Panache Quartet (www.panachequartet.com) has just reached an endorsement agreement with Bruce Bartett at Bartlett Audio in Weaverville NC. Now all four fiddlers, Donna Hebert, Jane Rothfield, Andrea Beaton and Veronique Plasse, will wear matching Bartlett Fiddle Mics. Bartlett's fiddle and banjo microphones will amplify future Panache Quartet performances, including their upcoming showcases at the New England Regional Folk Alliance, and concerts at Old Songs and the CelticSociety of Southern MD.
These mics, built specifically for stringed instruments, have "the best frequency response and true-to-original sound of any on-fiddle mic I've ever used," says Panache's veteran concert and dance fiddler Donna Hebert, who can remember when fiddlers slapped a contact mic on their fiddleback with an elastic band forty years ago. "In the world of miking fiddles, we have definitely come a very long way!" Donna first used a Bartlett on tour with guitarist Max Cohen in 2012 and has continued to prefer it. "The sound is amazing. Most on-board mikes change the timbre of the fiddle's sound. I LIKE the way my fiddle sounds and the Bartlett mics keep that sound. They just amplify it beautifully -- and there is no permanent attachment to the violin!"
Recently Donna and Panache member Jane Rothfield played two nights of contra dances at the Philadelphia Folk Festival, relying on their Bartletts and Alison Goessling from Klondike Sound. The sound was so true and clear that they were even able to hear themselves over the rock and roar of the main stage down the hill!
If you're a string player and you want to know more about how these mics make your job easier on stage, please contact Bruce Bartlett at info@bartlettaudio.com. And tell him Panache sent you!