Recording - August 2021 - 47

Recording Alicia Keys and the modern
pop band with Brendan Morawski
My idea for this interview came
from your photo of a pair of
TELEFUNKEN TF11 mics on the
piano. How do you like TF11?
The first thing that I used it on was drum overheads,
and it sounded really great, and on piano, it
sounds larger than life. The frequency response is big
and smooth, and it's not overly hyped. You get really a
great tone from it.
I feel dumb saying this, but how
do you mic Alicia's keys?
Typically, we use a coincident stereo pair, like X/Y or
near-coincident ORTF. Alicia's music is heavily piano-driven,
but you also have MPC drums, 808, Moog bass and heavy
vocal stacks. So if you spread out the sound, and do an
A/B spaced pair, whether it be close to the hammers or at
the edge of the lid pointing in, you can get a really beautiful
piano sound, but once it comes time to blend it with these
other layers, you run the risk of losing the melody or not
having that piano focus be there.
With an X/Y setup, you still get a little bit of width as she
plays lows and highs across the keyboard, but you never
lose the piano part in the song. I also like using stereo mics
such as a vintage Neumann SM 69 fet, or the TELEFUNKEN
Elektroakustik ELA-M 270, which is a stereo 251.
We'll often do ORTF or X/Y over the piano's four sound
holes along the hip of the piano. We will mic the middle
two, which still gives you a really nice spread. One mic
will be pointed toward the low end of the piano, and then
the other mic gets a nice tone from the hammers and the
high-end. This is also a great spot to mic if you need to
close the lid for live performance or when tracking with
live drums in the same room.
What mics do you use when
you need to close the lid?
DPA makes a mic called the 4099 Core with a
much smaller footprint, and it can be placed on a
magnetic mount. They also make a compact version
of the 4011 called the 4011c.
What mic do you use on
Alicia's voice if she is singing
while playing the piano?
Either a Shure SM7 or one of the
TELEFUNKEN dynamic mics like the M81.
Anything else we
should know about
keyboard miking?
Alicia is really into harpsichords,
which are tricky
instruments to capture,
44 RECORDING August 2021
especially live, because the sound comes from multiple places.
You have the sound of the strings, you have the sound of the
hammer plucks, and then there is a little sound hole by the
low end. Here a stereo mic works well, as you can move your
whole setup up and down the length of the piano, tilted a little
left or right until you get the balance you are after.
What do you grab when it's time to track drums?
I usually like to mic every drum, but it's most important to
have good overheads and a good kick and snare mic, then
you have the freedom to work in the other mics however you
want. On pop records, I really love Coles 4038 ribbon mics
on the overheads. Since the drums will probably be combined
with programmed drums, the Coles adds a nice vibe and character
to the mix.
Inside the kick, it's almost always a dynamic mic like a TELEFUNKEN
M82, an AKG D112, or a Shure Beta 52. Then I always
use a 47 fet-style mic on the outside. For toms, usually a
dynamic such as a Sennheiser MD 421. Even if your rack toms
are dynamic mics, on the floor tom, a condenser like a Neumann
U 87 sounds excellent because it captures the low end nicely.
For hi-hat, a vintage Neumann KM 84 or a TELEFUNKEN ELA
M 260 small diaphragm tube condenser are my favorite choices
when they're available. Then for snare drum, the usual suspects,
Shure SM57, M80, or sometimes a vintage condenser mic.
As far as mic pres go, if I have them available, I will always
go with API for drums. When you're working with a
professional rock or pop drummer, you can kind of estimate
how loud they're going to be playing, so my mic pre-settings
are almost always the same, especially kick and snare-gain
all the way down with the pad in. I usually won't even need
a sound check with those, and once they start playing, it's
already a decent tone.
As far as EQ and compression, depending on the studio,
I will use the channels on the board, preferably SSL or one of
the modern Neve desks. If there is not enough time to set it up,
I will do EQ and compression in Pro Tools with the stock
plugins, making it easy to go from studio to studio. Then if I
have it, I will add some UA 1176 on the kick and snare or SSL
bus compression on the room mics.
API preamps have insane gain. I rarely
grab for the pad switch on most preamps,
but on an API 512 preamp, I never take
it off unless my source is really quiet.
The new API 3124V and 512v are exciting because they
added the 3:1 ratio button to get more saturation from the
transformer, and they added the output trim, so you can drive the
preamp more like a console and gain it down without the pad.
What's your technique for upright bass?
I usually do two microphones. I like a pencil condenser
where the neck meets the body. You can get a great tone there
and be very particular with how much string sound and finger
noise you want. Then I'll typically use a large diaphragm condenser
close to the f-holes on the bottom. I had the opportunity
to work at Rudy Gelder's studio a couple of years ago, and I
got to see how Maureen Sickler was tracking bass. They're just
using a pair of KM84 pencil condensers on the bass.
Recording - August 2021

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