Choir – SF-12
Recorded live by Marco Olivotto and Heliut Blais.
Recorded at Sala delle Mostre – Comune di Lavarone (TN) Italy.
Recording chain: One SF-12 stereo ribbon mic positioned for X-Y recording, to a Millennia Media HV-3 preamp. Recorded to an Alesis M20 at 20-bit, 44.1kHz. Imported into Pro Tools 24, then dithered to 16-bit with Waves Ultramaximizer L1+. No EQ, compression or reverb.
“Gli Aizimpoineri” (traditional), sung by Coro Stella Alpina
Percussion – R-121, SF-12
Congas – SF-12
Timbales – R-121
Engineered and mixed by Bruce Swedien. Produced by Bruce Swedien and Andres Levin.
Recorded at Studios EGREM – Havana, Cuba / Fun Machine Studios – New York, NY / Westviking Studios.
All percussion instruments recorded with R-121’s and an SF-12.
From the Sony Records France release “Le Sang Des Roses”.
“Tout ce Temps” (Boris Bergman & Cyrius Martinez)
Percussion – R-121, SF-12
Recorded, mixed and produced by Bruce Swedien.
Recorded at Presence Studios and Westviking Studios. Mixed at Westviking Studios.
From the Juna release “Les Go.”
All percussion instruments recorded with two R-121’s and an SF-12 stereo ribbon microphone.
“Mother”
“Faso Den”
Kick Drum – R-121
Drum Overhead – SF-12
Comparison Tracks
Engineer: Roger Summers
Recorded at Royaltone Studios, Burbank, CA
Session drummer Kevin Shepard playing a Gretsch kit in a large iso booth.
Recording chain: all mics through Neve console preamps, recorded directly to DAT.
1. Kick Drum/Room – one R-121 three feet from the front head.
2. SF-12 overhead, lightly EQ’d to open up highs.
3. C-24 overhead (same position as the SF-12, for comparison)
4. SF-1’s overhead, lightly EQ’d.
(The SF-1 is discontinued, but the active SF-2 sounds identical and has higher output.)
5. SF-12 overhead (lightly EQ’d) and one R-121 three feet off the kick drum.
6. SF-12 overhead and one R-121 three feet off the kick drum. Same track as #5, but with no EQ.
Full Orchestra – SF-12 Stereo Ribbon
Engineer/Producer: Russell Dawkins
Recorded at the studios of the Ukrainian Radio/Television Orchestra, Kiev.
Recording chain: One SF-12 stereo ribbon microphone with 35-feet of Monster cable connected to a Studio Technologies mic pre, then 6-feet of Monster cable to an Apogee A/D converter, to coaxial cable to the digital ‘in’ on a portable DAT machine. No compression or reverb used.
This exceptional recording of a full orchestra was made on one SF-12 stereo ribbon microphone, positioned over the conductor’s head, at a distance that achieved a nice balance of the orchestra and hall ambience. We use this recording regularly in seminars, as it’s a wonderful example of the amazingly natural reproduction a high-quality ribbon microphone is capable of delivering. The off-axis response is perfect, transients are natural with no overshoot or ringing, and the flat frequency response captures the full range of the orchestra with no peaks or dips anywhere throughout the frequency range.
Sergei Prokofiev – “Romeo and Juliet, Suite No. 2”
Sergei Prokofiev – “Romeo and Juliet, Suite No. 2” excerpt 2
Pipe Organ – SF-12
Recorded by Dr. Fred Bashour
Recorded at The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Denver, CO
Recording chain: One SF-12, 35 feet high, 30 feet back from the pipes, to a Millennia Media HV-3C preamp/ADC, and recorded directly to a Sony TCD-D10 PRO DAT machine.
This track was Dr. Fred’s first use of an SF-12 and was made while he was reviewing the microphone for Pro Audio Review. The final take utilized over 12 mics, but Dr. Fred provided this isolated SF-12 track to Royer Labs for demonstration purposes.
Performed by Ann Labounsky & David Craighead.
Jean Langlais, Mosaique, Vol. 3: (6) Double Fantaisie for Two Organists
B-3 – R-122
Piano – SF-12
Electric Guitar – R-121
Engineers: Terry Howard, Al Schmitt (mix)
This extraordinary session was held in Ray Charles’ Los Angeles studio in November 2003. I was privileged to attend and was given permission to take photographs with a small pocket camera. The musicianship was incredible, with most parts of the song being done in one or two takes.
-John Jennings, Royer Labs
B-3: Billy Preston’s Leslie cabinet was miked with two R-122’s, one positioned on the top horn and one on the bottom.
Piano: An SF-12 was positioned inside Ray’s piano alongside a couple of condenser mics. The SF-12 was the main mic used in the final mix.
Electric Guitar: The electric guitar amp was miked with an SM-57 up close and an R-122 further back, blended in the mix.
Acoustic Guitar (nylon and steel string) – R-121
Drum Overhead – SF-12
Vocals – R-121
Engineer – Kyle Homme. Producer – Shawn Sullivan.
Recorded in Pro Tools at World Class Audio, Anaheim, CA.
Backward R-121 on steel and nylon string acoustic guitars.
SF-12 on drum overheads.
Backward R-121 on vocals.
“Again” (©2000 Dan Sistos & Jevon McGlory)
a) Full Mix part 1 – emphasis on vocals and acoustic guitar
b) Full Mix part 2 – emphasis on nylon string guitar and drums
B-3 – SF-24
Drums – R-121, SF-12
Drum Room – SF-12, R-121
Bongos – SF-24
Shakers – SF-24
Electric Guitar, Heavy Rock – R-121
Engineer/Producer Ross Hogarth was one of the first engineers to ever use a Royer ribbon microphone. He has a large collection of Royers, including early serial numbers of all of our models due to his beta testing everything we’ve ever made. Over the years his contributions have been numerous and invaluable and we count him among our closest of friends.
Ross gave us the following isolated tracks to help teach engineers what Royer ribbons are capable of doing in the studio.
1) Isolated B-3 from the Damon Castillo Band, recorded on an SF-24 stereo ribbon microphone.
B-3: SF-24 on top of the Leslie with a Heil PR-30 on the bottom.
Recording chain: SF-24 into a Great River MP-2NV preamp, PR-30 into a Chandler preamp.
Recorded by Ross Hogarth at Sunset Sound Factory, Hollywood, CA in 2007.
2) Kenny Aronoff playing drums. One compressed R-121, 3 feet high and 6 feet back from kit.
Recorded by Ross Hogarth at Rumbo Recorders – Canoga Park, CA, B-room.
3) John Molo – Various Drum Tracks
This is a drum session broken down into isolated tracks cut on various Royers, with a final mix of all the Royer mics that were used on the session. This mix does not include the other mics that were used on the kit for the final drum mix.
Recorded by Ross Hogarth
3 a) SF-12 in front of the kit
3 b) R-121 left and right, front of the kit
3 c) One R-121 in front of the kit
3 d) All Royer mics from 3a, 3b & 3c blended
4) Bongos and Shakers from the Ryanhood song “All Right” recorded on an SF-24 stereo ribbon microphone. SF-24 12-inches above bongos and 8 inches from shakers.
Recording chain: SF-24 thru Great River MP-2NV pre, to Crane Song HEDD converter.
Recorded by Ross Hogarth at Track Records, North Hollywood, CA in 2008.
Play Audio
5) Stereo rhythm distortion guitar bed. R-121’s on two Marshall 4-12 cabinets.
Recorded by Ross Hogarth in Pro Tools at Rumbo Recorders – Canoga Park, CA.
Electric Guitar – R-121 & SM57
Drum Room – SF-12
Recorded by Shawn Sullivan
Recorded at World Class Audio, Anaheim CA
R-121 and SM57 on guitar (blend of 60% R-121, 40% SM57), with an SF-12 further back in the room for ambience.
SF-12 as drum room mic.
This is a rough mix of the first session, with Carl’s guide vocal track.
“Lay Your Hammer Down” (Carl Verheyen)
a) Full Mix
b) Isolated SF-12 as drum room mic.