Archives
May 2012
May is Instrument Miking month at RECORDING! Come join us as we review the latest tools and time-honored techniques for getting the best instrument sounds in your recordings.
The miking fun starts with a fantastic slate of interviews and technique articles that demystify miking for a wide variety of common sources. Beto Hale interviews Jason Guiterrez, whose small studio produces incredible sounds from the magical combination of intelligent miking and analog tape recording. Studio ace Chris Pelonis highlights useful tricks for recording drum tracks and guitar/vocal combinations. Mike Pappas shows how multiple mics are set up across a large stage for an orchestral commercial recording. Eric Ferguson's Recording Fundamentals teaches about mic polar patterns and how they affect your sound. And for the cherry on top, how about a look at a solo piano performance... miked with 16 different mics? Wow!
Moving from technique to technology, we have reviews of seven exceptional microphones of all shapes and sizes, courtesy of AKG, Audio-Technica, Earthworks, and Kel Audio. Also in this issue: a powerful new computer interface from RME, and intriguingly beautiful in-ear monitors from Alclair.
There's lots more to be found in the May issue of RECORDING, so mike up, plug in, and join us for enlightenment galore!
Pick it up now on the newsstand... and so you get your next issue early (and save on cost), why not hit the big red Subscribe Now button on this page and have RECORDING delivered to your door each month?
Kel Audio HM-7U amd HM-3C Microphones
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Reviewed by
Paul Vnuk Jr.
Kel Audio HM-7U amd HM-3C Microphones |
Reviewed by
Paul Vnuk Jr.
The Canadian mic maker brings us a modern twist on a classic vintage design and an exceptionally versatile new performer.
Kel Audio is a Canadian company whose proprietary in-house designs coupled with overseas manufacturing......Expand
The Canadian mic maker brings us a modern twist on a classic vintage design and an exceptionally versatile new performer.
Kel Audio is a Canadian company whose proprietary in-house designs coupled with overseas manufacturing allow them to create a line of microphones that are affordable while exhibiting a sound that is all their own. Back in our February 2012 issue on vocal recording we took a look a Kel's vocal-centric Song Sparrow microphone and were quite impressed by its open, airy, yet smooth sonic character.
In this month's issue our topic is instrument miking, and so we are looking at Kel's instrument-focused HM-3C, and at Kel's flagship, the HM-7U, that -- although billed as a "rich and clear vocal mic" -- is well suited to instrumental tasks as well...
Read more in the May 2012 issue of RECORDING!
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AKG Perception 120 USB Microphone
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Reviewed by
Mike Metlay
AKG Perception 120 USB Microphone |
Reviewed by
Mike Metlay
The popular Perception Series adds a high-quality USB model with worthy results.
AKG's affordable Perception Series has been around for several years now; these Austrian-designed, Chinese-made mics are more affordable than t......Expand
The popular Perception Series adds a high-quality USB model with worthy results.
AKG's affordable Perception Series has been around for several years now; these Austrian-designed, Chinese-made mics are more affordable than the company's flagship models built in Austria, but have done their part to turn our preconceptions of "cheap Chinese mics" upside down. Our review of the Perception 820 Tube mic in October 2010 described a mic that was a strong workhorse for the modern studio and that didn't break the bank.
With the Perception 120 USB, AKG has stepped into the world of USB microphones. What makes this offering stand out from the competition?
Read more in the May 2012 issue of RECORDING!
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Earthworks SR20 Microphone
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Reviewed by
Paul Vnuk Jr.
Earthworks SR20 Microphone |
Reviewed by
Paul Vnuk Jr.
This affordable sibling to the world-class SR40V vocal mic shines on both vocals and instrument-miking applications.
Earthworks makes mics known for their distinctive looks and their pristine and accurate sonics -- "stay-out......Expand
This affordable sibling to the world-class SR40V vocal mic shines on both vocals and instrument-miking applications.
Earthworks makes mics known for their distinctive looks and their pristine and accurate sonics -- "stay-out-of-the-way", hi-fi, ultra-clean. Most models in the Earthworks catalog lean toward a focus on instrument recording, but recently, in our February 2012 issue, we took a look at what Earthworks calls the world's first High Definition Vocal Microphone, the SR40V, a robust hand-held condenser with a phenomenal 30 Hz to 40 kHz frequency response... and a $1000 street price.
Earthworks' other mic with vocal aspirations, the SR20, started life over a decade ago as the SR69. Although it shared the famous tapered Earthworks look and sonic signature with other mics in the line, what made it unique was a special screw-on metal sleeve enclosed in a foam windscreen that allowed it to perform not only as a top-notch instrument microphone but as a full-on handheld vocal mic for studio and stage as well.
This month we look at the current SR20, with a newly redesigned metal grille windscreen attachment as well as its new fit and finish. It's more approachable for smaller studios than the high-end SR40V might be, and its dual character lets it provide a surprising range of useful applications...
Read more in the May 2012 issue of RECORDING!
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Radial Engineering MC3 Passive Monitor Switcher
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Reviewed by
Mike Metlay
Radial Engineering MC3 Passive Monitor Switcher |
Reviewed by
Mike Metlay
A no-excuses monitor/sub controller and headphone amp gives even the smallest studios affordable and repeatable monitor control.
In these pages, we spend a lot of time talking about how you have to use multiple sets of monit......Expand
A no-excuses monitor/sub controller and headphone amp gives even the smallest studios affordable and repeatable monitor control.
In these pages, we spend a lot of time talking about how you have to use multiple sets of monitors to check your mixes if at all possible. You want to be able to switch back and forth between full-range studio monitors and one or more sets of "check monitors" with different audio characteristics, including if possible a mono check speaker like the DIY model we discussed in our April 2012 issue.
If possible, the levels of the speakers should be adjusted so they all hit your ears with the same SPL at the sweet spot, so you're not fooled into thinking your mix sounds better on one or the other set of speakers because it's slightly louder. And in addition to your speakers, headphones can be invaluable for homing in on tiny details and imperfections.
Comparative listening on multiple speakers at reliably matched levels and then on headphones -- that's the key to making your mixes sound their best. But while you're futzing around with your speaker connections, there are other things that could be handy for even a small listening environment.
Phone ringing? Someone popped into the control room to ask you a question? It'd be nice to mute or dim (reduce) the speaker volume for a moment or three, without messing up your volume levels when you bring them back up. What if you want to check your mix with a subwoofer? It'd be great to send a mono signal (properly summed) to a sub without messing up your conventional speaker routings. Did you hear something on headphones that you want your talent or the producer to hear for themselves? It'd be great to feed more than one set of headphones at a time... or even send a signal to a headphone distribution amplifier so the whole band can listen in.
The device that makes all of this possible in the modern studio is the monitor controller. And there are some really big, fancy ones out there that we've reviewed in the past, with stuff like a built-in talkback circuit, or active bass management, or surround capability, or any one of a number of other specialty features-but they tend to be big devices with a big desktop presence (or a big remote controller) and price tags to match. Not outrageous for a medium- to large-sized studio, but enough for users of small setups to sigh and say, "That's just too much box for my little rig"... and go on messing with subgroup outputs feeding multiple speakers, mismatched levels, no easy way to mute or dim in a hurry...
It should be no big surprise that Radial Engineering, those devilishly clever Canadians with a habit of inventing dozens of clever little boxes that solve dozens of studio problems, should eventually address the question of easy-to-use, great-sounding monitor control that anyone can afford to install in even the smallest studio arrangement. The MC3 is a passive monitor controller and headphone amp that hits all the key issues and then some; we got one of the first ones in the USA and put it through its paces...
Read more in the May 2012 issue of RECORDING!
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Audio-Technica AT4050ST Stereo Microphone
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Reviewed by
Paul Vnuk Jr.
Audio-Technica AT4050ST Stereo Microphone |
Reviewed by
Paul Vnuk Jr.
The world-famous mic that defined a genre, now in a flexible stereo configuration.
It's not often that we get to revisit an established classic, but this month we test drive the AT4050ST, which is a recently-released stereo ......Expand
The world-famous mic that defined a genre, now in a flexible stereo configuration.
It's not often that we get to revisit an established classic, but this month we test drive the AT4050ST, which is a recently-released stereo version of Audio-Technica's ubiquitous AT4050 condenser microphone.
The AT4050 is one of those rare microphones that simultaneously helped launch and fuel the home/project studio revolution of the mid-'90s, and it was one the first high-quality large-diaphragm alternatives to both the Neumann U87 and AKG C414 for the professional studio. (This was before untold multitudes of cheap large-diaphragm condensers started arriving on boats from Asia.)
The AT4050 was and is a large-diaphragm condenser microphone, capable of three patterns, cardioid/figure-8/omni. It has a 20 Hz to 18 kHz frequency response with a slightly boosted low end between 20 and 80 Hz and the now-familiar 5 kHz and 10 kHz upper-frequency peaks, followed by a rolloff approaching 18 kHz. This means: modern-sounding yet solid and punchy, with a full low end and just enough high-end to sound natural and open, but not enough to sound cheap and crispy.
The AT4050 was and is one of those rare mics where you could cut an entire professional album with just this one microphone, from drum overheads to electric guitars, acoustic instruments to vocals and beyond... and many small studios did just that...
Read more in the May 2012 issue of RECORDING!
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Alclair Reference In-Ear Monitors
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Reviewed by
Mike Metlay
Alclair Reference In-Ear Monitors |
Reviewed by
Mike Metlay
Crystal-clear and exquisitely detailed monitoring... for your ears only.
Alclair is a small company near Minneapolis that takes delight in making custom in-ear monitors that sound as good as they look. While there are lots o......Expand
Crystal-clear and exquisitely detailed monitoring... for your ears only.
Alclair is a small company near Minneapolis that takes delight in making custom in-ear monitors that sound as good as they look. While there are lots of in-ear monitors out there from a variety of companies -- in recent years I've reviewed excellent products from Shure, M-Audio, Future Sonics, Ultimate Ears, NuForce, and others in these pages -- Alclair's monitors are custom-fit to the user.
Before you order a pair, you visit your local audiologist and he or she squirts goop into your ears that hardens in place to form a perfect impression of your ear canals. Those molds are then sent to Alclair, and used as the basis for pouring liquid plastic around the multiple drivers that make up the in-ears' electronics; when the plastic sets, you have a set of headphones that fit perfectly into your ears (and poorly, if at all, into anyone else's).
It is possible to have custom earmolds made for a variety of existing out-of-the-box in-ear monitors (Shures come immediately to mind, but there are others) to replace the "small/medium/large rubber rings or squishy foam" inserts that come with them. Some would even say this is a preferable way to go; you can try the in-ears with the generic inserts and see if you like the sound, and then customize them later, and you can always take the molds off and save them if you switch in-ears.
Custom in-ears are a leap of faith; they're often more expensive than off-the-shelf models, and if you don't like the sound, you're stuck with them. It's rare that a magazine reviewer gets to listen to a set and communicate what he's learned to the readership; hence my jumping at the chance...
Read more in the May 2012 issue of RECORDING!
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RME Fireface UCX
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Reviewed by
Darwin Grosse
RME Fireface UCX |
Reviewed by
Darwin Grosse
This tiny audio interface packs a major punch, with plenty of I/O and powerful internal DSP for mixing and routing.
RME is well known to project studio owners; the company's interfaces have long set the standard for professi......Expand
This tiny audio interface packs a major punch, with plenty of I/O and powerful internal DSP for mixing and routing.
RME is well known to project studio owners; the company's interfaces have long set the standard for professional low-latency audio conversion at a project-studio price. The Fireface UCX is the latest in the family, featuring a small form factor, extensive connectivity, and an impressive DSP-backed software system. With an included remote control, the UCX is in a position to take over the central spot in your studio. The question is: does it deliver the goods? RME was kind enough to give us a go with this interface, and the results were pleasantly surprising...
Read more in the May 2012 issue of RECORDING!
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Lynne Arriale's SOLO - A Piano Solo Recording Of Note
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Interviewed by
Lorenz Rychner
Lynne Arriale's SOLO - A Piano Solo Recording Of Note |
Interviewed by
Lorenz Rychner
Do you really need sixteen mics to record a single piano? This album defies piano-recording conventions with its extraordinary sound. We chat with pianist Lynne Arriale, tracking engineer Gary Baldassari, and mix engineer Duke Markos.
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Do you really need sixteen mics to record a single piano? This album defies piano-recording conventions with its extraordinary sound. We chat with pianist Lynne Arriale, tracking engineer Gary Baldassari, and mix engineer Duke Markos.
Lynne Arriale is a seasoned Jazz pianist, who -- after many years of working with her own trio -- took on the challenge of performing a solo project, named, appropriately enough, Solo. The CD sounds exquisite, both in her nuanced playing and in the unusually rich and detailed sound of the grand piano. We wanted to know more about how it was done. Turns out that there was indeed something unusual going on-a live performance captured with more attention to detail and with more mics than you'll see at your average Sunday aftenoon recital...
Read more in the May 2012 issue of RECORDING!
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Fanny Franklin's GET WET - A Conversation With Producer/Engineer Jason Gutierrez
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Interviewed by
Beto Hale
Fanny Franklin's GET WET - A Conversation With Producer/Engineer Jason Gutierrez |
Interviewed by
Beto Hale
A Los Angeles producer rediscovers the glorious sound of analog tape, and finds a way to effectively and affordably combine it with his DAW for the best of both worlds on this retro soul recording. Here's how it was done.
Ja......Expand
A Los Angeles producer rediscovers the glorious sound of analog tape, and finds a way to effectively and affordably combine it with his DAW for the best of both worlds on this retro soul recording. Here's how it was done.
Jason Gutiérrez is a producer, recording engineer, and guitarist, based in L.A.'s San Fernando Valley, working from his converted garage studio. After over a decade of purely digital recording, he was longing for the warm sound of analog tape. In 2011 he began collecting vintage tape recorders with the idea of bridging the analog and digital recording realms. The goal was to produce live-to-tape sessions that would then be transferred into a DAW and eventually mixed back down to analog tape for the finished product.
In February 2012 he completed production on retro soul-singer Fanny Franklin's (fannyfranklin.com) first solo record Get Wet, using this approach. To our ears he truly captured some of that old-school sound, so we went to ask him how he did it. But first let's hear from Fanny Franklin herself...
Read more in the May 2012 issue of RECORDING!
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Miking A Symphony Orchestra For A Commercial
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Interviewed by
Lorenz Rychner
Miking A Symphony Orchestra For A Commercial |
Interviewed by
Lorenz Rychner
Mike Pappas is back in the hot seat recording the Colorado Symphony Orchestra for a full orchestra/choir session, and we learn all the details.
Recording a full symphony orchestra is not everybody's everyday gig, unless you'......Expand
Mike Pappas is back in the hot seat recording the Colorado Symphony Orchestra for a full orchestra/choir session, and we learn all the details.
Recording a full symphony orchestra is not everybody's everyday gig, unless you're somebody like Mike Pappas, who does this throughout the concert season at the cavernous Boettcher Hall in Denver.
If you're interested in orchestra miking, you may remember our report from the September 2010 issue where we described how Pappas uses a surprisingly sparse setup to mike a live symphony concert. The audience hardly notices the setup, mostly consisting of five tall stands across the front of the Boettcher's very wide stage: A center-left-right trio, flanked on each side by an additional stand. The concert grand is miked with a mid/side array. Then there is Fritz, then binaural microphone head that hangs halfway down the hall, looking towards the rear, to capture, well, the rear, mainly for the 5.1 mix version but also for a bit of audience perspective in the overall mix. Pappas' emphasis on those occasions is on using top-quality mics that have enough "reach" rather than on spot miking every player in the orchestra.
Then in the February 2011 issue we reported how Pappas faced the challenge of recording the full symphony plus a Jazz quartet backing a featured vocalist, the famous Dianne Reeves, for broadcast'in both a stereo mix and a surround mix. Although this called for more mics, he again used fewer mics than one might think. Still, there were plenty -- all the instrument mics were supplemented by two handhelds for the vocalist (one a redundant panic mic on an entirely separate signal chain), one vocal mic each for the four members of her quartet, and a wireless announcer mic for the guest conductor -- none other than Marvin Hamlisch.
Today we briefly report on yet another occasion to which we were kindly invited by Mike Pappas -- this one a recording session, also at Boettcher Hall but closed to the public. This time the orchestra, augmented by the Colorado Symphony Chorus, played original music destined for an ad campaign by the Colorado Tourism Office. Charles Denler (charlesdenler.com) composed the music; it was orchestrated and conducted by the resident conductor of the Colorado Symphony, Scott O'Neil...
Read more in the May 2012 issue of RECORDING!
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Miking Instruments: The Lost Art
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Written by
Chris Pelonis
Miking Instruments: The Lost Art |
Written by
Chris Pelonis
A respected engineer and studio designer reminds us of essential techniques for effective instrument miking.
I'll get right to the point. It all started and/or stopped when multitrack recording came into existence. There wer......Expand
A respected engineer and studio designer reminds us of essential techniques for effective instrument miking.
I'll get right to the point. It all started and/or stopped when multitrack recording came into existence. There were so many options suddenly available. Those options really spawned a whole new generation of techniques and technologies. There is a ton of positive that has come from this, but there has been a bit of a downside as well.
One up- and downside is the ability to fix things. With the advent of multitracking, if someone couldn't get their part right, they could just overdub or punch in on "their" track. It spawned a generation of musicians who haven't had to play their instrument as well -- or at all in some cases. Just drop in a sample. Buy some loops. Steal some loops. There is now the art of playing loops and samples.
Nothing wrong with that. I think it's cool, but the art of playing and capturing the realism of the instrumentalist and his/her instrument, including voice, is becoming elusive.
I was asked by Recording Magazine to share two techniques about recording, and I am honored to do so. I will be discussing a couple of recordings where these techniques were used, in the hope that readers will learn from my experiences...
Read more in the May 2012 issue of RECORDING!
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SXSW 2012
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Written by
Marc Urselli
SXSW 2012 |
Written by
Marc Urselli
Music networking abounds in Austin, and there's a lot to be learned.
Every year for the last 6 years I have embarked on the pilgrimage from New York to Austin TX for the annual South By South West music conference. And every......Expand
Music networking abounds in Austin, and there's a lot to be learned.
Every year for the last 6 years I have embarked on the pilgrimage from New York to Austin TX for the annual South By South West music conference. And every year I reported back to you readers, with emphasis on how to make the best out of it for your music careers. Usually I'd start writing these reports on my return flight, but this time I actually started to write on my initial flight to Texas, because, truthfully, that is where it all begins!...
Read more in the May 2012 issue of RECORDING!
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Recording Fundamentals. Chapter 5: Introduction To Microphones - Part Two (Directionality)
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Written by
Eric Ferguson
Recording Fundamentals. Chapter 5: Introduction To Microphones - Part Two (Directionality) |
Written by
Eric Ferguson
When you point a microphone at a source, what is it actually listening to... and how? It's time to learn the mysteries and magic of the polar pattern!
Although a variety of microphone technologies exist, it is the big three ......Expand
When you point a microphone at a source, what is it actually listening to... and how? It's time to learn the mysteries and magic of the polar pattern!
Although a variety of microphone technologies exist, it is the big three -- the dynamic, the condenser, and the ribbon -- that see the most use in the modern recording studio. In last month's column I discussed these three mechanisms in detail, including their functionality, sonics, and usage. This month's installment of Fundamentals will investigate microphone directionality...
Read more in the May 2012 issue of RECORDING!
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Fade Out
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Written by
Mike Metlay
Fade Out |
Written by
Mike Metlay
Listening To Learn.
A reader recently asked me why, when we review speakers or headphones, we don't listen to "the stuff I'd recognize from the radio." There are good reasons why not.
Speaking for myse......Expand
Listening To Learn.
A reader recently asked me why, when we review speakers or headphones, we don't listen to "the stuff I'd recognize from the radio." There are good reasons why not.
Speaking for myself, I spend a lot of my time hip-deep in what's out there right now. My own voraciously-curious listening habits aside, having two musical kids means I hear not only what's on the charts at the moment, but also what's up and coming through viral marketing on YouTube and the like. I enjoy Lady Gaga, Cee-Lo Green, Panic At The Disco, Bruno Mars, LMFAO, and Sleigh Bells, right along with them. (Fortunately my youngest is also a die-hard Beatles fan.)
But here's the thing: when I am reviewing products, I am not listening for enjoyment. I am listening to learn, and then to teach. And to do that, the music I choose has to be chosen with different criteria in mind....
Read more in the May 2012 issue of RECORDING!
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