Recording - May 2017 - 26
being a different circuit entirely, but that
was kind of the inspiration.
What was your
design say in the
Eden, Fab?
Fab Dupont: I said
"no" a lot, that's all.
Which I'm really good
at, it's my birthright.
Fab Dupont
[laughs] What I was
aiming for, especially in the neutral setting,
was to have what is good about vintage
tube microphones, all the transformer
saturation and all the beautiful stuff that
makes it sound instantly like a classic
record, but none of that modern brightness
that hurts your eyes. I wanted to be able to
put it on a vocal with no EQ and put that
on a record. That is pretty much what I did
with David Crosby, for example.
I just want to interrupt and let
readers know that Fab recorded
and mixed David Crosby's latest
album Lighthouse, and the Eden
was a big part of that.
FD: Yes, he sang into the Eden, flat,
and that's the sound of the record. After
one verse, he picked the Eden over his
favorite U47 out of Jackson Browne's
mic locker. [The Eden] has what the U47
and the U67 have-they're all different, of
course, but what people like about mics
like that is the saturation. It's not like a
mirror, it's not like a super-clean digital
thing. It adds a little bit of control, it's
got that sheen to it.
Brian, you said that the Eden
isn't just a tube Atlantis. What
else makes the two different?
BL: A big part is that the Atlantis uses
a China-made transformer-we actually
have a great company that makes them
for us-but for the transient control and
the "new old stock" sound that Fab
wanted, we went with a really boutiquey
guy in the US and it worked out really
well. Not that the Atlantis transformer
doesn't control the transients, but when
you throw a tube into the circuit, things
get a little more difficult to handle.
So, the transformer was one of the
key differences. Then it was just tuning
26
RECORDING May 2017
the circuit itself, certain frequencies per
Fab's request. 300 Hz was one of the
areas we looked at...
FD: It's the sound of sheetrock.
BL: Also if I remember correctly,
2-5K?
FD: Right around 3K, that's usually what
most singers can't control. In the past, we
used to get a lot of control and saturation
from tape. You'd also have the transformer
in the input of the microphone, and six or
seven levels of transformers on the console,
the inter-stage transformers to the monitor
section, the transformer on the input to the
tape machine, the tape, the transformer
to the output of the tape machine... we're
talking a lot of iron. We no longer have that.
Now we have the cleanest, fastest
design on preamps, and the cleanest,
fastest design on converters, and microphones have not adapted. Which is
why, if you plug a vintage U47 straight
into a modern preamp, it sounds nothing
like the records we use to listen to.
BL: The signal chain is very simple
compared to what it used to be, but
people buying a microphone still want
it to work and sound the same. That
was the thought process behind Atlantis
and especially Eden.
FD: It's very hard to gain-stage with
everything being so clean and fast,
especially the transients, but there's a
lot of people that convince themselves
that it sounds the same, though.
and distances, like when a singer
does their own harmonies using the
same mic, in this case the Eden, and
then changing the Voicing and having
them move a few feet back.
FD: It changes the sound and makes
sure there are no phase issues.
What are some of your favorite
non-vocal uses that you've found?
FD: Well, I only have two Edens, one of
which is always taken by others for sessions.
So I really only have one, and it always ends
up on the vocal of whatever session I do.
One day when I was able to use both, I put
them on the Yamaha C7 piano here, and
it was just ridiculous, absolutely gorgeous.
But you know, I'm not very good
for the microphone business, because
I don't believe that there is a 'vocal
microphone' and then there's a 'bass
drum microphone' and then there's... I
think, to speak in technical terms, that's
absolute complete bullshit.
I think that there are microphones that
sound a certain way. So if you have a microphone that has a very controlled bottom,
then that could be a very good microphone
for bass drum or not, depending on how fat
you want your bass drum to be. The reflex
of putting a specialized mic inside a bass
drum every single time because it's been
designed to be a bass drum microphone,
I find really dumb. It depends on what kind
of bass drum sound you need. Right?
Tell me about the shockmount on
the Eden. Whose idea was that?
Yup.
FD: That's me. [waves] One day I
was setting up a session, and I started
taking all the microphones out of the
boxes and screwing them onto their
shockmounts, and I was like, "When
am I ever going to use this microphone
without the shockmount? How about
'never'? Why is it in two separate parts?
It's dumb." So when Brian asked, "Hey,
we're doing the Eden, anything you
want it to have?" I said, "Yes. Please
make sure the shockmount and the
microphone are the same thing."
FD: For example, suppose I need a
bass drum sound that has a saturated transient quality to it. I would take a 20" bass
drum with two full heads, no [sound]
hole, and I would put the Eden in front
of it on Forward mode and the first highpass in, and it would be just money.
Would I put the Eden on a snare drum
when someone is banging really hard? No,
because I would get the whole set. Would
it sound good? Yep, but I would get the
whole set. If I'm doing a jazz record, that's
awesome. If I'm doing a pop record where I
have to have just a snare drum? No.
I've read a lot about you recording
David Crosby's vocals. I know you love
the Eden on vocals at various settings
So rather than a source-specific mic,
you'd rather have a good-sounding
mic used in the right context.
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - May 2017
Contents
Recording - May 2017 - Intro
Recording - May 2017 - Cover1
Recording - May 2017 - Cover2
Recording - May 2017 - 1
Recording - May 2017 - 2
Recording - May 2017 - 3
Recording - May 2017 - 4
Recording - May 2017 - 5
Recording - May 2017 - Contents
Recording - May 2017 - 7
Recording - May 2017 - 8
Recording - May 2017 - 9
Recording - May 2017 - 10
Recording - May 2017 - 11
Recording - May 2017 - 12
Recording - May 2017 - 13
Recording - May 2017 - 14
Recording - May 2017 - 15
Recording - May 2017 - 16
Recording - May 2017 - 17
Recording - May 2017 - 18
Recording - May 2017 - 19
Recording - May 2017 - 20
Recording - May 2017 - 21
Recording - May 2017 - 22
Recording - May 2017 - 23
Recording - May 2017 - 24
Recording - May 2017 - 25
Recording - May 2017 - 26
Recording - May 2017 - 27
Recording - May 2017 - 28
Recording - May 2017 - 29
Recording - May 2017 - 30
Recording - May 2017 - 31
Recording - May 2017 - 32
Recording - May 2017 - 33
Recording - May 2017 - 34
Recording - May 2017 - 35
Recording - May 2017 - 36
Recording - May 2017 - 37
Recording - May 2017 - 38
Recording - May 2017 - 39
Recording - May 2017 - 40
Recording - May 2017 - 41
Recording - May 2017 - 42
Recording - May 2017 - 43
Recording - May 2017 - 44
Recording - May 2017 - 45
Recording - May 2017 - 46
Recording - May 2017 - 47
Recording - May 2017 - 48
Recording - May 2017 - 49
Recording - May 2017 - 50
Recording - May 2017 - 51
Recording - May 2017 - 52
Recording - May 2017 - 53
Recording - May 2017 - 54
Recording - May 2017 - 55
Recording - May 2017 - 56
Recording - May 2017 - 57
Recording - May 2017 - 58
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Recording - May 2017 - 60
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Recording - May 2017 - 69
Recording - May 2017 - 70
Recording - May 2017 - 71
Recording - May 2017 - 72
Recording - May 2017 - Cover3
Recording - May 2017 - Cover4
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