Creative Caffeine: Nashville Recording Studio

After finishing up a 2 day experimental demonstration session showcasing the new Brandt “Previs” microphones we have much to talk about.  Vince from Brandt Audio Devices made the trip down from Michigan and arrived at 5:30am the day of tracking… YIKES!!! I don’t know how he stayed awake.

We started off with a jazz trio led by the incredibly talented pianist/vocalist/songwriter Kandace Springs.  Using only the previs mics, we were able to capture a very open, natural sound that lent itself very well to her style.

Let’s start with Kandace… we set her up on our Yamaha C-7 and placed 2 microphones on the piano, approx. 18-24 inches away, one on the highs and one towards the lower end.  This yielded a very open sound, but wasn’t quite giving us what we were looking for.  Vince (Brandt Audio Devices) insisted we move the primary pair closer and add an additional pair further out in the room.  While this ended up sounding OK for this session, I did not personally see any need for extra microphones and feel we could have adjusted the 2 mics for optimum sound.  While open and natural was the intent of this particular session, the sound of these mics on the piano is going to be a little too open if mixed with a heavier style rock or country track.   I personally love our Telefunken U47 and AKG 452 on our piano… but who wouldn’t?

Vocals too?  Yes.  We placed one of the Previs mics with the custom pop filter in front of Kandace and her voice sounded amazing!  Very clean and smooth.  She was probably about 6 inches from the mic during her performance.  There were no issues with boominess since it is an omni mic and there is no proximity effect.  Most people would shy away from using these for vocals… simply based on misconceptions.  Use them… you just may fall in love with the sound you get.  I was very impressed with the dynamics of her voice without using a compressor… lack of proximity effect and the omni pattern no doubt playing a significant role.

Drums… Oh yes!!!  The drums are where we’ve seen these mics really start to shine.  For more intimate sessions, use these on the entire kit.  The clarity heard from the drums when using these mics is very special.  We used 4 mics… a kick, snare, and 2 overhead/tom mics.  The sound was perfect for the laid back style of Kandace’s songs.

Although this technique would not be appropriate for louder rock or country styles, I have been using a pair of the Previs mics as overheads on such sessions and have been extremely impressed with the results, as pictured above for Jerry Beecher of the Eric Heatherly Band.  The clarity of the cymbals with minimal eq is remarkable.  We generally have a matched pair of Vintage Neumann U87s on overheads, just to give you an idea.  The Previs mics allow us to use those expensive mics elsewhere on our sessions without sacrificing the quality of our drum tones.  The Previs sounded great inside the kick drum, although I struggled to keep the gain low enough even with the 20db console pad engaged.  The kick was very full and present with great attack.

For the electric bass guitar, we placed a mic right in front of the bass amp and had no issues with distortion or spl handling.  Admittedly, the bass was my least favorite part of this recording.  It came across a little “weird” for my tastes.  The low and high frequencies are definitely there and the sound is very clear, but to me it just didn’t sound right.  I prefer recording bass with a DI generally.

Overall the song turned out very well… especially since we used only one kind of microphone for the entire session, which is basically unheard of in any professional environment.  Any home or professional studio will benefit from a pair of these… at $1000 a pair I don’t see how they can be passed up.  I’ve also put these on acoustic guitar and mandolin with great results and will continue finding new and interesting ways of using these great mics.   The omni pattern lets you get much closer to acoustic instruments without the boomy proximity effect of cardiod mics… all while sounding much more natural and realistic.

- Collin Peterson - Studio Manager / Chief Engineer - Creative Caffeine Studio

Specs from BrandtAudioDevices.com:
• Omni-directional
• Ultra fast “impulse response” for clearly defined transients.
• Flat 10hz - 20khz+ frequency response.
• Pure class A head amplifier ultra low noise high output design.
• SPL tested beyond 134db RMS.
• +48 volt phantom powered.
• Hand finished Bolivian Rosewood body.
• Clean look with Rosewood pressure fit mic holder (also fits common mic clips).
• Fitted metal pop-screen for the purest vocal recordings.
• Supplied 6″ ultra-flex gooseneck arm for critical placement
• Latched hand finished wooden storage box.
• Sold in consecutively serial numbered matched pairs.
• 3 year replacement warranty.