The Other Way
For decades now, manufacturers of drum microphones have been promoting the use of tighter and tighter patterns, all in an effort to get better side rejection.
For the Troubadour Reunion Tour, a polar opposite choice was made.
“We went the other way,” Morgan relates, “and decided that if a cardioid pattern was true all the way through the frequency spectrum from 20 Hz to 20 kHz, then any side information was going to sound just as good as what was going in the front of the microphone.”
Subscribing to just such a philosophy, Earthworks once again provided the bulk of the hardware needed.
With Earthworks DP25 mics gathering signals at snare, DP30s on toms, SR25 directional condensers on high-hat and ride cymbals, and high-definition SR40s overhead, mic’ing on Russ Kunkel’s drum kit was complemented further by an Audio-Technica AE2500 dual-element kick drum mic and an AE5100 also from A-T on snare bottom.
“By having a dead-on cardioid pattern where all frequencies hold their pattern all the way through, adjacent drums sound just like the drum,” Morgan offers.
“The end result is that you wind up listening to the drum kit through the PA that sounds like a drum kit right in front of you.
Using hypercardioid mics and noise gates all these years, we’ve been pretty much going in the wrong direction. Maybe this isn’t the greatest idea for a rock drum kit, but for a pop show it’s the only way to go.”
The physical work of the tour was demanding, with difficult load-ins being the norm, not the exception, this thanks to the vast number of elements involved and the extensive cabling and rigging.
Time was a constraint as well just as it always is, only this time a factor compounded by a sound check open to those in the VIP seats, making the event more of an afternoon matinee with the performance of full songs requiring the crew to be absolutely ready at 4 P.M.
Having toured with James Taylor since 2005, unlike critics and some promoters, Morgan wasn’t surprised a bit by the Troubadour reunion’s surprise sleeper of the summer status to be, well, surprising.
“It all happened without a lot of promotion,” he said while contemplating what’s next back home in Southern California.
“The fans are very, very loyal, and knew what a treat it was going to be to come out and see James and Carole together again.”
“The longevity of this show will probably be as long as they choose to perform it. The love and energy people give and get back from the stage is tangible.”
Gregory A. DeTogne is a free-lance writer and publicist who has served the pro audio industry for the past 30 years.