ProAudio Review - March 2009 - (Page 20)

GEAR TRENDS IN NASHVILLE Digidesign stuff, getting along fine with it.” On the other hand, he adds, “A lot of people go to their esoteric things that most people wouldn’t gravitate to. I think there’s dual reason for it. One, I think the convenience of having a plug-in — knowing it’s there and doesn’t have to be reset — sometimes outweighs the sonic effects of what outboard gear does. I see that with myself: It’s not necessarily a lazy thing, but when you’re on a time crunch and don’t have time to start messing with patching and recalling, a lot of times you just need to work fast. The plugins afford that. And two, I think a lot of them sound great. I’m not one of those people that think, ‘Plug-ins, they’re digital, they don’t sound good.’ I rely on them.” ‘ If you want to experiment, the world is wide open. Perennially Popular Tube Mics Like Paragano, Blackbird Studio and Blackbird Audio Rentals see a very broad spectrum of equipment in use. “It varies from project to project,” says Blackbird Audio Rentals’ Zwiep, “although tube microphones are always very popular, just because of the cost, the maintenance and all that. Some of the modern tube mics are pretty popular, but it’s mostly your typical [Neumann] 47, 67, 49, 269, [Telefunken] 251, and so on. We’ve got a pretty good variety of unusual tube mics, too, that frequently win a shootout just because nobody’s heard it before and it stands out a bit more than the traditional tube mics.” In fact, Martina McBride’s 2005 Timeless, a set of 18 classic country songs, spurred demand for a specific vocal chain that became popular with other artists and engineers in and around Blackbird Studio. “They wanted a ‘modern vintage sound’ without going to an RCA,” says Powell, “so they tried this R-F-T, which is a large-diaphragm, large-body bottle mic. I believe it’s from the late ‘30s, early ‘40s. It uses an M7 bayonet-style capsule, so basically it’s a U 47 capsule. And they’ve been modified: The 220volt power supply was physically inside the microphone. Tracy Korby [of Korby Audio Technologies] has been modifying ours to run on an external power supply, so they’re much quieter. And they’re line level; they have another tube after the microphone preamp tube, basically a line driver. You can come right out of that microphone into the front end of the Fairchild 660 and it would have enough gain, between the two of them, to get this amazing, clean, clear, vintage vocal compression. If you had a mediocre M7 capsule, the microphone didn’t sound mediocre. If you have a great M7 capsule — and we got very lucky and had one that Tracy tweaked — that just makes it unbelievable. I’d put it up against any vocal mic.” Like Nashville itself, which, in addition to country music, has long been a mecca for rock, hiphop and other genres, the near-limitless gear choices will satisfy any audio pro. “That’s John’s thing,” Powell summarizes. “He wants to be able to have every color in the palette. If you want to experiment, the world is wide open.” 20 ProAudioReview | March 2009 http://www.zaxcom.com http://www.zaxcom.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of ProAudio Review - March 2009

ProAudio Review - March 2009 Contents Technically Speaking New Studio Products Opinion: Studio Sense Gear Trends In Nashville Focusrite Liquid Mix HD TDM Plug-in Daking Mic-Pre One sE Electronics RNR1 Active Ribbon Microphone WAVES Tony Maserati Plug-in Collection KRK Systems Rokit 8 G2 Monitors and 10s Subwoofer JBL Control 2P Powered Desktop Monitors Neumann TLM 103D Digital Microphone System Violet Design “The Wedge” Condenser Microphone New Live Products Opinion: Worship Audio Fender Passport Deluxe PD-500 Portable PA PAR Contributor Of The Month Behringer 2442FX 10x4x2 Analog Mixer Single Slice

ProAudio Review - March 2009

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