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Looper's Delight
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I have given this subject considerable thought and tried lots and lots of diffenent approaches. what I have come to is to use a condenser microphone with an incredibly narrow cartoid pattern (as found in the AKG C1000S for example) for all instruments that are smaller (triangles, small shakers and any sounds that I call micro-phonic-------------much quieter than normal). with my loopers I then make my loop be entirely wet so that there is no feedback potential with monitoring. You can then use mutes on something like a Mackie mixer and then use headphones to monitor the initial sound. I prefer open ear headphones with this approach (and , believe it or not, Radio Shack makes an excellent $40 open ear, collapseable full frequency headphone that they frequently sell on sale for $20) so that you can hear other musicians playing or your monitor speakers. Ideally, of course, one should have in ear monitors for such an approach (but I still have never invested in them because they are so expensive and you have to have a very dependable feedback eliminating devices so that there is never a chance of feedback-------------one of Santa Cruz's most talented trumpet players had his brillian live career cut short by having his ears destroyed in a feedback incident and it just isn't worth the risk). I always used Beta 58s or Beta 57s on stage before I heard a pair of the AKG C1000s at a folk club in Berkeley touring with Martin Simpson. They blew me away because the fidelity was so much greater than the Shure Betas and yet I could use very high monitored volumes (wonderful when one is playing a Liquid Glass Ghatam as I was on one song in that show). Wonderfully, one can purchase a pair of these great mics for $300 at most big music stores: and you can always take this price to your local music store and give them the option of matching the price in an effort to buy local and keep your money in your own hometown.............this is my little strategy for keeping money local but still being able to afford equipment because it is priced reasonably. Well,