Love at first sight ā make that love at first listen.Nadine, whereāve you been all my life?! Seriously, I play, record, and mix upright bass a lot. It is my Achilles heel. Especially since I have an affinity for my ā70s Kay plywood dog house, which I consider the āFender P Bass of uprights.ā I also donāt ever change my strings. Needless to say, Iāve wrestled with the angel when it comes to achieving upright tone nirvana in my recordings.Nadineis a blessing to the upright bass. This mic takes the best of the thump and midrange clarity you want out of an unwieldy instrument, then sets it in the mix right where it belongs ā plus, you donāt even need a mic stand! A few notable users include Christian McBride, Missy Raines, and Chris Wood. I had the good fortune to work with The Wood Brothers once, and their FOH engineer told me they ditched a competitive mic in favor of theNadinethat Ear Trumpet Labs had given them to try out.
The Ear Trumpet LabsNadineis a medium/large-diaphragm hand-made microphone with a unique appearance, and an easy-to-use mounting system designed specifically for upright bass. It utilizes a permanently attached 14-inch Mogami cable and washer-mounted head to fit all sizes of upright bass. The ācapsule and electronics are tuned for live use with excellent feedback rejection.ā It incorporates internal shock dampers and comes with a 30-day full return policy and lifetime warranty. Ear Trumpet Labs had both live and studio applications in mind when they designed this mic.
TheNadinewas simple enough to mount on my upright bass after watching a short instructional video on the Ear Trumpet Labsā website. In the studio, I didnāt feel the need to use a DI to complement theNadineā it has an awesome presence and thump with a slightly roomy sound even though itās close micād. This could be an issue live, especially with loud drums. But man, you can really hear andfeelthe wood! One of the best design features is that theNadineis mounted directly to the instrument, so your mic placement never changes. I for one like to move around once Iām in the groove, so this is awesome!
I had an opportunity to use theNadineon a session with Hot Buttered Rum, a local San Francisco Bay Area Americana act. We were recording upright bass with drums and piano in the same room, so I saw this as a good test of the micās rejection ability. There was some bleed from the drums but not too much; just the right amount to make it sound live. I do think this scenario requires a sensitive drummer. TheNadinecaptured bassist Bryan Horneās tone perfectly. The bottom end was round and bouncy, but not muddy, and I only had to scoop a small amount of low mid out to place it in the mix.
Following the session, Bryan took theNadineon a gig. Hereās what he had to say: āI used it at one gig. I sent it to the house and not to my rig/cab and the FOH guy used it in the house. I wasnāt able to get the mic to my amp, just sent it to the house guy. If I could blend both mic and pickup together (you can do this with a Grace Designs FELiX2 acoustic instrument and mic preamp) and try that I think itād be cool to try but I donāt have one of those yet.ā
Once I got the mic back I tried just that with a Raven Labs PMB-2. I plugged my David Gage String Instruments Realist pickup into one channel, and theNadineinto the other, then the amp. The mic alone sounded excellent through the amp, and feedback rejection was good. I was able to get a fair amount of gain without a squelch, so I see this as a viable option for live performance. Blending the mic with the pickup created some interesting tone possibilities, ranging from boomy bluegrass thump to jazzy midrange. Clearly, Ear Trumpet Labs has worked hard to tune this mic for the stage, but as stated previously, the success of theNadinein live settings depends largely on your drummerās musicianship and your FOH engineerās skills. I would be mindful of putting it in the monitors.
Just for kicks (pun intended), I put theNadinein a bass drum to see what it would do. Since thereās no way to put this mic on a stand, I set it on a blanket inside the drum. The recorded sound was pretty punchy with a fair amount of attack. I did pick up a noticeable amount of the rest of the kit, but a low pass filter remedied much of that. So, itās also useful as a kick drum mic if you are thinking of buying one, but donāt record a ton of upright bass. The Ear TrumpetNadineis an incredible mic! If you play, record, or mix upright bass, you should own one.
($599 direct;eartrumpetlabs.com) -Ben Bernsteinbenbernsteinmusic.com