1. To get that badass, distorted bluesy tone . If you want to achieve this sound there are basically 3 components:
Microphone choice - typically bullet shaped mics
Getting an airtight cup around the mic to overdrive it
Amp choice (or alternatively plugging into a pedal to simulate an amp which gets plugged into the PA.)
2. The second reason to consider learning to use a mic is in order to be heard among a large group of people .
If youāre playing for friends or family in the living room, a mic may not be necessary, but once you get up the courage to play at an open mic at your local bar or coffee shop, youāll likely need to play into a microphone in order to be heard by the audience.
In this scenario, youāll most likely use the microphone plugged into a PA thatās provided by the house.
3. Another reason to use a microphone is to be heard among other musicians .
As soon as you add a bass and/or drums into the mix, the overall volume of the music increases a lot, and youāll need a mic to be heard at all, even if itās just a jam session at your buddyās garage.
In this case, if a PA is available, you could go with playing into a mic thatās plugged into a PA system (as in our open mic scenario above) OR you could venture into the 3rd reason to learn to use a mic.
If youāre a lover of the electric blues sound, then at some point youāll probably invest in a mic and amp, even if you never play in front of people or with other musicians, but just because itās fun to play with that killer tone.
Do you understand the difference between ACOUSTIC and AMPLIFIED harmonica?
When you play into a mic plugged into a PA, we call that ACOUSTIC playing (because even though the PA is technically amplifying the sound, the end result is simply a louder version of the acoustic harmonica sound).
By contrast we call it AMPLIFIED harmonica when youāre going for that distorted bluesy sound thatās typically achieved by playing a bullet-style microphone with an airtight grip into some version of a guitar amplifier.
BTW . Iāve just been testing out this Shaker MadDog mic. Hereās my quick take on itā¦
What I love about it:
$128 at the time of this writing makes it on the cheaper end of the spectrum
Itās probably the smallest and lightest weight harmonica mic out there, comfy to hold , and allows you to get more hand wah effects to translate better than any bullet style mic
The volume knob
2 Tonal options:
Plug it into an instrument cable for a smoother clean-ish tone .
Spend another $45 and plug it into a Ā¼ inch male to XLR Male ($30) into a matching transformer ($15) and it becomes a badass distorted sound that competes with other bullet style mics.
What I donāt like about it:
The cable is permanently attached to it , which makes it less tidy to put in my harmonica case.
Itās so light, and with its plastic construction, I worry about long-term durability taking it into clubs and bars.
Whoās this mic for? I think itās perfect for players who like to use hand wah and are frustrated with the way bullet mics donāt translate hand wah tones into the electrified world.
Itās also probably the most ideal mic for someone who only has functional use of one hand, but is wanting to get a distorted tone.
The Shaker MadDog would be a great mic for beginners to consider.
Wanna hear it in action? Check out my video review .
What is the competition?
tight budget , Bottle of Blues is the cheapest Iām aware of
traditional bullet style mic , the Hohner Harp Blaster or the Bulletini
What do YOU think about playing with a mic???
