Earthworks: the New Science in Microphones
David Blackmer, the brilliant engineer who invented the technologies of dbx, is
also the inventor and founder of Earthworks. In the last few years of his life, David
developed a number of revolutionary technologies that dramatically improve the
quality and performance of microphones. In short, Earthworks High Definition Mi-
crophones™ will pick up sounds and details that other microphones cannot. These
dramatic microphone improvements are in the areas of impulse response, diaphragm
settling time and new polar pattern technologies. Those who have heard the Earth-
works High Definition Microphones™, say that they hear more attack, more subtle
detail and a more pristine quality in the sound than with any other microphones.
The demo CD for the Earthworks DK25 Series DrumKit™ Systems should capture
your interest in this respect. This CD is included with this manual. We suggest that
you take the time to listen to it. While developing our new 25kHz Series of High
Definition Microphones™ for percussion, we went into the studio to try them out.
We only used two mics for overheads and one for kick drum. When we heard this,
it absolutely blew us away. Then we made a comparative recording of the same drum
set using seven other mics that are some of the industry favorites for miking drums.
In comparing these two recordings, the difference in detail and sound quality of the
three Earthworks High Definition Microphones™ vs. the seven industry favorites
was staggering. The Earthworks High Definition Microphones™ captured every
nuance of sound from each piece of the drum set with such an exceptional clarity
and cohesiveness, that it sounded like a live set of drums, not a bunch of pieces.
This discovery led to the development of the innovative Earthworks DrumKit™
System, providing a “dramatic improvement” in the sound quality of miked drums.
X/Y Stereo Overhead Miking
While in the studio auditioning our new 25kHz High Definition Microphones™, we
recorded in two acoustic environments: a drum room and an open studio (larger
room). When recording drums in the drum room, we mostly used the X/Y approach
to miking which is shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1. Overhead miking with HORIZONTAL X/Y positioning
