Contact Mic Recordings

Made this little composition below with contact microphone recordings that were taken at the top of the London College of Communication tower block, the elevator ride to the bottom; and then the train journey home (where I had cookies and milk waiting for me, so Mum wasn't too cross.)

Contact Mic Recordings by AudioHive

I really love the texture of the recordings produced by the contact microphone. You can hear the thick band of low frequencies creating this muffled bath of sound that sounds not too dissimilar to what you hear with your head underwater. I knocked on a few surfaces during this recording as the contact mics pick up the vibrations and you get this really nice "natural" reverb from the surface vibrations.

The underlying low frequency hums that you can hear are caused by the traffic at street level (bear in mind that I was on the 14th floor of a tower block) and also, when I pressed the microphones on to a stairwell, the mechanics and motion of the elevator across the hall can be heard.

I really enjoy the fact that these microphones strip away the higher frequencies, like a natural EQing and help you to record frequencies that would otherwise be overshadowed by the sensation of touch. There's a real physicality to these recordings, perhaps because these mics are directly attached to their surroundings and don't rely on air pressure changes to record sound.

The microphones I used are simply piezo discs soldered on to a "phono to mini jack" cable. Both these piezo discs and the cable are available at Maplin electrical shop. the discs cost about 50p and the cable, depending on length, is around £5.

Give 'em a go, and maybe one day, you too will appreciate the sensation of sticking your ear to the wall and listening to your neighbours go at it.