In Yamaha’s vast world of musical instruments and
electronics, there are a few specialty microphones they make. The corporation was established around the
turn of the twentieth century, beginning with reed organs and pianos in
Japan. In the world of music, they have
produced some of the most legendary equipment: the NS10 monitors revolutionized
the studio, the DX-7 fostered the hip hop industry, and Yamaha drums, woodwinds
and brass remain at the top of the line.
Although limited, their microphone selection is developing.
Recording
engineers sometimes used the NS10 speakers to record the kick drum. Any passive speaker can be used as a
microphone, but this particular model recorded really well. The principal behind this is that the surface
area of the speaker would act like a large-diaphragm mic, picking up all
frequencies of the kick. It’s no
coincidence Yamaha developed this idea into a new product, the Yamaha SKRM100 SubKick microphone. It’s shaped like a small snare, and can be
used solely or in conjunction with a traditional kick mic. The SubKick picks up sub-frequencies, defined
by Yamaha as anything below 100Hz.
Another
specialty mic is the Yamaha MC-7 Instrument Microphone, a small condenser that can clip onto horns and
woodwinds. It has to plug into a
personal transmitter on the performer that supplies phantom power, but Yamaha
makes two models that this mic will work with.
The Yamaha SKRM100 SubKick
runs around $300 and the MC-7 is normally around $85. Yamaha microphones
are available at MusiciansFriend.com and zZounds.com.
