Recording - May 2015 - 4

PUBLISHER: Thomas Hawley
ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER: Brent Heintz

EDITORIAL

EDITOR: Mike Metlay
SPECIAL PROJECTS EDITOR: Lorenz Rychner
TECHNICAL CONSULTANT: Paul Vnuk Jr.
EDITOR AT LARGE: Beto Hale
COPY EDITOR: Diana Smethurst
MÚSICO PRO EDITOR: Fernando Curiel

Miking challenges and solutions
Is it a surprise that when it comes to topics that our readers always want more of,
microphones and miking techniques are always at or near the top of the list? Even in
our world of DAWs and virtual instruments, to most of us the quintessence of recording
is that careful and reverent act of placing a mic just right.
Of course, nobody agrees on what constitutes "just right." If everyone knew the one
and only way to record music, we wouldn't need magazines like Recording! Thankfully,
there are many right ways to capture each and every sound source out there-well,
except maybe for Scottish war pipes, but we've already covered that-and each bit of
wisdom, each problem solved, becomes another tool in the well-read recording musician's kit.
For this month's issue on instrument miking, the first question I had to answer was,
"Which instruments this time around?". Drums and guitars top readers' interest lists, of
course; that's why we feature them frequently and do special issues on them at least
once a year.
But what happens if you get a call from someone who wants to hire you to record
tracks for a new album, keeping your studio cranking for several days or weeks... and
plans to bring in a brass section? Do you say, "Sorry, drums and guitars only," and
hang up? I sure hope not! Sven-Erik Seaholm takes the mystery out of recording brass
and wind instruments in a great introductory article on page 24.
What if you're called in to capture a grand piano performance? They're big, complex instruments, and can be recorded in all sorts of ways. Michael Schulze teaches
the basics on page 30. What if you have access to one really good mic and want to
see how much you can get from it? John Fishell recorded a whole album that way, and
tells you about it on page 64.
And... okay, I admit this one is a stretch... what if you're on vacation in a foreign
country, attending a sci-fi convention and minding your own business, when someone
comes running up to you and begs you to record a symphony orchestra with only the
mics you can scrounge up... and rehearsal starts in an hour? It actually happened to
Scott Dorsey last year. It (hopefully) will never happen to you, but his approach to the
gig can teach a lot about miking under less than perfect circumstances. See page 16.
Our recent issue on drum recording (January 2015) generated a lot of discussion
and requests for elaboration on certain topics. Michael Schulze obliges on page 12
with a close look at the famed Glyn Johns drum miking technique-how it came about,
how it works, and how to do it... and how not to do it (hint: Glyn never used a tape
measure, no matter what you heard on somebody's blog). Check out what Dave
Mattacks, drummer with Fairport Convention, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Brian
Eno, Elton John, and many others, has to say about his experience working with Glyn.
Oh, and in the course of researching the piece, I had a nice (if too brief) chat with Glyn
himself, with the hope of more to come... watch this space!
Paul Vnuk Jr., in his own inimitable way, turns a simple review into a master class on
choosing drum mics, in his discussion of the Audix DP4 instrument mic package. Paul
also puts Sennheiser's new MK 8 multipattern mic to the test on drum overheads and
more, and I review new headphones from Audio-Technica and M-Audio.
We're proud to introduce you to cool new products from relative newcomers in the
pro audio world, like Boz Digital Labs' plug-in emulation of ace engineer David
Bendeth's secret weapon, Output's REV virtual instrument (in which we welcome new
writer Jon Hillman to the team), Strymon's BigSky reverb, and Lightning Boy's handbuilt
Flux Bender EQ.
Speaking of new companies with fascinating products: on page 42, Paul brings you
a review of the Sandhill 6011A, a virtually indestructible ribbon mic with a unique
sonic signature-a review that benefits richly from over two years of studio sessions.
Talk about a reviewer taking his job seriously....
Enjoy the issue!

CONTRIBUTORS
Michael Schulze, Scott Dorsey,
Sven-Erik Seaholm, Paul Vnuk Jr.,
Paul J. Stamler, Marty Peters,
Jon Hillman, John Fishell
SOCIAL MEDIA
Brent Heintz, Paul Vnuk Jr.
ART & PRODUCTION

ART DIRECTOR: Scott Simmonds
PRODUCTION MANAGER: Colin Courtney
WEB GOALIE: Colin Courtney

PLAYBACK PLATINUM SERIES
Lorenz Rychner

EDITOR/PRODUCER:

CIRCULATION
Tiffany Sepe

CIRCULATION MANAGER:

ADVERTISING SALES AND MARKETING
DIRECTOR: Brent Heintz
CLASSIFIEDS MANAGER: Colin Courtney
ADMINISTRATION
Thomas Hawley

ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE:

EXECUTIVE OFFICERS

PRESIDENT: Thomas Hawley
VICE PRESIDENT: Brent Heintz

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1-954-653-3927
ADVERTISING/CLASSIFIEDS/MAIN OFFICE:
(303) 516-9118
RECORDING MAGAZINE
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Recording - May 2015

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