Update on the first rig that started this thread-
Revised the system a few days before Langerado to also use at Suwannee Springfest at the end of the month. I think about this stuff all the time, but I only get it together under a deadline.
I ditched the painter pole I was using into the back of the chair since sitting in the chair wiggled the pole and could cause noise. The portability was great, it just was not an elegant solution. Instead I improved the thing so that I could collapse the whole rig down to 19" to fit in a day pack all wired and ready to go, but still fly up to 10' (or more) and space the omnis up to 6-1/2' apart. I also made everything 'nothing to see here' black instead of 'look at that' shinny chrome.
To do that I substituted a Manforotto 001B for the painter pole, built two stand extensions out of 5/8" threaded rod, lock-nuts and couplers for use above 8', and replaced the chrome TV antenna with a black one. I fashioned a little attachment bar to attach the antenna spreader bars to the stand or the extensions which allowed everything to fold up without disassembly and covered the extensions and bar with heat shrink.
It all worked out nicely. OK, the rig is out of the ordinary to begin with, but here's the real oddball parts-
I've used some firm green foam Nerf ballistic balls (come in 5 pack refills for Nerf guns) as feet to keep the thin legs of the stand from sinking into sandy festival soil. They also make for a nice grip and cushion on concrete floors. I just slit the balls with a razor knife, slipped the thin rubber tips of the stand legs and slipped the balls on.
I also wanted to experiment with placing a spherical baffle on the 4060's to give them some increased directionality and presence on-axis that could be beneficial when micing from a distance. I'm shooting for emulating the effect of the DPA acoustic pressure equalizer (APE) balls for the full size 4006's and the plexiglass sphere of the Neumann M-50 (or modern M-150).
Here's a PDF article from the DPA site that goes into detail about what those things do if interested, as well as some discussion around p.19 & 20 of the
DPA, Gefell, & ADK in Classical Venues thread.
I selected the green Nerf ballistic balls since they are just about the same diameter as the 40mm APE's, lightweight, relatively dense, sound opaque and easy to work with. I heated up a nail and used it to melt some nice smooth bore holes through the balls into which I fitted some soda straw sections that the mics could slide through until the capsule grids were flush with the surface of the sphere. A short end section of bamboo chopstick (the tapered end) inserted from the cable exit side, locks the mic in place by wedging the cable against the straw wall. Another hole at a right angle to the first and only partway into the ball allows it to fit snuggly on the end of the telescopic TV antenna. Radio Shack foam mic windscreens slip over the balls for wind protection. I ended up also using my ghetto Rycote wind baskets as well since the wind was fierce over the weekend. Details on those are in
this DIY basket style windscreens - AKA ghetto Rycotes thread.
[edit- foam alone is sonically better for all mics as long as it is effective enough. Trapped air space under foam could improve wind protection without resorting to the more problematic basket. Baskets are probably only really needed for directional mics. Details in the above thread]I didn't have a chance to do any testing of the ball baffles before Langerado, so I just flew the things. I still haven't listened enough to determine their worth or if I'll refine the system further (perhaps with different material or size balls - yellow foam practice golf balls are the same foam but are slightly smaller diameter). I may end up removing the balls and going back to just the 4060's with small foams on the ends of the antennas which is much less visually distracting and virtually disappears in a crowd since the antennas are so thin. I wouldn't be able to call it 'bug eye' then unless I break out the ghetto Rycotes. I did set up in a parking lot and did some walk around tests last night at various mic spacing with the balls on, but haven't assessed those tests either.. so stay tuned.
OK, the pictures-
Here's the whole rig collapsed, but wired up and ready to deploy. R-09 and MMA6000 are in the shaving kit bag, I'm using the microdot extension cables to reach to the preamp in the bag when the stand is extended to 10'+.
It's a wierd looking contaption. I was walking between stages at Langerado when some dude passing by said 'WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?'. I hurried on to catch the start while by girlfriend stayed back to play with his mind a bit.
