I had a fun morning pulling out my new Cortado contact mic from Zeppelin Designs. I read about it in TapeOp, it sounded like a blast, and I have no impulse control, sooooo…

I started by banging something metal on something else metal…always a hit! (Har.) I attached the mic to several places on the stove and used a cricket and sometimes my hand to beat on it. I came out with at least one really interesting (but not too interesting) clap sound, and some fun new musicky gestures.
Next up, the piano was calling my name. I tried attached the mic to a couple places on the soundboard, and ended up liking it in the middle section for what I was doing. (I liked the extra highs.)

Here’s a short sample. So bright!
And another short sample using the incredible “mute” feature of the Yamaha U3 upright:
What a simple/quick way to record some piano bits! I came away with a few things I’m sure I’ll use, either as-is, or possibly through the NEW IRIDIUM‘s (TM, coming soon) granular synthesis capabilities.
This is such a cool little dude to have around. Sometimes I find myself not recording things because it’s a little too inconvenient. Shame on me, I know. But I think the ease of popping this on a surface and hooking it up to my little Zoom recorder will have me recording more audio outside the studio!