay’s use of Earthworks drum microphones now is in addition to other international artists such as Steve Gadd, Keith Carlock (Steely Dan), and The Killers.

Earthworks offers complete drum mic kits with the 3-piece DK25 and DK50 Series for live or recording, as well as the CMK CloseMic™ Series and DFK Drum FullKit™. Any of these microphones can also be purchased individually.  The small diaphragm Earthworks microphones boast the flattest frequency and fastest transient response available, coupled with an unrivalled 15 year warranty.

UK DISTRIBUTION BY UNITY AUDIO LTD

www.unityaudio.co.uk

www.earthworksaudio.com

Milford, NH, November 17, 2011 – Earthworks Microphones’ SR40V Vocal Microphone, has been nominated for a 2011 Technical Excellence & Creativity Award in the category of Outstanding Technical Achievement, Microphone Technology/Sound Reinforcement.

The world’s first high definition vocal microphone, the hand-tuned and tested Earthworks SR40V delivers extreme clarity and the broadest flat frequency response, as well as the highest levels of feedback resistance available in any condenser vocal microphone. The result is an uncolored high gain vocal microphone with benchmark levels of clarity and resistance to feedback.

The SR40V stays true to the Earthworks foundation of reproducing your sound with the ultimate clarity and faithfulness, from the subtlest nuances of soulful blues, jazz and folk singers to a stinging 145db blast of rock ‘n’ roll emotion. Featuring revolutionary circuitry for flawless sonic performance and a unique blend of balance and precision machining, the SR40V represents the pinnacle of technology and aesthetics in microphone design.

The 27^th Annual TEC Awards, presented by the TEC Foundation for Excellence in Audio and NAMM, will be held on January 20, 2012 at the NAMM Show in Anaheim, California. The TEC Awards was established in 1985 to honor outstanding achievement in professional audio production and product innovation. Winners will be determined by members of professional audio and sound production organizations, through online voting conducted by an independent company. Voting takes place from November 1^st through 30^th.

The winners of the 27th Annual TEC Awards will be announced at a ceremony to be held Friday evening, January 20, 2012, at the Anaheim Hilton as a special highlight of the NAMM Show, the leading international music products trade show.

The SR40V, as well as microphones from the rest of the Earthworks lineup, is handmade and expertly tuned to sonic perfection in our Milford, New Hampshire facility and comes with an unrivaled 15 year warranty.

For additional information, visit the company online at www.earthworksaudio.com.

To celebrate the redesign of our DP30/C Drum Periscope microphone, we have teamed up with Modern Drummer to give away 3 prizes for the month of November. The contest runs from November 1, 2011 – December 2, 2011.

First Prize: DP30/C Drum Periscope microphone with RM1 RimMount™ worth $1288

• Earthworks DP30/C on Tom

Second Prize: LP1530 LevelPad™ worth $149

Third Prize: KP1 KickPad™ worth $139

• Kick Drum recorded with SR25 (no KickPad™)
• Kick Drum recorded with SR25 (with KickPad™)

Enter to win here: www.moderndrummer.com/site/2011/11/win-an-earthworks-microphone/

The winner will be announced in December.

And don’t forget to follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook!