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A note from harpist
Debbie DeActis
Further to our phone
conversation a few days ago, I want to thank you for the
CH-3 Artist Pick-up that I recently purchased for my
Celtic Harp. I have a 25-string harp that stands 35"
tall, made by Roger Muma here in London, ON. I have been
playing for about 10 years. On occasion I have played for
church services, open houses, Christmas celebrations, and
a wedding. In the past I have used a mic on a boom which
has worked fine, but is sometimes in the way.
I was referred to your
website by Belle Air Music Co. in downtown London, where I
discovered the CH-3. I was surprised
and delighted to find exactly what I was looking for, and
that it is made in Canada! After conferring with a friend
who I consider an expert in sound technology, I decided to
give it a try, especially since you offer a 30-day
money-back guarantee. Although it is twice as much as I
originally intended on spending, I am extremely happy with
the CH-3. It was fairly easy to install by myself,
although a little bit tricky because of the small size of
my harp. The pictures in the instructions helped a
lot. Your customer assistance has also been very
friendly and helpful. The sound that this
pick-up produces is amazing! Clear and true. And it is
especially nice that it is invisible! I can't say enough
good things about it.
Following, I am including
the analysis of my friend who is infinitely more capable
than I am of reviewing the intricacies of the technology.
Sorry, but we are unable to produce an MP3 sample for you,
as we don't have the right equipment. Feel free to use
any of the comments in this review and the one following
to promote the CH-3.
Debbie DeActis,
London, Ontario
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To whom it may concern:
I
am the audio production specialist at Westview Baptist
Church in London, Ontario. Recently, one of our members
purchased your CH-3 pickup for her Celtic Harp and this
review represents my findings.
The sanctuary of our church
is a very acoustically "dry" environment with little
reverberance. With rough 6 rib split cement block walls,
carpeted floors, and upholstered chairs for the
congregation, sound is literally sucked out of the air.
Natural reverberance is barely one second. It is a rare
person who can make themselves heard and understood in
this space without amplified assistance, even when empty
and certainly so with a congregation of 350 persons
absorbing even more decibels. Due to the unique layout of
our space and its stepped ceiling, we have been forced to
use a distributed sound system as opposed to a centralized
cluster array. We use a stereo amplifier which allows us
to pan from the Front of House speakers to the speakers
nearer the rear of the sanctuary. On particularly loud
inputs, we can weight the sound toward the front such that
it more effectively appears to be coming directly from the
location of the input source. Distance from front to rear
is not great enough to require delay on the rear channel.
On most speech, the signal is applied fully to both
amplifier channels. Such was also the case when using
microphones with the Celtic Harp being reviewed.
In the past, I have used a
dynamic cardoid microphone on a
boom to pick up this Harp. Even at a distance of about 8
inches from the strings, I was always straining for more
gain before feedback since the Celtic Harp is a relatively
soft spoken instrument.
When the owner received her
CH-3 pickup from Schatten, we auditioned it in an empty
building against two of our existing cardoid
microphones. We used a wired Avlex DV73 which has worked
particularly well in our facility for the spoken word as
opposed to many mics which have performed poorly in our
sanctuary. (http://www.avlex.com/pdfs/DV73_73SSpec.pdf)
This mic is specifically rated for vocals, guitars, horns,
and toms. The other microphone used for the test is a
Wireless Audio Technica
ATW-T341
from their 3000 Wireless Series. This
mic employs Audio Technica's Artist Elite cartridge and
has also performed admirably in our environment.
(http://www.audio-technica.com/cms/wls_systems/7ee89d5bb13ceadd/index.html).
Both microphones picked up the harp with the Audio
Technica being a little brighter.
The first and most obvious
benefit with your CH-3 pickup was a dramatic gain in
level, which is to be expected with a built-in pre-amp. I
immediately had to engage the 30db pad on the mixer and
turn down the primary gain control to desensitize the
channel slider and place me in the sweet spot. Absolutely
no concerns about potential feedback now. I was also now
able to weight the signal further toward front of house
while still filling in the back reaches of the sanctuary.
Of more importance for the perfomer; she was unaware that
the Harp was even being amplified which is a good thing in
my book. I utilize the PA system as a sound reinforcement
device and always strive for as natural a hi-fidelity
sound as possible at a reasonable level rather than trying
to simulate a rock & roll concert. After playing with the
3 Bands of EQ on our Yamaha EMX5000-20 and adjusting the
mid-frequency centre point, we were able to achieve
a relatively natural sound from the harp with your
pickup. A judicious amount of reverb was assigned to the
channel to simulate a more live room. This is also a
requirement for soloists in our building. I did have to
increase the treble frequency on the Harp's channel to
maximum to bring out the plucking attack on the strings.
If I recall, mid range was left flat and bass may have
been cut a notch. Another benefit I noticed using your
pickup, as opposed to a microphone in close proximity to
the strings, was a reduction in unwanted buzzing should a
finger accidentally touch an already vibrating string.
Response from the
congregation during the first Sunday we used your pickup
on the Harp was very favourable. Everyone I asked could
hear it clearly and yet it sounded like it was coming
directly from the harp since I was able to weight the
sound further forward than would normally have been the
case. It was wonderful to have no concerns about the
possibility of setting up a feedback loop. I could just
sit back, listen and enjoy.
I know the CH-3 pickup it is
a relatively expensive addition to her harp, and it indeed
caused some reservations for the owner, but realize that
quality comes at a price. I have seen this before with
guitar pickups jacked into our system. A couple I've
heard are fabulous and SO easy to setup for a natural
sound, some are O.K. and others are simply junk.
Thank you for engineering
this product and for allowing a 30 day trial period.
If I ever come across another
Celtic Harp, I'll recommend that the owner audition your
product. I've also mentioned it to Applica Solutions in
London and I believe the owner dropped into your business
to check it out. While my experience with the pickup is
limited to this one facility, I can only imagine it will
make her performances in other venues a pleasure for the
audio technician. It will most certainly reduce the time
and complexity to setup for a performance.
Best regards,
Clayton Root
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