Tips & Tricks

Go Clean Your Mics!

After a gig or rehearsal, stand around and watch everybody wipe down or clean their gear off. (If you are not one of those folks that routinely clean your gear after each use, you should be.

But the one piece of gear that usually goes untouched is the microphone. This all-important piece of gear never seems to get cleaned or stored properly... and it needs to be.

Mics take a lot of abuse and need to be cleaned frequently. Wipe off the exterior of the element or grill cover with a soft cloth, moistened slightly if the mic is really dirty, and then wipe clean. Never use any kind of solvent, as it can harm the element. And when you are done using your mics, drop them into their own case—don't toss them into a giant cable bag where they will simply pick up all the dirt and debris in the bag.

In the studio, you can save a lot of wear and tear—especially on your condenser mics—by using a pop filter or windscreen in front of the mic. The pop filter also doubles as a placement tool, in that it pins the vocalist at the right distance from the mic and does not allow for mic eating.

Now, go clean your mics!