Jason Graham, Recording and Broadcast Engineer for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, explains how he uses ribbon mics when recording The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square (formerly Mormon Tabernacle Choir) and also The Millennial Choirs and Orchestras.
Preamplifier and placement information is included in the video. The songs featured in the video are included below in their entirety.
Mics used:
SF-24V: Choir, Oipe Organ, Room
SF-2: Choir
SF-24: Sections
R-122V: Strings
R-121 Harp
dBooster: support Woodwind mics
Multi-Grammy Award winning recording engineer Michael Bishop explains how he mics and records this phenomenal CancerBlows live performance. Featuring some of the best-known trumpet players alive, the music is fantastic and Michael’s thoughts on how to capture brass, orchestra and big band properly using ribbon microphones is invaluable.
Huge thanks to Ryan and Niki Anthony, Michael Bishop and Erica Brenner.
The recording is available on Music=Hope Records and all proceeds from the sale of the recording help fund cancer research. Purchase the music: CD/DVD (the full concert and music experience): https://www.cancerblows.com/shop.php
Fiddles both miked with SF-2 ribbon microphones.
Foot percussion – Mojave Audio MA-100 microphones
Signal Chain:
All mics to Universal Audio 8p’s using Neve 1073 mic pre plug-ins. A/D conversion done in the 8p. Recorded to Pro Tools. Recorded in a Kansas City hotel room during Folk Alliance.
Engineers: Dan Ankney and Nathan Heironimus
Maja Kjær Jacobsen and David Boulanger lay down some great fiddle and foot percussion. Things really get moving around 1:30 into the video. Hard to believe this is two people playing when you hear it!
Darlingside came into our Pop-Up studio with a few friends and a ton of energy, worked out the final details of the song on the spot, then killed it in this beautiful take.
Engineers: Dan Ankney, Nathan Heironimus
Mixed by Dan Ankney
Recording Chain: Royer Labs and Mojave Audio microphones fed into Universal Audio 8p’s. Recorded to Pro Tools.
Sweetwater Studios, Royer Labs and Mojave Audio set up a portable Pop-Up studio in a hotel conference room at the 2016 Folk Alliance Convention in Kansas City and recorded a number of artists and groups attending.
Produced, engineered and mixed by Frank Bevans. Video by Frank Bevans
Recorded at Westminster Presbyterian Church, Sacramento, CA for the Music at Noon Series.
Recording Chain: One SF-24V (over the conductor’s shoulder) and four SF-2’s (one at each corner of the stage). SF-24V into a Millennia HV-3C preamplifier. SF-2’s into Apogee Ensemble preamplifiers. All mics through Apogee Ensemble D/A converters, recorded to Apple Logic Pro.
“Anyone in my position who needs to capture the delicate and beautiful sounds of the silver flutes has no choice but to record them with Royer microphones. Plain and simple. Nothing else comes close.”
-Frank Bevans (For more of Frank’s comments on the recording process, scroll down to below the videos.)
Prelude from Suite Antique (John Rutter, arrangement by Robert Rainford)
Aria from Suite Antique (John Rutter, arrangement by Robert Rainford)
Waltz from Suite Antique (John Rutter, arrangement by Robert Rainford)
Notes from Frank on the preparation for these recordings:
“I remember that set-up being very gear intensive.
I brought: 3 video cameras. Monitors, lights, tripods, cords, cables, plugs.
Audio gear, laptop, preamp, A/D converter, microphones, stands, audio cords, sand bags.
A rolling table and chairs. Not to mention a camera and lights for a group photo and my black suit.
“The acoustics of this old church were remarkable.
No reverb or enhancing effects were added to this recording.
The beautiful sounds you hear are thanks to the wonderful talents of the musicians and the ability of these Royer microphones to capture the natural voices of the flutes.
It was an honor to record the audio and video of this live performance of the Camellia City Flute Choir.”
Producer: Steven Epstein, Engineer: Bill Maylone
Recorded at St. Paul’s United Church Of Christ, Chicago IL Scroll down for video with comments from the producer, engineer and artist.
In this exceptional solo violin performance, Rachel Barton Pine plays a Guarneri del Gesù in St. Paul’s church, Chicago, IL.
Recording chain: Two SF-2 ribbon mics to John Hardy M-1 preamplifiers to RME Fireface 800. Recorded to Pro Tools 10.
No compression or outboard gear. Due to being on location in a large church in an urban area, the only EQ is a 50 Hz, first order hi-pass to keep out the rumble from buses outside. Original recording is 24 / 96, converted to 16 / 48 for the video.
Rachel Barton Pine performs Preludio to Bach’s E Major Partita for unaccompanied violin, BWV 1006
Producer: Fab Dupont. Engineer: Meredith McCandless
When our friend Fab Dupont set out to record singer/songwriter Will Knox’s album “The Matador And The Acrobat” with engineer Meredith McCandless, they decided to track the album entirely with Royer ribbons (except for a condenser on Will’s vocal and a dynamic on the snare). Here is a behind-the-scenes look at the recording process that Fab and company so kindly put together for us.
Vocals & Guitar: Will Knox
Violin: Clayton Mathews
Banjo: Kyle James Houser
Standup Bass: Chris Anderson
Drums: Timur Yusef
Puremix.net is an educational website featuring a wide assortment of videos on recording, mixing, mastering and much more. Puremix.net was created by Fab Dupont; his partners in Puremix now include Ben Lindell and Ryan West.
Recording Engineer: Robert Friedrich Producer: Erica Brenner
In this video, Grammy-winning engineer Robert Friedrich talks about using ribbon microphones extensively while recording the San Diego Symphony playing “The Carnival Of The Animals.” Of particular interest is his microphone technique on the dual pianos, which were positioned side-by-side and recorded with a pair of R-122V’s and a pair of R-122’s.
