THE MIC LISTENING LAB

IT’S HERE!

For the past year, we’ve been recording sound samples using Shure mics to create an online interactive Mic Listening Lab.  You don’t have to be a sound engineer or a member of a megachurch to step inside this space.  In fact, you’re just one click away from auditioning Shure mics by listening to sound recordings.

The yearlong project was spearheaded by Applications Engineer Crispin Tapia and Senior Audio Technician Dean Giavaras and was recorded in Shure’s state-of-the art Performance Listening Center studio.  The resulting 214 (and counting) recordings sampled 23 microphones and tapped the talents of an army of musicians that included Northwestern University Music School students and faculty along with Shure Associates and friends.

We asked Crispin and Dean for the back story.

 

What led to the development of the Mic Listening Lab?

CT: With the addition of the Performance Listening Center at Shure headquarters in Niles, a full-fledged professional recording studio, we had a great opportunity to capture recordings of our microphones in action. We also developed a cooperative relationship with Northwestern University’s School of Music. They utilize our studio for various student and faculty recording sessions, and we, in turn, come away with excellent samples of our microphones on the highest quality instruments played by extremely talented artists.

Was there anything like this before?

CT: Shure had offered some limited amount of sound samples on shure.com in the past, but nothing as extensive as today. We have an impressive library of educational guides that describe many different microphone techniques, and we thought it would be great to have a “soundtrack” to go along with those resources. Ultimately of course, it is up to the users to decide what sound they are trying to capture. We hope our Listening Lab can be used as a tool in the creative process.

Who coordinated the project?

CT: Dean Giavaras and I worked closely with each other to schedule the recording sessions, and to plan out which microphones would be used and which techniques would be used. We also utilized many of the talented musicians at Shure.

How long did it take? What was development like?

CT: The sound samples that are currently in the Listening Lab were recorded over a year or so. We were more than willing to accommodate a performer’s schedule and the schedule of those involved with the recordings. Again, this is one of the advantages of having a recording studio in house. We were also careful to maintain a high level of consistency from session to session, which helps the listener focus on each microphone’s unique characteristics in different applications.

Can you talk a little bit about the recording process?

DG: We recorded as many mics simultaneously as possible so that the listener can hear the same performance on different microphones and compare them.

How were you able to do that?

DG: We placed multiple microphones in an array keeping them equidistant from the source and maintaining optimum mic positioning.  Then I balanced the levels as we captured. Our goal was to completely avoid any normalization or other post-recording volume manipulation. All the samples are presented without any processing common in studio recording — no equalization, compression or any other effect had to be applied during or after recording.

 

We picked a short excerpt from the recorded samples and edited. Finally the files were converted into the appropriate format for the web tool.

 

Will the Listening Lab be updated as new mics are introduced?

CT: Yes, the Listening Lab is fully intended to be a work in progress – a library under construction.  Shure will no doubt introduce new microphones and new opportunities to work with great musicians will continue to arise.

Anything interesting you learned that you didn’t know?

DG: I learned once again how versatile a mic the SM57 is!

Anything else?

CT: Many talented Shure Associates dedicated their time and talent to create many of the samples in the Lab. Without them this project would not be nearly as successful as it is or as fun as it was to create.