Recording - August 2013 - 8

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The weakest link in the recording chain... may not be in the chain at all
Dear Paul Stamler: Wow, I was overwhelmed with the information
you shared about various microphones, their quality, application and
price (“The Well-Balanced Mic Closet”, available online at
www.recordingmag.com/resources/resourceDetail/192.html). Thanks
for taking the time to write your article.
I am the lead singer in a Southern Gospel a cappella male quartet;
my brother and I have been involved in the Southern Gospel music
world our whole lives. I am 67, so it has been a while!
We have a desire to produce a quality of recorded sound that is like
that of the Imperials, the quartet that was popular from the ’60s into
the ’80s. My brother has some recording equipment, and we are trying to get educated.
I have attached two recordings of a song called “Sweet, Sweet Spirit”.
Please note the major difference in the quality of recorded sound. We
sing together on our own track, and the main part of our singing is that
we love what we are doing and who we are singing for. The Imperials’
recording is so superior to ours—it seems to me that their bass track is
so full and rich-sounding, it seems to fill the room and it is the foundation to the quality in their recording. Then when you listen to our
recording it is so flat, it seems like it just lays there with no enhancement to it. But I think we could come close to that quality of sound if
we knew what equipment they used to enhance the recorded sound.
The equipment we used was a set of four AKG Perception 420 mics,
straight into an audio interface and then into the Pro Tools recording
program. We have a small recording room that we installed acoustical foam on the walls and have a relatively dead room. We have mic
shields on two of the mics. We have just purchased a PreSonus
DigiMax 8-channel preamp but have not used it yet. I am hoping that
it moves us a step closer to the recording quality that the Imperials
have in their recording.
I am strongly thinking about buying the Lewitt LCT 940 condenser
mic (reviewed May 2013) that has two mics built into one with a controller that allows you to blend the tube style and the FET digital to
come up with the quality of sound you want. If you have any experience with this mic I would love to hear your comments about it.
After you listen to the two recordings, please let me know your
thoughts about the full rich bodied flavor that the Imperials have in
their recording and how we can get at least close to that, realizing
that we are not the Imperials, but that most of the richness they have
came from equipment enhancements in the recording studio. I hope to
come up with a quality of recorded sound, via enhancements, that
you might recommend that we use.
Larry
Tulare, CA

Paul J. Stamler replies:
Hi Larry: First, the good news is that your voices aren’t the problem; musical talent and presentation can’t be purchased, and fortunately yours are solid. However, I agree that there’s a night-andday difference between your group’s recording and the Imperials’.
I think some of the difference is attributable to different equipment, but most of it is not.

The biggest difference, I think, is that they
recorded in a large, acoustically-excellent live
space, and you are recording in a small, acoustically-dead space. A good large space offers support to the voices in a way that a small space
never can, no matter how many electronic simulations are used.
Second, I think a good deal of the thinness in
your recording does come from the equipment,
particularly the microphones. While the AKG
Perception Series are marketed as value-formoney mics, I don’t see AKG discontinuing the
C12VR any time soon. The fact is, there’s a real
difference between entry-level mics and the better professional mics, and a real reason why people pay for mics like the C12VR, the Neumann
U87, the Blue Bottle, the Audio-Technica AT5040,
and many others.
I have never used Lewitt’s microphones, so can’t
comment on what they sound like, but four of the
LCT 940 would cost about $6400. Add several
thousand dollars for genuinely professional mic
preamps amd A/D converters, and you’d be up to
$12,000 in no time. The very good Neumann TLM
102 would still run you nearly $3000 for a set of
four... and you’d still be stuck with a small, dead
room. Even the best equipment, hardware and
software can’t improve a bad room. There are no
“enhancements” that can. You could spend lots of
money upgrading equipment and still wind up
with a thin, dead sound.
If you have access to a room that’s big and live
and sounds wonderful on your assembled voices
without any mics or recording gear—perhaps
your (or another) church, with traditional construction and lots of wood?—then there may be
merit to bringing good mics and preamps (or even
your current setup!) into that space to capture its
magic and help your voices sound as they should.
But if you have no access to a good room on your
own, then my advice is to take that money and
book time in one. You’re in Tulare, about 200
miles from Los Angeles, where there are many
good professional recording studios (and universities with recording programs!) that can do justice
to your musical abilities.
Bringing the group to LA will probably be more
cost-effective than trying to buy lots of professional-grade equipment, then using it in a bad
room. Think of it as leveling the playing field
between what the Imperials had to work with and
what you can use; remember, they didn’t have to
pay for their own gear! Peace—PJS

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RECORDING August 2013

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Recording - August 2013

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