Hi Rich!
 
 Well, "cheeze slice" is a term I came up with. EV first marketed the 
approach of pressure zone mics by taking existing designs (RE-15, 635D etc 
outline) and put it into some acoustically transparent foam and called it a 
Mic "mouse", I took regular thick foam rubber and cut it into "cheese 
slices", put a angle down the front and a slit down the center for the mic to 
fit into. Worked out better in the particular application, helping to block 
sounds from the orchestra on the other side of the stage lip that I was using 
as the boundary.
The idea here is to get the capsule as close as possible to the stage without 
actually touching physically, shock isolating the capsule from foot stompings 
and still be fairly low profile.
 
 Crown holds most of the patents for this stuff and has the largest line of 
PZM designs. One called a SASS which can take either their elements or 
B&K-4001s is a dual PZM design doing the "human head" thing which is VERY 
good for stereo imagry which I want to use for remote recording. I've heard 
of the Shure whatever's but haven't tried them out yet.. wonder how they got 
around patents on this. I've seen a couple of other "close" technology by a 
couple of other manufacturers too. 
 
 My biggest problem with using PZM (Crown now) or any condenser around drums 
is the possibility of overloading the mics. The SASS in an overhead position 
(just above the drummer's head) or a pair of PZMs mounted at right angles 
(you decide whether the mics to be on the inside or the outside of the right 
angle) is another way I've done it. What ticks me off more than anything else 
in most drum mixes is monaural overheads! They deserve some stereoness!! You 
used a PZM for a fat kick drum sound.. That works for me. Maybe a few 
highlighting mics on the snare and here and there of a traditional type and 
you have the kit covered.
 As far as getting back up to speed, check with Mix Bookshelf for recent 
books, MIX, Sound and Video Contractor, EQ, Pro Sound News, NAMM and others 
are good sources for info on the current state of the art. I spend a lot of 
time going through the AES ASA and IEEE and others journals out there just 
trying to be one step ahead of what they are going to spring on us next.
 
 If you have excellent microphone to line level analog experience, then you 
will find that shortly everything other than that is going digital and then 
you are dealing with computer networks, telecommunications, backup and other 
network adminsistrator position of most small companies.
 
 I can't believe what they get for those Fairchilds myself.. Have used one 
only once many years ago and wasn't overly impressed with it as I recall, 
have use the LA2,3,4 UREIs quite a bit but my all time favorite 
compressor/peak limiter is the Spectrasonics 610. But the next major change 
in studios is central equipment rooms, computer networks and getting 
everything into digital as soon as possible and leave it there as long as 
possible. 
 
 Fortunately, I saw this coming many years ago and have been studying ever 
since trying to be ready for all of this stuff! Hope I've been of some help 
to you. Would love to write more but have to get going!
 
 Bonnie *:>
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