The singer / songwriter I was recording last night had a tendency to tap his foot very loudly, or hit the mic stand with his guitar or body. The end result of which there was some nasty noises on the takes caused by the microphone being given short, sharp shocks. Overall the performer was really getting into it, physical moving and emoting with his whole body, so the takes were keepers - but I have to do something about the vibrations.

I was using a Oktava 319 as the vocal microphone, using the included Oktava shockmount. The shockmount was not providing much in the way of protection from shocks, plus, adding insult to injury, the shockmount wouldn’t really hold the microphone in place to well. Every time i turned my back the microphone was sagging in the cradle or the shockmount had unscrewed its self and was pointing to the ground. This is not the first time this has happened with these shockmounts.

Add another piece of gear to the list……. http://www.shockmount.com/

I’m trying to keep my list short (for financial and social / political (ha ha) reasons) but these items seem to be fairly priced, I have seen good reviews and they are made by the former drummer of Pavement. When I have enough dough I’ll order up a pair and see what they are like.