Tensimounts came into being at least indirectly
because
of a man named Billy Mitchell. Billy was an old
nightclub
performer who retired to Hull Massachusetts and
opened his
own club. He was wildly popular and had a huge
following that
packed the place - “Billy Mitchell’s Post Time”
- really nothing more than a big old barn-like
building near
the ocean. I never met Billy. By the time I was at
the Post
Time, Billy had died, and the new owners were
desperately
trying to find an audience through Rock music. I was
working
sound with a group that played there, and we had the
hardest
time making the music intelligible, let alone making
it sound
good.. As long as we kept it really soft, it sounded
fine,
but as soon as we turned it up a bit, the sound
turned into
complete garbage.
It turned out that Billy had built the
cheapest
possible stage for his club. It was thin, barely
supported
plywood that reverberated wildly with every sound,
and it
was then and there that I realized the importance of
MI. I
went home and designed the first Tensimount, and
when we went
back, we couldn’t believe the difference. From then
on I Tensimounted every microphone in sight
Q
- Were
the early Tensimounts like the ones today?
A - Not at all! The first ones were very
picturesque. They
were large, and made out of clear Lucite plastic.
For elastics,
they used colorful hairbands strung with large
beads. They
were something out of Buck Rogers.
Q
- So
they were completely different?
A - Well, two important features have always been
the same.
The microphone has always been held by the mutual
tension
of the elastics. That makes it adaptable to any
shape of mic.
And also, the base tube that permits mounting it in a
standard
clip has always been an important feature.
Q
- Why
not simply have the Tensimount screw directly onto
the stand?
A - One problem with shockmounts has always been -
how do
you get the microphone off of the stand? If the
shockmount
is screwed directly to the stand, you either have to
remove
the microphone from the shockmount and leave the
mount on
the stand where it may be subjected to damage, or
you can
tediously unscrew the mount from the stand. With the
Tensimount,
you simply unclip the microphone Tensimount and all.
This
is particularly convenient when you have several
microphones
in Tensimounts. No matter what shape, they will all
fit into
the same standard clips, and they are instantly
interchangable
from stand to stand.
Q
- Who should us Tensimounts?.
A - One big totally untapped market is bands. Every
town
has at least several garage bands, wedding bands,
bar mitzvah
bands, you name it. Each band might have a dozen or
more microphones
that should all be shock-mounted. We are offering a
convenient,
easy, and inexpensive.way to do this. Then there are
other
markets - general PA microphones in churches, bingo
halls
and supermarkets for example. The point is to
develop the
public awareness that every mic should be isolated.
This is
good marketing strategy, but also it’s something I
really
believe. And of course, Tensimount is the easiest
and best
way to do it.
Thanks!
Jeff Brewer.
|
"Actually,
it's amazing that I survived my childhood."

"As
soon as we turned it up a bit, the sound turned into
complete
garbage."

"The
point is to develop the public awareness that every
mic should
be isolated."

|