microphones for recording, microphone reviews, which microphone

 

The Ribbon mics continue to impress with a great new acoustic session from Graham Hodge CHECK IT OUT. The BIG IDEA is to run a studio recording materclass weekend. Look out for details!!!!!!!!!

 

Recording Acoustic Guitar
Recording Acoustic Part 2
Recording Nylon strung
Choosing microphones
Stereo 1: XY coincident
Stereo 2: Blumlein Pair
Stereo 3: Middle-Side
Stereo 6: Binaural

The Two Johns

Sound Engineering courses attract thousands of young people who want to be recording engineers when they grow up (as opposed to astronauts when we were growing up) and today there are college courses and studio engineering courses all around the world turning out thousands of graduates every year who want to work in a recording studio. The Reelsound mobile and Fairview studio where we work get letters every week from young hopefuls who are quite happy to work for free to get into the business and it's hard telling people that in reality they would be much better off training to be plumbers. We've both come through the business from being guitarists in bands in the 70s to being full time sound engineers running our own studios and we both know that the secret of our success (A limited term!) is not that we are the best recording engineers ever, know every technical aspect of digital recording, or can spend 8 hours programming a drum sequence to sound like a real drummer, its because we love what we do and we know how to keep a happy vibe at the recording session. Commercial sessions are about getting the best job done in the time available and you have to make the whole recording process transparent. The essence of recording for us is all about capturing a performance and getting the musicians to play that great take. Don't get bogged down with the technology because if you spend 4 hours trying different kick drum mics then someone is going to get pissed.

Recording

John Rowley: was a guitarist in the 80s Indie outfit Red Guitars (check out Warner Brothers John Peel tribute album, Right Time, Wrong Speed) and got the recording bug making 7 singles and two albums with the band in studios like Townhouse and Air in London and Amazon in Liverpool. When the band split in the mid 80s he spent time working as a freelance engineer in local studios before forming the Reelsound Mobile in the late 80s. The mobile is one of the busiest and best equipped mobiles in the country specialising in choirs, brass bands, jazz and orchestral recording but with loads of experience in location sound recording for TV, video and voice over work.
John Spence: After playing guitar with bands during the 1970’s, John spent two years touring with a concert PA system working with The Specials and Selector on the famous 2-Tone tour, The Blues Band, Bad Manners, Southern Death Cult, Sex Gang Children and Geno Washington, before moving into studio work in the late 70s. Early clients included The Sisters of Mercy, The Three Johns, March Violets and The Mekons, all of whose influence helped to fashion John’s approach to making records and through the eighties he produced work for The Comsat Angels, The Rezillos, John Parr (two albums featuring amongst others The Phoenix Horns).In 1988 he recorded the seminal “Bummed” album by Happy Mondays working alongside the late legendary producer Martin Hannet and since 1989 has enjoyed a creative and inspiring relationship with Bill Nelson (Bebop Deluxe/Red Noise). With Bill as producer John has recorded and mixed albums for international artists such as Roger Eno, Kate St.John, Yumiko Morioka, Nautilus Pompelius and Channel Light Vessel as well as Bill’s own “Practically Wired” and “After the satellite sings” albums.
John continued working at Fairview through the ninties and the last few years have seen work with the Beautiful South and Paul Heaton's solo project along with several emerging bands such as Turismo, Computerman (now signed), Dirty Dreamers, Footloose and The Paddingtons (Mercury Records).