electrovoice 635A

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michaelkerchner
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electrovoice 635A

Post by michaelkerchner » Mon Oct 21, 2019 5:15 am

i have two of these little omni dynamics and have yet to hear them sound good on anything. just curious if anyone has used them with aural success on and source.
sounds good, compress it
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Re: electrovoice 635A

Post by losthighway » Mon Oct 21, 2019 5:27 am

You should use the search function. This mic was nearly the mascot for this place for years.

I have other weird EVs but not this one. If memory serves people liked it on guitar amps, and as the "crotch mic" or "heart mic" placed somewhere in the middle of the drum set.

If it's at all similar to my RE10, it has a sound that seems somewhat unimpressive, or a tad 'lo fi' on its own, but can place an element in the mix nicely. I'd also consider it when putting an overdub acoustic instrument in a dense mix, like when someone says "let's put banjo on the bridge!" or "this ukulele might make a nice texture". Not a lot of bass, not a ton of treble presence, but just some friendly sounding mids.

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Re: electrovoice 635A

Post by markjazzbassist » Mon Oct 21, 2019 5:31 am

i use it with my tenor sax, i couldn't afford a PL-10 or RE-55 and this has similar response just less bass and top end. nice budget mic.

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Re: electrovoice 635A

Post by michaelkerchner » Mon Oct 21, 2019 5:41 am

woooops blew it with the search function. eh, this place needs the the traffic and some life anyway.

session over the weekend threw it on snare shell and a crunchy amp and was less than stoked on both. who knows, maybe come mixing time the tracks will find their place.

thanks for the suggestions, ill keep trying to find its place
sounds good, compress it
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Re: electrovoice 635A

Post by markjazzbassist » Mon Oct 21, 2019 6:04 am

mono drums overhead for a 60's type vibe too.

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Re: electrovoice 635A

Post by A.David.MacKinnon » Mon Oct 21, 2019 6:31 am

I haven't used mine that much in a while but there was a time that it ended up everywhere on my sessions. These days I have other omni dynamics that I like more for specific applications.

It's a good drum crotch mic. Running it in to an overdrive pedal on the way to tape is even better. It can also be a good sounding drum room mic. Try taping it to the floor in front of the kit (use 2 if you've got them).
I use it on guitar amps from time to time. It's great as a second mic on an amp or as a single if you're double tracking parts. It can be really great on acoustic guitar if you're going for a more 60's/70's type sound. It can also work really well on the back of an upright piano as it rolls out the frequencies you don't really need. I wouldn't use it for solo piano but for overdubs in a band type tune it really helps put the instrument where you want it without a ton of processing. Every now and then (but not often) I'll use it as vocal mic.

As stated above, it's never super impressive sounding on it's own but it can sit really well in the mix on lots of applications.

It also works really well if you're a reporter doing "man on the street" interviews.

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Re: electrovoice 635A

Post by drumsound » Mon Oct 21, 2019 8:42 am

Percussion overdubs can be really great with a 635a. As Dave mentioned drum room, taped to the floor like Albini is also great. Guitar amps, especially punk and garage type things.. Room mics for acoustic or electric guitars. I'm trying to think if I've done hors with them or not.

Yeah, I dig 'em. I've been keeping one on a stand for quickie "lets try/demo this really quick" situations as well. No going to the closet and "deciding," just plugging in and DOING.

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Re: electrovoice 635A

Post by joninc » Mon Oct 21, 2019 12:54 pm

this is a cool mic - unless you want really modern, zippy, super sized sounds.

also being an omni it won't be as tight of a focus on the pattern front so expect something a little more roomy/distant than a cardoid.

It's quite smooth for a dynamic and I have used it a lot on vocals - some lead and bgs. I also like it on guitar amps. sometimes it's cool for an older dusty type acoustic sound - (supposedly was used on the acoustic on Ray Lamontagne TROUBLE album) - it doesn't have a ton of top or deep lows but is smooth for midrange... so hand drums, horns, toms, piano etc are all viable options.

The best "live horn section" sound I ever got was with one of these on sax and trumpet (1 mic between them) - just sounded right.
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Re: electrovoice 635A

Post by Recycled_Brains » Tue Oct 22, 2019 8:37 am

I tried one once as a "crotch" mic since I've seen that application mentioned a bunch of times. I thought it sounded terrible, but not in a cool way. I wouldn't write it off based on that I suppose. Was not "smooth" at all. Total opposite.
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Re: electrovoice 635A

Post by losthighway » Tue Oct 22, 2019 9:13 am

Recycled_Brains wrote:
Tue Oct 22, 2019 8:37 am
I tried one once as a "crotch" mic since I've seen that application mentioned a bunch of times. I thought it sounded terrible, but not in a cool way. I wouldn't write it off based on that I suppose. Was not "smooth" at all. Total opposite.
It tends to work for the "destroyed room mic" sound, even though it's not actually a room mic. It also works as a harder compressed parallel to the tom and snare mics that can breath a little more. When I like it it's adding grain and presence.

I also sometimes like this kind of mic at about snare height, or a little lower 3 or 4 feet to the side of the kit pointed at the tom and snare.

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Re: electrovoice 635A

Post by floid » Tue Oct 22, 2019 11:53 am

Not too long ago I believe someone on here mentioned putting it on the floor on the snare side of the kick, sort of an alternative to the crotch thing. Tried it there a couple times and liked it.
I use it a lot on my nylon acoustic, which is usually meant to stay tucked away inside the rhythm section. Shakers, bVox... rarely gets put away.
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Re: electrovoice 635A

Post by Recycled_Brains » Tue Oct 22, 2019 12:16 pm

losthighway wrote:
Tue Oct 22, 2019 9:13 am
Recycled_Brains wrote:
Tue Oct 22, 2019 8:37 am
I tried one once as a "crotch" mic since I've seen that application mentioned a bunch of times. I thought it sounded terrible, but not in a cool way. I wouldn't write it off based on that I suppose. Was not "smooth" at all. Total opposite.
It tends to work for the "destroyed room mic" sound, even though it's not actually a room mic. It also works as a harder compressed parallel to the tom and snare mics that can breath a little more. When I like it it's adding grain and presence.

I also sometimes like this kind of mic at about snare height, or a little lower 3 or 4 feet to the side of the kit pointed at the tom and snare.
Yea, that's what I tried to do with it. Destroying it just sounded worse (to me). The band did love seeing a track labeled "dick" though, so I left it there, just muted. :lol: I'm not a huge fan of that sort of thing though. I rarely blow out my room mics and things like that. I wish I knew how people do that and actually find it useable. Like all-buttons-in or Nuke mode on a Distressor. I try it almost every mix, and 99% of the time it doesn't make the cut. That 1% is fun though.
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Re: electrovoice 635A

Post by A.David.MacKinnon » Tue Oct 22, 2019 12:23 pm

I tend to blow it up and then sneak it in under the regular kit mix. A little goes a long long way and it's not as good on cymbal heavy tunes.

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Re: electrovoice 635A

Post by drumsound » Tue Oct 22, 2019 1:46 pm

Here's a record where I used a 635a on one of the guitars (I think the right side, I'll check later). Pretty straight ahead garage rock. A fun band called Gnu Kung Fu.

https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/gnukungfu

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Re: electrovoice 635A

Post by losthighway » Tue Oct 22, 2019 7:09 pm

Recycled_Brains wrote:
Tue Oct 22, 2019 12:16 pm
I rarely blow out my room mics and things like that. I wish I knew how people do that and actually find it useable. Like all-buttons-in or Nuke mode on a Distressor. I try it almost every mix, and 99% of the time it doesn't make the cut. That 1% is fun though.
Yeah, I'm with A.David, it's more of a shade in the overall sound than a highlight, unless there's a particular beat on a particular bridge kind of mix arrangement.

In general I'm with you, the more I work the more I dislike cymbal hash and the more a 4:1 ratio pinching a few db sounds better on the room mic to me than death and destruction.

I keep coming back to two ideas on the nuked sound (like David Friedman got with the Flaming Lips, or in a subtler way some recent Spoon moments) they usually are using fewer mics than I often use, and they usually have drummers writing parts with no cymbals, or who are very easy on their cymbals.

I used to play with a gate shaving off 10db and opening with the snare and toms in front of some bigger compression.... oh man, I'm way off topic. Keep playing with that 635A, set it next to your hifi mic when someone's recording background vocals and see if it can reframe their sound on the right moment.

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