In this article Julian Rodgers uses the example of a recent Netflix show to highlight the potential advantages of being able to access the sounds of valuable and classic microphones without having to put them in harm’s way and the time benefits of being able to capture audio and decide mic choices later…
If you had an important vocal session booked and a real U47, would you use it? It would be easy to say unconditionally yes. But there are reasons why you might choose not to. Here’s an interesting example.
Virtual Vs Committing Using Hardware
If we want it to, modeling the signal chain can now extend all the way from the microphone to the loudspeaker, with virtual preamps, consoles, EQ, compression, even loudspeakers, and virtual mix rooms. This is enormous fun and brings previously inaccessible equipment to almost anyone who wants it. It does however run contrary to the significant number of serious professionals who are proponents of getting it right at the source and committing a sound as early as possible in the recording process. After all, if we defer decisions all the way to the mix, or beyond, aren’t we just abdicating responsibility?
I don’t think there’s much debate anymore about the value of working in the box, though there are always people who insist that hardware is irreplaceable there are fewer of them than ever, even at the very top of the industry. However, I’m not sure that microphone modeling is yet viewed quite like that. The very best systems are good, very good. But wouldn’t an engineer who had access to a mic locker with a real U67 or a real C12 not always use it over a model? Is it a case that modeling is all very well but those who have the real thing won’t be using it any time soon?
I don’t think so. There are plenty of examples of people who certainly could use a real U47 if they wanted to choose instead to use a Townsend Labs Sphere L22, the system with which I have first-hand experience. A great example is Dave Grohl, someone who could definitely get hold of the real deal if he wanted it, using an L22 on a collaborative version of Times Like These for a charity event last year. However even if you had a mic locker full of classic vintage mics, would you take them out to a remote recording session?
Mobile studios used to fill trucks but these days a laptop, interface, and a pair of headphones can do everything those studios did and more. But in the same way, as you would probably choose to use a plugin rather than bring a rack full of the outboard to a location recording session, and given the fragility of microphones, why would you choose to bring a choice of mics when a single L22 does it all?
Add to that the fact that tracking time is precious and the benefits of mic modeling start to look very tempting.
Vocal Tracking On “A Week Away”
An excellent example of this came to our attention in the story of the Netflix musical A Week Away. Tracking of the majority of the vocals was done on set making these tracking sessions closer to location sound recording than a studio session. That being said there was an improvised studio on site but as well as less than ideal conditions compared to a pro studio, the recording of the vocals had to fit in around a tight production schedule adding time pressure to a less than optimum recording environment.
The Townsend Labs Sphere fits this unusual set of circumstances perfectly as there was no time for the luxury of auditioning different mics to suit the needs of every new singer. Being able to change the mic, including the polar pattern and even adjust for proximity effect means that the same equipment could be used to capture all the performances. Concentrating on the performance, getting the take and moving on.
Working onsite meant that a single well-chosen recording path would have to do the job, so the film’s Executive Music Producer Adam Watts, set up a high-end analogue chain: A pair of Neve 1073 preamps into a Shadow Hills Dual Vandergraph compressor, direct to Burl Audio converters and into Pro Tools. Watts then mixed the songs at his personal studio full of high-end gear, taking advantage of the fact that the recorded tracks could be altered and even set to new models after the fact.
“There’s no better way to move quickly between each actor/singer and have the ability to choose the perfect mic model for each. Before I had the L22, most of the demos of the songs had been recorded on my vintage U47, but we had tracked the demo vocals for “Good Enough” on a real Shure SM7b. When we redid the vocals for the film, I had our lead, Bailee Madison, monitoring through the LD-47K model with a touch of 251. But when I switched it to the SM7b model, she basically went, “Ooh! I like that! Yes!”. She’d been used to hearing the demo vocal tone, so when I switched the SM7b model on the L22, she totally heard that it was the sound.”
“The vocals on that song are almost like sung dialog, so the non-hyped yet in-your-face sound of the SM7b model was just right for that sort of thing. On its own, the U47 would sound ‘better’ to most ears, but in the context of the full song, the SM7b model was the clear winner. It’s so cool to have that kind of flexibility with the Townsend mic!”
“I own a vintage U47 and a bunch of other great mics, but when it came time to fly across the country and work on the vocals for this movie, the Sphere L22 was the clear choice for so many reasons, sonically and practically. I’m grateful this mic exists!”
Conclusion
This example, while still definitely a studio session, does include some of the pressures and issues encountered by location crews and while exploring options, finding a sound and committing to that sound are desirable goals in a studio recording session, sometimes the demands of the work being done require a more pragmatic approach. Wheras previously this particular example might have been tackled by using a U87 on everything (after all, the U87 has been described as “everyones second favourite microphone”) using microphone modelling means that you can safely bring your mic locker to the gig and have the time to explore it even on the tightest of schedules.