Harp On!
Harmonica Microphones

There is a vast range of microphones that can work well with Harmonica, it all depends what you want out of them. But microphones have a huge impact on your amplified tone.

On this page.
Microphones.

• Bullet mics
  
• Vocal microphones
    Shure 545 webpage
  
• Small harmonica mics
• Cupping your Microphone
    Holding your Mic and Harmonica
    Playing into your Cupped Mic
    Playing Clean
  
• Mic elements
• Wiring of Bullet Mics
• Mic Technicians
• Contents

Microphones

• Bullet Microphones The traditional Chicago Blues harmonica sound was shaped by players such as Little Walter, Big Walter Horton and Sonny Boy Williamson 1. They and many who've followed in their stead generally used Bullet microphones. Initially this may have been because they were ubiquitous at the time, and could be bought at the local pawn shop for a few bucks. But whatever the reasons, those dirty cheap bullet mics are now a part of the traditional Chicago blues amplified harp sound.
  • The discontinued Astatic JT30 was the most commonly used bullet by trad blues players. The discontinued Shure 520 mics which came in various configurations, was another favourite. There is a wide range of vintage bullets including those made by Astatic, Shure, Electro Voice and Turner.
  • The best collections of vintage microphone pictures I've seen are at Harmonica Master Class Vintage Collection.
  • Bullet shells can be fitted with a variety of elements. With the right gastket or a bit of jury rigging you can fit different brand elements into different shells. This is especially useful to know with the Astatic shells since their Crystal and Ceramic elements die, and are getting increasingly harder to replace.
  • Different bullet elements have different tonal characteristics which can make a big difference to your amplified tone. I say its worth comparing whats out there. When I finally did get to compare the tried and true bullets against the latest range of so called "harmonica microphones", it was a real eye opener to what I'd been missing out on.
    
  • 520DX is a very different mic to the earlier 520 Green Bullets, weaker signal and lacks top end and cut.
  • Bullet mics are also used by Blues singers to add another dimension to their singing because of the tone it gives. Combining a bullet mic with their vocal mic they can give a number of effects and ways of adding expression and meaning to their song.
  • Naturally popular harmonica bullet microphones are used with chromatic harmonica as well as diatonic harmonica. 16 hole chromatics are a popular choice for blues numbers through a bullet mic, although certainly not limited to this style or even bullet mics in particular. The smaller 12 hole chromatics like the HH270 are practical to use with bullet microphones, easier to manipulate while getting a good cup & compression. Playing chromatic harmonica whilst cupping a bullet microphone or vocal mic for that matter takes practise, just as it does with short harp.
  • For bullet mics or any high impedance mics, you can use a direct input box such as the Behringer ULTRA-DI DI100, DSP110 Shark or Ultra-G GI100 DI to accept high impedance signal (including effects), converting the signal properly and send it out through a balanced XLR (3 pin) cable into a PA. Behringer are good quality for a low price, but better products are available from other brands, such as Tapco. Alternatively, you can use an impedance adapter designed to convert high impedance to balanced low impedance, such as the Shure A95U. Certain preamps and multi-effect units can also do this whilst adding desirable color to your tone, or even effects, you can read up on some of these under Amps. If your mic cable can't reach the mixing desk with 20' of chord, then its best to use something like this with a balanced XLR cable to the desk to minimise signal noise.

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• Vocal Microphones
  

  Most of the vocal mics below are Low Impedance and usually have an XLR connection at the base. They are generally intended to be used with an XLR to XLR balanced cable into a PA or Mixer or even a DI box. Balanced XLR to XLR cables cancel noise, mitigate signal loss and therefore can be much longer than 20' which is the recommended limit on guitar leads (used with high impedance mics like the Bullet mics discussed above).
  

  Purchase A95UF @ C2CM

  You can get away with using these mics with an XLR to 1/4" phono plug cable (no impedance adapter) into an amplifier however you will find they have a lower volume and don't drive your amp paticularly hard. This works if you are just wanting a warm acoustic tone. However you have quite a mismatch in impedance, and if you want to drive your amp to distortion with most of the following mics then you need to have an impedance converter, such as the Shure A85F or Shure A95UF, (note the 'F').

  Purchase your SM58 from Coast to Coast Music.

  • The Shure SM58 is highly recommended quality clean instrument mic. The SM58 is versatile and gives an open warm tone. You can listen to a SM58 sound sample. It is a ball and stick mic, making it easy to hold and cup. When cupped and played hard whether through an amp, or straight into a PA it can give subtle break up adding colour to your tone. A neat trick for harmonica players, is to use a good impedance adapter to hot up the mic signal into your rig. Unscrew the mesh ball, and use the microphone like an SM57 or 545, it has a wider response range, while getting a similar distorted tone to the SM57 and 545. Just take care with the foam on top of the cartridge. Also great vocal mic, or for mic'ing your amp, although the SM57 is used by many for the same purpose. Learn How to connect an SM58 to your computer card.

    Purchase your SM57 from Coast to Coast Music.

  • The Shure SM57 is a wand mic which has a more compressed tone and has more bass response than the SM58, especially when held in a tight cup around the mic & harmonica. It is very popular as an instrument microphone, a useful vocal mic, and great for micing up your amplifier. Used with an impedance adapter into your amp, it has a great rocky distorted tone, not unlike the Shure 545. You can listen to a SM57 sound sample.

    Purchase your 545 from Coast to Coast Music.

  • The Shure 545 UNIDYNE® III has a great range of sound, a very versatile mic and can be purchased new through any good music store today. They can be used clean when playing acoustically, or cupped to get a really hot driven tone. With all the decent bullet mic models out of production, and replacement elements getting more expensive and harder to come by, the current Shure 545 is a very attrative option, because it definitely beats the modern imitation Hohner Blues Blaster and imitation Shure 520DX hands down on tone, cut and power. They also serve well for micing your amp, and as a vocal mic. Shure 545 sound sample. Unlike the other vocal microphones in this section, you can switch the 545 to high impedance and drive a tube amp (or preamp) like any decent bullet mic.
    The original US made Shure 545 UNIDYNE® III come highly recommended for harmonica, it was Paul Butterfield's main mic all but his first album were recorded using this mic (or his PE54), and also used by Corky Siegel. The modern Shure 545 UNIDYNE® III available today is just as good as the original US made model, with hardly any difference in tone or performance.
  • beyerdynamic m160 hypercardoid unidirectional dynamic double ribbon microphone. Very clean warm microphone, with extremely flat response. Because of the quality of pickup it is less prone to feedback than most other microphones mentioned here. They are Lee Oskar's choice of gigging mic for over 30 years.
  • The AKG C1000 is a clean bright condenser microphone, generally best used in a microphone stand for clean acoustic playing. It is also effective for home recording. It requires either Phantom power from a mixer or DI box, or runs on a 9volt battery.

    Purchase your 55SH from Coast to Coast Music.

  • The Shure 55SH Series II gives a warm muted vintage tone. Its a big heavy mic and best set on a mic stand and used for acoustic harp. This mic features a very close pickup range, which means you need to play (or sing) close to the mic,the benefit of this is the mic has less tendancy to feedback.
  • There are many other good mics can all be setup for a variety of harmonica tones and genres either by mounting it on a microphone stand or cupped by the performer with the instrument.
    Shure's discontinued products is a useful source of technical information for some of the mics that harmonica players have discovered in the second hand market that give a great response and tone for harmonica.
    For acoustic playing you generally want a microphone with a good broad response across the spectrum. Most mics of this type are low impedance with a balanced XLR connector can be plugged straight into any PA or mixing desk for live performance or recording.
    

    Purchase A95UF @ C2CM

    If you wish to use low impedance vocal mics into effects units, an amplifier or amplifier emulators, you may need to get an impedance adapter from low to high impedance that boosts the signal. Like the Shure A85F or Shure A95UF. However if you only want a clean signal, a simple XLR to 1/4" plug converter will suffice. Just be aware that using such a convertor means any noise picked up along the cable won't be cancelled out, which an impedance adapter allows.
  • Playing acoustically to a vocal microphone requires only awareness of the microphone and where you are in relation to it. Approach the mic from a 45 degree angle rather than directly at it, and be aware how distance from it effects your tone & volume. The type of mic you get will also effect the way it responds to this.
    Varying the way you project your music to a mounted microphone and the distance that you play from the microphone can give additional effects in additional to normal acoustic techniques, such as fade in and fade out by moving towards or away from the mic, etc.
    
  • With some adjustment on the sound system you play with a compressed cup around the microphone and back of the chromatic giving a deeper fuller tone. You may also change your tonal colouring when the holding the mic by moving it or changing the way you cup it or hold it in relation to the instrument.
  • There are plenty of old and discontinued vocal & radio microphones that give a warm rounded tone to harmonica playing. For instance models with ribbon elements give a warm smooth response.

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  Purchase your MadCat from
  Coast to Coast Music.
  
• Small Microphones
  There are some small harmonica microphones which are easier to use with chromatic harmonica, and handy for both diatonic & chromatic harmonica when you're used to acoustic hand techniques but want to cup the mic without too much adjustment on your part. All these mics can be used for a clean sound adding a bit of warmth to your tone, a few of the harmonica specific models can be used to get an overdriven tone.
  
  • Shaker MadCat is a unique but comfortable little mic. It has a nice smooth tone, easy to hold, simply plug into an amp or PA and play. Click on the image to the right to hear sound sample.
    
  • Microvox Harmonica Microphone System AKA The Silk Mic now handed over to Mr Microphone, slips between your fingers, the tough belt unit gives volume control. The unit accepts up to two microphones allowing for even more range of expression by holding one in each hand.
  • The Harmonica Honker is fitted to a soft ring worn around your finger, from clean playing to grunty blues tones the belt unit gives this little mic plenty of drive and volume control.
    Hear harmonica honker in action.
  • Some professional chromatic harmonica players use miniature lavalier microphones that are discreatly clipped to the lapel, like the Shure SM11 with a bassier focus and less high end response or the more expensive Shure SM93 with broader response range although less response at the bass end, otherwise giving a clear clean reproduction. This frees the performer's hands as well as giving freedom to move around the stage. You will have to accomadate for the fact the mic is not at the business end of the harmonica and may also pickup unwanted noise from playing movements. They are very unintrusive for stage presentation & performance.

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• Cupping your Microphone
  When playing harp into a cupped mic, the fullest warmest tone comes from good TECHNIQUE. There are varied views about the best way to go about this, and as usual this is because different people have different expectations, taste and experience. I can only offer what I've found works for me, and leave it to you to decide what suits your needs.
  • Holding your Mic and Harmonica
    The way I generally hold a harmonica these days was from learning how to cup a chromatic harmonica. I figured out it didn't take much to adapt it to cupping a blues harmonica, and using it for hand effects and tonal colouring. I also found it very useful for cupping microphones whatever shape they came in without too much adjustment, with either diatonic or chromatic harmonica, and it serves me well.
  • To start with the left hand holds the harmonica, as well as the microphone. When you're not using your right hand to cup the harp and mic, you'll be able to walk around with your right hand free for other things. However when your right hand is cupping, it comes up from underneath and can help support the weight, completes the seal between the harp and mic, and also used for effects and tonal colouring.
  • The left index finger runs along the harp's top cover as far back as it can go and the left thumb doing the same underneath, the back of the harp couched in the webbing between them. This forms half of the seal around the back of the harp. The right hand comes up from underneath, palm face up (like a waiter carrying a tray one handed), and can take up some of the weight. It helps to tuck your elbows in towards each other a bit. The meat of your right palm (plus thumb) and index finger complete the seal around the back of the harp. With chromatic, keep your right index finger for the button, and make do with your remaining three fingers. The heel and pinky of your right hand complete the seal around the mic. Fingers close up together and you have a good cup around your harp and mic. Exactly how you cup the microphone using this technique, depends on which one you're using, which I'll explain below.
    
  • I'm not prepared to make more diagrams right now, but you can see what I'm on about on the Chromatic Harmonica Reference called The Classic Technique on the Holding Chrom page. Theres even a section on Techniques with a Microphone on the same page.
  • With a bullet mic like the Shure 520 or Astatic JT30, the left pinky and the heel of your hand form a seal around the edge of the bullet's front grill, the mic should be well supported and comfortable to hold. The heel of your right hand comes up underneath connecting with the heel of your left hand, and wrap your right pinky around the mic's grill finally meeting up with or wrapping slightly over your left fingers.
  • With a wand mic like the Shure 545SD or SM57 hold the mic just behind the loose plastic cartridge, with the left third and fourth (pinky) fingers wrapped around the top of the body. The heel of your right hand comes up underneath connecting with the heel of your left hand, and wrap your right fingers over your left.
  • With a ball and stick mic like the Shure SM58, start with your left pinky and the heel of your hand wrapped around the neck of the mic where the ball is screwed onto the mic, and the rest of your left hand wraps around the ball and the back of your harp. The heel of your right hand comes up underneath and completes the seal around the neck, between your left hand heel and fingers. Your right fingers wrap over your left fingers.
  • You want to be able to provide a 1/2" or so closed chamber between the back of the harp and the face of the mic (absolutely no contact!), if you have a good seal it creates a full tone and can really drive the mic hard when you project your harp playing into it. Theres a noticable difference in tone when you break that seal, which is a very useful tool for providing musical contrasts and colours. Your best teacher is experience, by practice and experimenting. One tip that may help, is to avoid too much tension or strain, a lot of good comes from approaching things firm but relaxed.
  • A variation on this hold, when playing blues harp, is to turn your right wrist anticlockwise so your fingers are point out forwards and to the right (at about 2 O'clock to carry on with the clock analogy). Curl your right thumb around the right side of the harp picking up where the index finger used to be. The left thumb will be sitting against your right wrist. Adjust your right palm and fingers around the back of the harp and mic to accomadate. Both acoustically and mic'd, this approach gives greater control over hand effects, and gives a better seal. (Thanks Terry!). I've heard of chromatic players who use their thumb on the button, and this is one way to achieve that.
  • Playing into your Cupped Mic
    When cupping a mic for amplified Chicago blues harmonica, I have learnt three variations all of which I employ depending on what I want.
    I've included samples, WMA format 50kB each. They were played on a diatonic key of A through a Shure 520D Green Bullet, into a Harp Commander (Level 9 O'clock), into a mixing desk with a touch of Digitech DigiVerb spring reverb. Any differences in tone and sound are due soley to technique.
  • I started out playing pucker and first learnt the importance of getting a good seal around the harmonica and the front of the mic.
    Pucker into Cupped Bullet
  • Later I learnt how to tongue block because of the additional techniques it offers and found that gave a different tone, in part because all articulation happens at the back of the mouth and throat. It also taught me how to bend notes at the back of my throat which made a dramatic impact on my tone in general, and was able to apply it to pucker as well (which is hopefully evident in the above sample).
    Tongue Block into Cupped Bullet
  • Finally thanks to Joe Filisko for giving an inspiring seminar at Harmonica Summit 2000 on this topic. Four years later I finally started to see there was something more in what he showed us on the blues harmonica. I've put in a lot of wood shedding, and have learnt how to get a really thick full warm tone...
    Tongue Block, harp pressed into cheek,into Cupped Bullet
    Hear any difference? Want to know why? Well, the front of the blues harp is pushed into the right cheek, this pretty much forces you to play using tongue block. I'm finding I shift the harp back at the top end so my right index finger and thumb are almost pinching the top end of the harp, just in front of the cover screw, or the front cover nails. So between your cheek and tongue all the holes not being used are sealed, combined with a good seal around the ~entire harp~, and a good sealed chamber between the harp and mic it gives a heavy compressed tone. Like dark chocolate, you can have too much of a good thing, but its a powerful sound to have at your disposal.
  • Playing Clean
    There are a lot of players who are not interested in the kind of tone and sound the above techniques create. Generally they're only interested in making their harmonica heard through the PA or their amp cleanly, clearly, and generally uncoloured.
  • One way to play clean is to simply play into a vocal mic mounted on a mic stand, but its not always appropriate or desirable.
  • Another way is to simply hold the mic and harp in your left hand as described above, but without needing to create a seal between the harp and mic. The right hand may only be employed for support, in the case of the chromatic working the button, and possibly for some light hand effects.
    
  • Playing one handed with a diatonic, I'll sometimes let my middle finger curl over the front of the mic a bit and rest the back of the harp against it, in such a way that it doesn't affect the sound at all, but makes it easier to hold everything in place.
    
  • This is by no means the last word on mic cupping technique, I can only share my own experience. I think its worth making the point, that like anything, learning new techniques takes time and practice, and that goes for learning how to use a microphone with harmonica. If any of the above is new to you and you want to try it out for yourself, you'll need to put in the time and effort to learn to do it effectively. A fifteen minute tryout is not a fair assessment. That said, I'm happy with the results I'm getting, and if you gain from this then its been worth my while.

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• Microphone Elements
  The element or cartridge of any microphone is what picks up the sound, and delivers the signal, its the critical working part of the mic that gives it's tonal characteristics. Click on each link to hear a sample of the different mic elements. All the bullet elements are installed in a Shure 520 shell, played clean into a mixing desk. All of the bullet mic elements are discontinued and only available second hand. However they are popular with harmonica players and with good reason. Most of the dynamic element microphones are still available from stores.
  • Astatic MC151 Crystal element was used in Shure JT30, Hohner (original) Blues Blaster & CAD mics - clean, biting tone but will break up nicely when compressed. These elements have a shelf life which is shortened by hard knocks and/or extreme temperature changes. One of the tricks with this mic is its rated at 5 MegaOhms, this means a lot of todays high impedance gear (guitar amps and effects) won't always handle it properly if you find its sounding thin, trebley and lacking bass, you'll probably need to change something in your chain, get a preamp that can handle it, or if you plug it straight into your amp, get it modified. The modern Hohner Blues Blaster have a completely different element which is made in China.
  • Astatic Ceramic MC127 element came with the Astatic JT-30C. It's similar to the Astatic Crystal but with a warmer tone since the top end response is lower. Like crystals these have a shelf life but apparently a bit sturdier.
  • Shure CR/Controlled reluctance element has a rich dark ballsy tone, with plenty of distortion with a good compressed cup. Great sound, just watch your amp settings as there can be a tendancy to get too muddy.
  • Shure CM/Controlled magnetic element are VERY similar in tone to the CR element but have a different name. They have higher mid range response, a bit less bass end, take a bit more work to get them to distort giving it a bark and more cutting tone than CR element. These were first made in USA which for the most part were consistently good quality, and used in various Shure bullet mics. Later Shure CM elements were made in Mexico, which varied in quality, sold in the Shure "Green Bullet" 520D. In addition, some of the Mexican CM element models were designed for balanced low impedance balanced signal. Despite CM elements being discontinued they're easy to buy second hand, and make for a great work horse mic. The modern Shure 520DX has a considerably weaker dynamic element with half the frequency response.
  • Dynamic cartridges: a lot of modern mics use different dynamic cartridges, and have a wide range of tonal qualities depending on the model. Examples are the Shure SM57, SM58, 545, PE54, 55SH & modern Green Bullet 520DX. Also the Shaker MadCat and Shaker Dynamic.
    In my experience, Shaker mics and the Shure 520DX have a weak output. The 520DX also has a less frequency response range than any of the bullet elements mentioned above, and as a result muffled and weak. The Shure 545 & PE54's can be wired to high impedance for a very hot signal not unlike the bullet mic elements listed above, making them very versatile mics.

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• Bullet Mic Wiring
  Here are some useful facts to improve your bullet mic.
  • If you have or want an on/off SPDT switch, the middle pole is wired to the signal output, one pole will be wired to the microphone's element/cartridge signal output. The remaining pole should be wired to ground so that the output signal is shorted to earth when switched off. If it isn't wired this way, the mic will cause your equipment to hum when switched in the off position.
  • Astatic ceramic (MC127) and crystal (MC151) element tone loss fix. Most high impedance mics work happily with guitar gear because they only need 1MegaOhm or less across the input. If you experience tone loss, one common cause is a piece of equipment doesn't have enough resistance across the input. For instance the Dan Echo pedal has this problem with guitars and bullet microphones that require more than 470kOhm. However some vintage gear requires a lot higher impedance than typically used today. The Astatic ceramic and crystal elements reportedly have this problem with some pedals and amplifiers because they require 5MegaOhms, well above typical.
    A popular myth to solve the problem is install as audio 5MegaOhm volume POT in the bullet mic. In truth it does absolutely nothing of the kind. A volume POT simply drops the signal level, the higher the resistance of the POT, the less it needs to be turned anticlockwise to reduce the signal level to silence.
    The proper fix is to install a 5 MegaOhm resistor across the signal and earth wires of the piece of equipment you plug your mic into. If you installed the resistor in your microphone, this would be in parallel with whatever resistor used in the equipment/amp you plug into, eg. 5 Meg in your mic, 1 Meg in your amp, (5Mx1M)/(5M+1M)would only be 800kOhms. For most other bullet mics 1 to 3 MegaOhm will suffice.
  • If your mic tends to hiss, you can reduce this by installing 1000pF/1nF ('102') ceramic capacitor between the signal and earth of your mic.
  • If you have a POT installed in your mic, and you suffer from treble roll off when it's turned down, you can rectify this by soldering a 150pF ('151') ceramic capacitor across the two signal contacts of the POT, allowing high treble sound to bypass the POT, giving your mic a brighter tone at lower volumes. The value of the capacitor is the same used in earlier Hohner Blues Blasters with the MC151 crystal element.
  • Not strictly to do with wiring, but when installing a cartridge in a bullet shell, a good tight gasket is essential to getting the best out of the mic. If you have a loose fitting gasket with leaks between the front and the chamber, even the greatest elements will sound weak and enemic. Tim Dougherty sells new gaskets for a variety of bullet mics. Money well spent.

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• Microphone Technicians
  
  Microphone technicians can repair, modify, and improve favourite harmonica microphones, they can mix and match elements, cartridges and shells, some of them offer various modifications be they the inner workings or the cosmetics.
  • Greg Heumann has been offering volume POTs for high impedance mics with switchcraft or unbalanced XLR connectors for some time. He now offers XLR low impedance volume controls. http://www.blowsmeaway.com.
  • Fritz Hasenpusch of Creative Solutions makes wood custom mics as seen at Harmonica Masterclass website.
  • Fat Bottom Mics Home of the Controlled Reluctance harp mics, where the Pro's shop.
  • Steve Warner of Thunder Harp Mics offers exciting custom microphones with powerful tone.
  • Dirty Dan's Vintage Mics, vintage mics and parts.
  • Tim Dougherty specializes in making mic gaskets, and bullet mic shell painting designs.
  • Dennis Oellig customises and offers cool artwork for bullet mics.
  • Tim Norris repairs, modifies, and custom mics.
  • The JT30 Page is home of Erica's shop that sells JT30 parts, mic components and elements.
  • Dave Kott has been repairing and customising harmonica microphones for over a decade. He also builds and modifies amplifiers.
  • You can learn all about how microphones work.

Harp On! Amplified Harmonica main page.

• Microphones Bullets, elements & vocal mics.
  • Bullet mics
    
  • Vocal microphones
    
  • Small harmonica mics
  • Cupping your Microphone
      Holding your Mic and Harmonica
      Playing into your Cupped Mic
      Playing Clean
    
  • Mic elements
  • Wiring of Bullet Mics
  • Mic Technicians
• Amplifiers Tube/valve amplifiers, preamps and emulators.
• Effects pedals and units.
• Amplified Tone Avoiding feedback & getting good tone.
• What G plays through

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