WHERE'S THE VOLUME POT ON YOUR MICS???

This is probably the most asked question that we get here at Loud Bark.

When we made our first mic, it had a volume control, I mean it had to, don't all harp mics have a volume control?

Then in February 2004, Michelle and I rode our motorcycles to the Boggy Creek Hotel in Curdie Vale (just near the end of the Great Ocean Road in Victoria), to catch up with friends from the Victorian Laverda Club. I packed my harps and threw in a mic, I mean you never know, I might get an opportunity to play.

Well sure enough, the band invited me to play and I climbed onto the stage and let rip. At the end of the set, I realised that the volume had been set to max and I hadn't had to adjust the volume once. It struck me then that you don't see Mick Jagger constantly playing with the volume control on his vocal mic, you don't see Steve Tyler turning down the volume control on his vocal mic and you certainly don't see Pete Burgess or Homesick Joe running to the front of his drums to turn down the volume on his drum mics. Why was this? It's because their mics don't feedback.

This changed the way that we made our mics. We searched for timbers with acoustical properties that drag sound THROUGH the timber fibres into the element. We then added a cavity to let the sound gather before passing into the element. Lastly we restricted the number of holes on the front of the mic.

We found that the sound that gets to the element through the timber picks up a lovely tone and best of all, doesn't feed back. The only feedback that we get is from the sound that enters the element from the front of the mic.

As a harp player, this suited me. I always found that holding the harp, cupping the mic for sound, holding the mic and adjusting the volume while playing harmonica was too many tasks for my two hands. Now I had a mic that was a lot easier to use and I didn't have to stop everything to turn down the mic every time that feedback caused it to start squealing. I could now play at maximum volume and let the sound guy worry about the levels.

By reducing the feedback from our mics, you now get one fantasic advantage, You now have access to previously unimaginable levels of gain and volume on your amp or PA. By being able to turn the volume up to the point where the amp starts to break down lets you get that dirty blues harp growl that all harp fans crave. If you want to play your harp with a cleaner harp sound, you can back off the gain and volume to a point before the amp starts to distort. And really, where would you prefer your harp sound to come from? Your mic or your $4000 1960's Fender Twin Reverb amp. it's much better to let your mic provide the signal and then your tubes to add your tone.

If you are really fussed that your mic has to have a volume control, well look no further, the Loud Bark will be just right for you. Our mics (in a way) have their own built in volume control, how can this be? you might be asking, well, because of a combination of the timber and the positioning of the element, you can play into any part of the mic and get sound. 1.When you play into the lid of the mic, you will get maximum volume, 2. when you play into the side of the mic, the volume is halved and 3.When you play into the base/bottom of the mic, the volume is less again,

(so you could say that our mics have 3 volume settings)