August 17, 2017

The Accordion and the Dreaded Microphone

Accordions are wonderful instruments that are used all over the world in multiple styles of music. Accordions provide a large sound with a deep bass end and a high treble end. Due to the wide range of sound that accordions output, it can be hard to properly mic this instrument. Sure, it is fine when playing in front of a small group in a small venue. How about when you play a large venue? Or when you just want the same amount of punch that the drums and electric instruments receive? In these cases, mic'ing your accordion is essential to the overall balance of the band. However, due to the range of notes and sound coming from both the treble and bass reeds, standing in front of a microphone is not sufficient. Apart from having the sound change levels by movement from you, a microphone on a stand cannot equally capture both the highs and lows of your accordion. Until now. This problem was brought to our attention after creating a few models of our pickups. We knew we had to create a pickup system that would work to evenly distribute the sound of the accordion, but one mic was not going to be enough. So we made a pickup system with two microphones.

Although our pickups are designed to be easily placed on numerous instruments easily, we designed a couple of pickups with accordion players in mind. 

The Feather-2 Accordion Pickup

 The first accordion pickup we will look at is our Feather-2 pickup system. This pickup was especially made with accordion players in mind. This accordion pickup has dual mics coming out of a powered pre-amp box. The two microphones exiting out of the box are long enough to easily attach one mic to the treble grill and another to the bass side of the accordion. This accordion pickup will be able to equally capture both the high and the low of your accordion at the same time. With these accordion microphones you also get the usual outstanding and natural sound of your accordion that you get with any of our pickups. The pre-amp box can easily be clipped on to your belt buckle or to the strap of your accordion. The accordion microphones stay out of the way and do not disrupt your hands on the keyboard or keep you from hitting those bass buttons. We intentionally make our pickups barely visible to the audience so nothing about them is a distraction from your music!

The Grip Plus-6 w/ Bass Extension Accordion Pickup

The second accordion pickup we created is similar in ways but also has many other beneficial features. Our Grip Plus-6 with Bass Extension pickup is truly an accordionist's friend. Not only can this accordion pickup capture both sides of your instument with quality tone and natural sound, this pickup system easily attaches to your accordion with a suction cup. Accordions tend to have a lot of flat sides, allowing a suction cup to attach easily. With this accordion pickup, all you need to do is attach the pre-amp box near the treble reeds and grille, using the attached suction cup. This accordion microphone system has three separate microphones to cover every note escaping from your accordion. Place the dual 6" microphones to capture the treble side of your accordion and use the long "Feather" microphone to mic the bass side. Now you have an accordion pickup that catches every sound, leaving your accordion and a pre-amp box stuck securely to your accordion with a volume knob, making it easier for you to adjust your volume when performing with a live audience.

Accordions are unique and complicated instruments to mic properly. Myers Pickups has taken on the mission of providing quality microphones and pickup systems for every instrument. Where there wasn't a great solution for mic'ing accordions, we decided to fill that spot. Whether its our Feather-2 or our Grip Plus-6 with Bass Extension, these accordions pickups provide the sound you want to keep and give you freedom to move around, without worrying about your sound being disrupted. For an added feeling of freedom, attach your accordion microphone system to a wireless pack and continue to keep the sound you desire, while covering the entire space on the stage.