Recording - February 2013 - 69

Seeing that this is not meant simply as a concert piece, does that impact the way in which it gets recorded and mixed? When you’re recording for film it’s different than recording for a concert release or a radio broadcast; you don’t just set up stereo mics and record the performance, you have to mike all the instruments so that mixers can have stems when they’re on the soundstage afterwards. I have to have complete flexibility over all the sections, all the solos, so that they’re not interfering with dialog or narration or sound effects. When I hand my mixes to, say, Skywalker, they want those stems so they can remix my mixes. Boettcher Hall is much more live and bass-heavy than your regular filmscore soundstage...

To counteract that you don’t use figure-8 patterns much, or omnis, you mike a little closer, you don’t rely on your hall mics as much, you put up plexiglass around the timps... We did all that and actually achieved a tight sound. And you have full control right here... I have complete isolation over the tracks here too. I don’t just let the tracks play and use eq; each track is mastered for level, dynamics are added—not with compression but I automate the dynamics, almost like gates but softer, every track is cleaned, and after all that I was surprised I had to actually add reverb despite the Boettcher’s big-hall sound. Recording wishes to once again thank Mike Pappas for giving us access, project details and photographs. He can be contacted via pappas@recordingmag.com. We also thank his cheerful and most capable assistants, Joey Kloss and Devin Shorb, for making us feel welcome whenever we intrude into their space. We appreciate the cooperation of David Moke of DeVotchKa’s enditmanagement.com. We thank Charles Denler for his cooperation and his insights. Charles Denler’s extensive list of credits and award-winning compositions is at charlesdenler.com. DeVotchKa band photos courtesy DeVotchKa management. Charles Denler portrait by Kay Ellen Denler. All other photos by Lorenz Rychner.

Charles Denler Gives Us A Tour Of His Mic Locker
Neumann TLM 69 paired with a Universal Audio SOLO/610 preamp. I use this for almost everything these days. Acoustic guitar, flutes, flugelhorn, violin, cello and vocals. Royer R-121. I use this for upright bass, hand percussion and brass. The presence is incredible! AKG 451, a vintage matched set with multiple capsules. I’ve used these on almost every instrument at one point or another. They work great for small string ensembles. (Not too great for close brass miking...) RØDE NT1-A. I’ve used this with acoustic guitar quite a bit. It brings out the high end of the guitar without sounding brittle. Audio-Technica AT4033. This is one of the few mics that work with my voice. I’ve used it on a bunch of albums. sE Electronics X1. This mic has really surprised me! It is incredibly rich sounding for its modest price tag. The company sent me one to try, and I totally love the sound.

http://www.enditmanagement.com http://www.charlesdenler.com http://www.chameleonlabs.com http://www.facebook.com/pages/RecordingMag/174861759224348 http://www.twitter.com/recordingmag http://www.chameleonlabs.com

Recording - February 2013

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - February 2013