The Afterword

Musings on the byways of popular culture

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ATM – condenser mics

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I think there are a few AW geezers who might be able to help me out here.

I’m doing some research into upgrading the equipment in our little band. I’ve already decided on a Yamaha Stagepas, 400 or 600 tbc. Our current brick has only 4 inputs and doesn’t have phantom power, whereas the Yamaha has 8 and does.

Which brings me on to condenser mics. We’re currently using 5 (count’em) dynamic mics variously going into the PA and a Spark Edge. 5 mics plus stands plus leads are a pain in the arse, given the small spaces we usually play in. A couple of condenser mics would massively simplify things.

I’d set my heart on a couple of EarTrumpet Delphinas because they’re cool and sound great. But besides being eye-wateringly expensive, the email I got from EarTrumpet, while of course strongly recommending I buy them, entering so many caveats about feedback and such that I’ve backed away.

So here (finally) is the question. Can anybody recommend a couple of condenser mics that would handle sharing 4/5 vocals and aren’t too fussy or expensive? Rode and AKG have been mentioned, but a lot of reviews concentrate on studio work » Continue Reading.

What if the PLANTS joined in too? It’s not just the fauna you know.

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Please meet the Gympie-Gympie plant, aka the Suicide Plant. So called because its toxins are so powerful that people have killed themselves rather than endure the pain any longer. The effects can last for years. You don’t even have to touch it – just breathing near it can screw up your lungs and cause nosebleeds.

https://allthatsinteresting.com/gympie-gympie

Things I have only just discovered, PSA for left-handers – AI edition

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I was expelled from the Dull Men’s Club for not being dull enough, so my only recourse is to post here.

My Opinel breadknife is the best breadknife I’ve ever owned. It goes through dense sourdough like a knife though, er, butter. Unfortunately, being of the sinister persuasion, my slicing always goes on the slant, the angle increasing the closer I get to the end. This drives Mrs thep nuts.

In an idle moment I asked Claude what the problem was, and he/she/it was right on top of it. Turns out that left-handers are at a disadvantage because breadknives are made for right-handers. Instead of two serrated edges as I’d always assumed, the knife has one bevelled edge and one flat edge. If you use the bevelled edge, as I had to, it’s almost impossible to slice vertically after the first one or two. That’s the purpose of the flat edge.

Colour me thunderstruck. I’m mildly ambidextrous, so I had a go at cutting right-handed. Since it’s such a good knife all I had to do was pull it backwards and down it went, vertical as anything. Magic. Felt a bit strange at first, but a bit of a domestic » Continue Reading.

Any love for the Brothers Comatose?

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I’ve become keen on small bluegrass/not quite bluegrass bands – couple of guitars, mandolin, fiddle, banjo, bass, invariably a gorgeous Eartrumpet mike. Stumbled on these guys doing an absolutely beautiful cover of Harvest Moon – so simple, so musical, and very cool. They are all about covers, but they seem to smash them all out of the park every time.

The two brothers are the core of the group, and there seems to be a shifting group of people who pop in and out. A. J. Lee has a band called Blue Summit – they do a hilarious shitkicking cover of I’m a Believer.

Bring Out Your Ear-worms – a thread for sado-masochists

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We all like a good ear-worm, don’t we chums? This is my current one, it goes round and round in my head, particularly when I wake up in the small hours and am trying to get back to sleep. Drives me nuts, so I thought I’d share the pain.

So the story goes its author, piper Gordon Duncan, woke up one morning with the tune in his head after a heavy night on the sauce. He tried it out on his friends, none of whom recognised it, so he decided he must have written it in his sleep. Bit like Macca and Scrambled Eggs, I guess.

When our little band plays it at our care home gigs, the old folk tend to go into a trance – those who aren’t already asleep, that is. We go into a bit of a trance too.

Any other earworms?

More Mackenzie Crook loveliness

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I was alerted to this lovely little book by a post on social media – it completely passed me by when it was published in 2024.

This inspiration was a book Mackenzie’s father was given when he was a child, If Jesus Came to My House. The young Mackenzie was entranced by the possibilities of the book: imagine if ghosts you admired could come to your house and spend time with you!

MC was only 3 when Nick Drake died, and only discovered his music 20 years later. The nagging wish that they’d known each other stayed with him, and the result is this book, The beautiful illustrations are by Crook: Nick Drake has a halo, like an angel, and MC has an excellent eye for pre-war houses (even Fairport puts in an appearance). The text is a series of simple, touching verses.

Some samples: ‘If Nick Drake came to my house and knocked upon the door I’m sure I’d been more happy than I’ve ever been before.’

‘I’d let him read my poems and he wouldn’t laugh or sneer I’d tell him how his music helped me through a troubled year.’

‘And when at last the bus turned up » Continue Reading.