Disquiet Junto 0228 Three Mics

The Disquiet Junto this week asked for a recording of a single source using three microphones. I opted to use an electric toothbrush through three very different mics: a stereo Rode NT4, a blender motor and a contact microphone.

The stereo mic is heard first and, aside from my partner typing and my heavy breathing, it captures the toothbrush being switched on and moving around a bit.

The blender motor captures the electromagnetic field of the toothbrush, mostly a high-pitched whine of the motor. It drops in pitch a little as I push the spinning part against the inside of the coil, creating resistance.

The contact microphone is a deeper sound as it is capturing the vibrations directly from the chassis of the toothbrush. In effect this bypasses the air molecules that would normally come between a source and a microphone, so in a way it places the listener's head against the sound source.

These were all treated to a little reverb, mostly to give a sense of stereo to the mono sound sources, as well as EQ and limiting and compression.