Sunday, January 27, 2008

The BLUE Ball and Some Angst

Me? I go way back with the BLUE Ball. I was still in school when it first came out in 2003. I had read reviews on it in all the shitty magazines (EM, EQ, same same) trying to figure out what I would use it for. All they had to offer was that "it sounds good on snare but you can't fit it in there so pfff." Other than that it was just the same gawking at the fact that it's a dynamic mic that needs phantom power.

So I tried it on snare and I instantly hated it. I can't tell you how many times this same exact thing had happened and it bummed me out. Try it on what the magazine says its nice on and realize these reviewers are completely deaf just like the rest of the music industry. Or they are just some drummer with a studio.

So anyway, eventually I get to trying it out on electric guitar and there you have it. pretty much the only reason I was worth anything as an engineer in school. The Ball did something I've never heard a mic do. It made the guitar sound like how it should sound without any eq or weird parlor tricks. I bought a second one as soon as I saved up another hundo (about one year later).

Now, I only bring this part up because it came up at the studio that a band I play guitar in was recording in last week. We were trying to get guitar tones the first day and I was just a little circumspect about my tone. I was in sort of a weird place seeing as I've never been recorded seriously by someone else. I mentioned that I usually used the BLUE Ball as the basis for my guitar tone and John one of the engineers said I should bring it in the next day.

The conversation went on about how I had discovered that the BLUE Ball really tackled the problem of a flat sounding guitar. Then I got into my little diatribe about how I was the first to seed this tightly kept secret of the sound world. Of course I don't think it should be kept a secret but I do contest I was the first (probably).

Back in the time when the Ball was nothing more than an oddity of transduction with a colorful name I would see a friend of mine at a couple of different bars around Chicago. This friend of mine was doing on and off tours with a pretty popular band as their soundman. Of course when two dudes with a common interest get to talkin in a bar new shit comes to light and this guy shared a lot of awesome stuff with me. They one tip I gave him was try out the ball. Low and behold next time I see him he bought two and the band is using them on tour for every show. Of course he said he liked to augment them with a 57 but I also had become accustomed to using a different mic along with the ball. But no matter what, always the Ball!

So apparently the Balls worked out for them because they got bigger and stuff I think but whatever. I kinda lost touch with my friend but I made others. Then one day I see Jack White's "other" band, The Racountuers playing on Austin City Limits one night whilst suffering from insomnia. Wouldn't you know it but there's a Blue Ball on one of Jack White's amps. I thought maybe it was a fluke but I guess that's his touring setup.

Check out 00:10 of this vid unrelated to the Austin City Limits set:


Now I'm not trying to toot my own horn saying I'm responsible for Jack White's stage mic setup but sound guys do talk and there is a good chance I was the seminal link between the mic and the amp. Of course there is also a very good chance that my friend is now the sound guy for the Raconteurs which I would be pleased as punch to hear.

So anyway, back in the studio this past week I brought in the Ball for the second day which was mostly overdubs. The ball ended up getting used on nearly every track (out of 12) but for the other guitarists amp. My sound ended up being mostly a mix between an Electro-Voice RE20 and a Royer 121 but the ball was still in there.

I discussed with the other engineer, Devin, about sound of the ball and he came about as close as anybody has to describing what the ball does. Something like "It sounds like how guitarists think guitar should sound" to which I whole heartedly agree. John's comment was "You sold me" and I don't think he was just being polite.

I think what makes the Ball so consistently good with amps (a quality that can be very elusive among mics) it that is seems to maintain a very uniform sound no matter where you place it with regard to the speaker. You definitely don't want it pointing in a bad spot but if you do it may end up being a not as bad spot. Also, it is less effected by the preamp than normal dynamics thanks to the built-in amplifier which is the reason it needs power. This means you can save your nicest channels for other stuff. Less time tweaking more time rocking.

And so ends the story of the BLUE Ball and myself, at least for now. Bottom line, If you record a lot of electric guitar through amps there is probably not a better $100 you are gonna spend. So go buy one you idiot.

For the record: I was not paid to write this. My dumb ass gives it out for free.

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