#micmonday

Happy #MicMonday! Here’s some photos I snapped when recording the Peninsula Youth Orchestra last month in Belmont, CA. I’m forever fine tuning my orchestra recording setup and was able to get some lush sounds this time around. A pair of mics that greatly enhanced the sound were the @akgaudio 414’s, placed in the ‘outrigger’ position - the far left and right side of the stage. These mics were in an omni polar pattern and helped capture the organic ambience/decay of the hall. The other mics which are seen on the front quad array are a pair of AKG C480B bodies with CK 62DF capsules (omni). The center pair are Altec M53’s with 42A capsules (cardioid). ✌🏼 https://www.instagram.com/p/ClgywrzpoxO/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Happy #MicMonday!! Here’s some photos of @shaunobrien_ in the studio over the weekend working on his next record. He recorded on the Steinway upright and the Wurlitzer 140b. Beautiful, lush sounds… Shaun brought this instruments to life! 🙌🏼👏🏼 On the Steinway was a pair of @akgaudio c414b-uls condensers going into @skibbeelectronics 736-5 preamps. The Wurlitzer was mic’d up with a Lomo 19a9, going into a @amsneveltd 1073lb. Happy recording! 👋🏼 (at Pique Recording) https://www.instagram.com/p/Ck9K_nlycEK/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Happy #MicMonday!! This MicMonday brought to you by the AKG c414b-uls large diaphragm condenser mic; seen here in front of songwriter Cal Sturges. These photos are from our sessions in May 2022 with my remote recording rig in San Jose, CA. I was reminded of these photos last week when a musician reached out asking what mic I’d recommend for recording solo cello, in the $1000 range. I was quick to suggest a used AKG c414 xls✌🏼 ***Nerd jargon ahead! Proceed at your own risk... ask questions in the comments! Now I've previously recommended and posted similar mics available in this price range or lower; like the Neumann TLM102, Audio Technica AE3000 and United UT Fet 47 (all which are great!), but the 414 is different in that it has more tonal options. The c414b-uls version offers 4 polar patterns, 2 selectable high pass filter points (75 and 150 Hz) and -10 or -20db attenuation pads. The newer xls version has 9 polar patterns, 3 filter options and 3 pads... whoa! According to the AKG's website, "the c414xls maintains the sonic character of the legendary c414b-uls." Because of this, I'm referring to these mics as being the same, although they do differ electronically as mentioned above. ***Purists will note that the uls has a transformer balanced output, while the xls in transformerless. This c414b-uls has a 1" edge-terminated gold sputtered capsule that flatters acoustic instruments. It's part of AKG's 'linear/neutral' microphone line referenced as ULS/XLS. I love using this mic on acoustic guitar, orchestras, certain vocalists, and drum overheads. It become the go-to drum overhead pick for many engineers during the 1990s - in part thanks to producer Butch Vig using them with Nirvana on Nevermind and with The Smashing Pumpkins on Gish. *This is half of the write up cuz the rest won’t fit here! Much more about the AKG c414b-uls (the older sibling of the xls) and why there are 2 of them in these photos… but I’m gonna save those juicy details for my blog and Patreon pages - find out more at www.PiqueRecording.com/blog or Patreon.com/James Meder Drop a comment below 👇🏼 https://www.instagram.com/p/Ciai1AZppUg/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

A little tube mic shootout for your #MicMonday !! Here's a side by side comparison of local LA boutique mic manufacturer @monheimmics and their Créme mic utilizing a 12AT7 tube, next to a 1990's USA made @cadaudio VX2 which uses both a 12AX7 and 12AU7 tubes. Both mics went through API 512c preamps (using identical gain/same performance), with conversion via a Lynx Aurora. No other processing was applied. Volume was raised in Pro Tools, leaving enough headroom so the dynamics aren't touched. Download the longer, full quality 24bit/96kHz audio samples for free at www.Patreon.com/JamesMeder On my Patreon page I have an expanded write-up about my thoughts of each mic and where I feel each mic would excel within a production. You can find this write-up on my YouTube page and the @piquerecording website blog as well. Links in bio. Thanks for stopping by! 👋🏼 (at Los Angeles, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/CaP_ITxv1fn/?utm_medium=tumblr

Welp, first #MicMonday of the new year… let’s go! I’d like to introduce the @monheimmics Crème tube mic. Company owner/designer Andrew was kind enough to let me borrow the mic to use on some of my upcoming sessions - and this was the first! I used it as a room mic to help capture vocalist/improviser @holland.andrews’ performance as part of an upcoming film by director @mariahgarnett. This mic has a big sound and I feel like I’m still uncovering its magic. It has a classic design that I’d wager is inspired by the legendary @akgaudio c12. Andrew uses a hand-selected ck12 capsule and a NOS 12AT-7 tube (same as the 6072 in the og c12’s). As with many tube mics, its sound can be described as ‘larger-than-life’. For example, it excels at delivering vocals that are upfront and extremely detailed. I can’t wait to use it on more sessions. Stay tuned! ✌🏼 (at Chinatown, Los Angeles) https://www.instagram.com/p/CYR7FCxPIiJ/?utm_medium=tumblr

Happy #MicMonday! I've been trying to dive deeper into consistently achieving amazing guitar tones. I've had a lot of help on some recent sessions thanks to the band @w_i_r_e_s, and guitarist @travisthecouch. Here we see Travis' @duskyamp mic'd up with the classic combination of a @shure sm57 dynamic and a @beyerdynamic m160 ribbon mic. Both of these mics went into @thisisapiaudio 512c preamps. An Altec 684 omni dynamic is thrown into the equation as a 'wild card', fed into a NonLinear Audio Flexiguy preamp. This is where things get interesting! I sent all 3 mics into channels/line inputs on the Quantum qm168 console. Here I sum any combination of these 3 mics into 1 audio track before being sent to my converters/DAW. In addition to the blend between the mics, I also have the ability to eq them as I see fit on the console. So much flexibility! Buuuut... the best part of this setup is the summed, single audio track - session organization inherently becomes streamlined and I'm able to focus more on the integrity of the song, rather than endlessly tinkering with guitar tones come mix time. They’re already rock solid… (pun intended) 😉 Really stoked on this! More photos and mic info on my @piquerecording blog and my Patreon page (links In bio). Check it out if you want more nerdy info on the setup ✌🏼 (at Los Angeles, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/CXJ_JpPhdl8/?utm_medium=tumblr

My custom made ‘Bloom Box’ (a pair of 1:1 Line Transformers) made an appearance during yesterday’s acoustic guitar tracking session. I used two condensers at the 12th fret neck/body joint, but because the guitarist was playing delicate fingerstyle I had to gain the mic preamps higher than usual, thus causing some pesky noise floor issues. To remedy the problem, the Bloom Box was thrown into the signal chain after the preamp and gave the mics +6dB of clean gain, allowing me to turn the preamp gain down = goodbye noise floor/clean mics! 🧼 For anyone curious, I have a detailed description of how to make one of these useful devices on my Patreon page (link in bio). It’s currently available for free and was posted in January of this year - so you will have to scroll back a bit to find it. There’s a schematic, some photos, and a write up of it’s various uses. Get it! 🔥 Btw, Happy #MicMonday !! Transformers like these make mics happy and noise free 😃🎙 (at Los Angeles, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/CVME70tJ7wb/?utm_medium=tumblr

Happy #MicMonday! More often than not, these three amigos are my favorites on tom toms - the @audiotechnicausa ATM25’s. I’d say about 90% of the time, when I walk into a studio with a drum kit already mic’d up, Sennheiser 421’s will be placed on the toms. These mics can sound great (and I do love them!), but in certain sessions they lead to cymbal spill that can sound quite harsh. Sure… you can always cut out the audio between drum fills, but there are certain times when I like to leave those mics ‘open’ as ambient kit mics. Let the drums breathe a lil you know? 😤 Another positive attribute to ATM25’s is that they have a hyper cardioid polar pattern (compared to cardioid on the 421’s) which means they have a ‘tighter’ pickup area. Because of this, you can reject cymbals more easily, OR you can back the mic away from the tom to get more of the shell resonance (and still likely be able to reject the cymbal spill quite a lot). I’ve used these mics with good results on a few of my recent sessions- you can hear them on my previous post from last week. But no need to take my word for it… If you have ever seen a @meinlcymbals video, the majority of times the engineer is using these on the toms! 🤘🏼 Are there other tom mics that you swear by? Please let me know! I’m always looking for new/better/unique sounding mics to try. (at Pique Recording) https://www.instagram.com/p/CTxQ-eSPQ45/?utm_medium=tumblr