Depeche Mode - Violator Was Recorded With a Cheap Microphone | GeeK Talk 

This video references an interview which was conducted with Pino Pischetola, who was a recording engineer on Depeche Mode's 1990 'Violator' Album. Pino mentioned that Dave Gahan's vocals were recorded using an inexpensive Shure 5m57 Dynamic microphone. Become a VG Local by joining at www.watchvg.com

Speaking as a professional record engineer the 57/58 are almost always employed because it’s the last “ditch” option for getting a performance from the vocalist. It certainly wouldn’t be the first choice in any other situation. For even seasoned pros it can be difficult to sing in tune and get a vibe in headphones. I’ve recorded Morten Harket like this. Steven Tyler and Bono also capture their takes like this not to mention many more great vocalists. These Shure mics do take on a good level of acceptability when used with a great preamp like a discrete Neve. They don’t sound like the same mic.

My 76 year old mother and I listen to Violator when we do errands in the car. We never get tired of it. We used to listen to it in the 90s. We were saying we think it is one of the best records ever made. A long time ago, Another guy I sat next to on a plane told me that he and his crew used to listen to Violator as an album for background music as they would assemble stages for big music names .

I don't quite know why there's such a surprise that Dave's vocal was recorded on an SM57; firstly, it's the same capsule that's in your SM7B. Secondly, literally 1000s of huge hits have been recorded on an SM57; the SM57 was primarily a vocal mic, despite people thinking it's for guitar cabs or drums. Exactly where is the story?

Great video ! It’s the honest truth , what makes a hit record is not the gear , it’s the songs and performance . Using the most basic gear will get you there .

Very cool story. In fact this 57 on the vocals in the control room trick is used more than one might think. Ronson/Bruno Mars- Uptown Funk done the same way. Pros indeed don’t care- they are good at getting sounds with anything . It’s not the car, it’s the driver in almost all circumstances LOL! Thx for sharing!!! 😎

Marin Gore hit on my girlfriend by singing question of lust to her during an outdoor concert during the Black Celebration tour, while I went on a bathroom break from our front row location. I was like wtf ? Everybody had cleared an area around her because they knew Gore had singled her out whilst he sang Question of Lust, of all things. I guess I was somewhat flattered he picked out my girlfriend to serenade. She was just surprised and kinda freaked out ! I thought dang, dont we deserve backstage passes for this ? I dont think he was using a 57, but damn I cant remember, mabe he was using an Electro Voice "sing to your girlfriend" model .....

The thing he said about the performance being better with him singing to the monitors really is the key. And, I think, honestly more common than you'd think. I heard on an interview with a producer who worked with Peter Gabriel that he prefers to sing with the monitors too, rather than having the headphones on. I think in that case they didn't use a gate, but inverted the signal to cancel out most of the bleed. If a performer came up working live a lot, it makes sense you'd get a better performance, if the recording set-up is closer in emulating that kind of experience.

That’s pretty cool, I always enjoy stories like this about my favorite bands. It reminds me of a class I took in my first year of college where we recorded performances and turned them to essentially live albums. The “good mics” were having an issue the before a show, so I was stuck with this random pair that looked like they’d seen better days. I ended up getting one of the highest scores in the class for that batch of projects.

Not surprised. It's a great mic. Great rundown appreciate you! Tom Petty recorded a lot on the SM57 too and used it live. I think his reasoning was different, continuity between recorded track sound and live sound + his battered esophagus. I've used the SM57 off and on for decades and it is more flat in terms of expressiveness. But if you have great microphone proximity technique like Dave does you can swing it around as you groove to the backing track and then hang your mouth all over it when you come in with your vocals. And just to add another difference, the pickup pattern. While both are Cardioid the SM57 does has a tighter pickup at very close range than the SM58. Another inexpensive choice these days is the Heil PR 35 or PR 37. Jakob Dylan of the Wallflowers uses them occasionally in studio and a lot live and hangs all over the mic like Dave does.

Having worked in studios for major label projects for many years, Shure SM57's were used for vocals on many occasions, no windscreen, usually to give a certain aggressive character. Often would try to find a Beta 57, it's 10 db hotter.

ALAN GENIUS WE MISS YOU... The master mind behind the scenes.. And what a great tour, the mix he made in this tour it's unbelievable...

Dave also sings on the SM7B which is a fuller and less noisy version of the SM57. James Hetfield and Michael Jackson use(d) a SM7(B) in the studio. Bono uses a SM58 (and possibly a SM57) in the studio. I learned of this when I was looking for mics for loud and present vocals. I settled on the SM7B and a clone of the U47. 👍

Love these little insights. When I watched the original interview with Pino a year or two ago , not only was I surprised a SM57 was used for the vocals but also in the control room. I remember recording demos on my Tascam 424 mkiii & 20+ years ago (still as good as new in it's box) using a £10 mic from Dixons with a duster wrapped around it!

The most expensive mic is not always the right mic for every project. I remember doing exactly that. We were laying down vocals using a large diagram mic, also in the same room, and for some reason it just didn't sit well. We took a break for like 30mins., then went back. I changed the mic, out of a whim and hit record. From the first line, we both knew we got it.

Great interview! You got us geeked out

sm57 is used for: guitar amps brass instruments drums vocals ( you need a pop shield) usa president uses dual sm57's for addresses on video/radio with the sm57 pop shields i believe one of the main reasons flood chose the SM57 was the background rejection that the sm57 has so you can have the speakers cranked up in the control room and you'll be fine when recording. if you use a condenser mic it has terrible background rejection so it's useless to use that type of microphone in this situation. New order used sm57 on the bbc rock around the clock session for barneys vocals - see the youtube videos.

This revelation did blow my mind, but it doesn't surprise me. When you got the goods, the vibe and the right people in the studio the magic comes together based on the level of talent and not the price tag of the equipment being used.

I think that’s really validating - dynamic mics are great for exactly that scenario - singers in the control room performing without headphones over the music coming from the monitors. Bono supposedly records with SM58 that way and I’ve seen interviews describing how Chris Cornell would do the same. Depending on the room and song, I could see a SM57 with a pop filter sounding pretty similar to an SM58. Would only take a small EQ adjustment to the preamp to make them sound even more similar. You’re right - there’s frequently way to much emphasis on gear and not enough performance quality, song writing and arrangement.

Enjoying this so far. I flit from a scream to a whisper when I sing. I tried the Shure range back in the day but nothing popped for me! In the 90's I bllind-tested every single microphone available in the testing booth at Musical Exchanges Birmingham, and the winner was the AKG C1000S. I have told several engineers about this mic which is meant for instruments, and twomof them performed this mime: 🤫

Was a live sound tech in the 80's, and your breakdown of the mic's was perfect. Yeah, blew my mind that the 57 was used on that record.

I’ve used an SM57 for years on vocals. Zero complaints.

I think a lot of engineers would take issue with the 57 being referred to as "flat", even in relation to the 58 - you will generally hear guys on forums referring to the high mid "honk" of the 57 and it is pretty "scooped" in the mids. Some people love it and some hate it. I fall into the former camp. As someone said, it's not always the best choice but it is never a bad choice. It also just works great with my voice which has some low-mid "mud" that I generally EQ out pretty ruthlessly and the 57 scoops a lot of that out naturally. I keep a 57 lying around mostly for rough/demo vocals and those vocals sometimes make it to the finish line, at least as a double/effected vocal if not the main vocal track.

Glad you did the frequency charts of the two mics . They are different and don’t sound the same . Just know if flood produced it back in the day , he probably used a 58 or 57 on vocals . He used a mono 57 overhead on a U2 album for drums .

I sang using Shure 5m57 during the rehearsals, and the only thing that I remembered before your video was that one was used by Gahan during the Some Great Reward tour...

Yes, I agree with you. You don’t need that high Quality stuff to producing a good Album. But what you really need to make a, good record is a Producer called or like Flood because he really knows how to work with those large Mixing Engineering Stuff and really knows what’s the function Behind all the Machines. So on One Hand You Need Musicians with Soul who can sing in Cheap Microphones and on the other hand you need Producers who are out Standing.

I would love to know the microphone type used during DM 101 concert.

Probably makes his deep voice punch even more.

Same here! well Dave is just a brilliant singer through any mic I suppose. Also, if I´m not mistaken Bob Marley recorded a few records with an SM57 too if I´m not mistaken.

Thanks for posting this, ive said this since the 80s, you dont need all the drama...

Red Hot Chili Peppers used Shure mics all over 'Blood Sugar Sex Magik'. Shouldn't really be that mind blowing that big artists sometimes use cheap gear. The Preamps and consoles recorded into though, were still likely BIG NEVE or SSL boards that cost several 1000s of dollars.

Memory isn't always perfect...im less surprised by the mic model and more so by the process. Makes me wonder if he's recalling scratch vocal/practice sessions. Blaring monitors would be super challenging to keep out of mix, especially after all of the compression. Hmm.

The SM57 is an interesting choice... Right along with using it in the control room with open monitoring. The entire thing blew me away. One question I was wondering about is which gate they used. It did a hell of a job. Any idea?

This explains a lot. I always thought that both the vocals and the music on this album sounded less expressive than on previous albums.

The sm57 was designed as a vocal microphone. The President of United States has used an sm57 since the Carter administration. Sure sells a foam windscreen specifically designed for the 57. If you watch videos from the 1970s, you will see tons of bands using 57s for vocals, the Cars for instance. The 58 is the exact same microphone with a different head on it. These were always studio microphone and every single professional studio has one. Bjork and Bono have recorded studio vocals on a 58. Again, exactly the same microphone. In 1965 a 57 would have been about $1000 in today’s money

Hi VG, Really enjoyed this video! I hope you get the opportunity to someday Interview Tim Simenon ( ULTRA producer) I think ultra may be one of Depeche Mode’s greatest albums. Cheers!

This is hard to believe. The proximity effect of the 57 (typo in the video description) affects boominess so drastically that it is a tough microphone to sing with. Great for a stationary sound source, vocals not so much unless the singer is REALLY careful. Not saying this isn't true, just hard to believe. IF you can get it right it has a lot of presence and detail, but that's a big if. It puts a lot of pressure on the vocalist. SM7 seems more likely, even a 58, but like I said, I don't know. I guess I'll have to wait for the interview.

57/58's are really good for rock/"loud" singers. I Love the sound of vintage tube, Ribbon mics, they have a great tone color with a great pre/eq. I used to run a small recording studio (early 00's- 2013) mackie 32×8 bus, a two huge 48 channel Protools TDM systems. My favorite mic I own is a matched pair of AKG c414 "the comb" from 69ish. But, Depending on the vocalist, Id use everything from weird homemade mics (a favorite was made from a 50s-60s headphone that had a transducer like a humbucker, with a metal plate over it. The fact it was the worst headphones Id ever heard/seen, I HAD to use it. Often, Id use a tube pre through a Kurzweil k2500rs VAST synthesis engine) but, back to the shure, Ive heard great results from the 57/58, especially with a performer who is used to his mic technique involving "working" the mic. They have a technique that can be hard to adjust for a condenser/velocity mic.. seeing that Gahan often is seen these days holding an sm7b, he has chosen a mic very similar to the sm57. Thanks for sharing this video, It's always great reading about the boys

That's amazing... and it gives a lot of courage/energy to have that in mind (during my recording process)! But is it still "relevant" nowadays with listeners who are used to listening to super-smooth Pop/Electro/Synthpop etc? Thank you, VG!!!

You right about gear, 1st is musician and inspiration, then gear what You have. Work with available gear and made best out of them.

Alan Wilder made Dave Gahan a rich and famous man.

We are living in a World where a lot of consumers are listening to music in a compressed format, such as Mp3, from a phone speaker or mono Bluetooth speaker. I'm sure they would not be able to appreciate the clarity that a U87 could bring on audiophile equipment. Vibe wins every time. Bono has used SM58s for a lot of hits.

Windscreens for SM57 - A2WS and A81WS - are somewhat large. They may change it sound to be much less alike SM58. That's why many vocal performers choose SM57 over SM58.

I used to use an SM57 for my vocals too.

Very interesting indeed. But if you watch old live vids of Genesis, Phil always used 57's on vocals. But in a studio, for main vocals, is very unique.

Surprised. Sm-58 was always the standard when we did worship music vocals. The 57 was used sparingly on percussion for the live drums.

Your first comment couldn’t agree more finest album ever I my opinion 😊

You can make good music with anything, if you have great sound engineers.

Shure SM 57, 58 are stage mics and can take a beating on the road. Definitely not a studio mic 🎤 I’m amazed. I do voiceover work on a cheap $250 capsule and get fantastic results.

I am not a producer personally, I just am a synth geek who sometimes records some shit, but I have close friends who actually record and release a lot. Their first tracks despite being recorded in a home studio, are wonderful, and now when they broke through in local radio competitions, acquired some money - they went to the best studio in the region and are in the process of recording. I gotta say, you can get a wonderful track using basic gear, but you can get your ideas sound way better if you have better machines and knowledge how to use them properly.

I've been a recording engineer for 30 years; it makes perfect sense. A dynamic mic lets you get loud, will reject backgrounds, and will compress naturally with louder vocals. The 57 snd 58 are basically identical mics: exact same element, same transformer, and nearly identical enclosures and frequency plots. The 58 is largely avoided because the ball windscreen can sounds mildly less open, and also because our visual perception of it is for "live". 57s are often used to record scratches, but if they sound great, they sound great. If you cant tell the difference between a 57, and 87, and a C12 in context, then it doesn't matter. Use them; they're killer mics.

Billy corgans from smashing pumpkins for vocals. Bullet with butterfly wings vocals is recorded with one. Flood was great with phasing issues etc.

You would be surprised how many hit singles are recorded on either a Shure sm58 or 57. Sweet dreams - Eurythmics U2 Peter Gabriel Tom petty The main difference between the 58 and 57 is the 58 has a pop shield. The advantages are it has great midrange and can be used in the control room even when the music is coming through the speakers loud. I had great sound rejection (Ie will pick up significantly less spill than a condenser or other brand dynamic mic)

Share SM57 and SM58 or not cheap mics they’re just solidly built workhorse microphones. That’s the point of them, so I think there might be some confusion with what is a cheap mic and what these mics being solid work horse mics. If you comparing these to a vintage Telefunken or something that is different. In the end, the SM57 traditionally used as an instrument mike has done the work as a vocal mic in life situations very often because of the ability to cut down on feedback in a live situation with a vocalist who is moving around a lot

Makes sense. Bowie used either a sm57 or 58 shure mic. All the strong vocalists dont need extra help that an expensive mic has. You can craft your sound after the vocal performance. My voice sounds best on a cheaper Telefunken vs their expensive ones. Not all expensive mics are going to work the best on every vocalist.

I use Unidyne b mics for guitar , snare and vocals , honestly, get yourself one or two and try them out :-) I know they are old and sometimes knackered but I’ve bought four and they all work perfectly and the sound ( to me ) sounds better , they have a smoother top end which responds well to eq without being too harsh . Also as they are old no one is copying them so no fakes . I’ve also got a lectern mic which sounds fantastic ( Beyerdynamic ) and was cheap:-) the capsule is used in another of their mics :-) that’s got a glorious top end to it :-) I was in the studio with a certain Welsh band with a female singer who likes hats ;-) , we couldn’t get separation for the high hat so I made a paper cone and fitted it to the mic , sorted ✔️, there are NO rules in the studio , whatever makes the best performance is the key , as you said “if the performer isn’t thinking about it they perform better “ :-)

if the range suits the recording you use what you need.

I'm a photographer which I think runs parallel to music production, as you said Vaughn it's not all about he expensive stuff, I don't use the most expensive camera and also sometimes use Auto (god forbid) in taking shots, it's all about the composition (of sound)🤣

57, 58 sm7b have the same capsules, different transistors.

Hi VG 👋🏽👋🏽👋🏽👋👋👋🏽

Annie Lennox recorded Sweet Dreams using a Sure SM 58. This one again proves that you need a good idea, rather than good gear.

Jarre Equinoxe 5. Base for all trance(all dance music 1978) tbh can you do Croc Theme on it? It's right up you ally after listining to your Crockett's theme. Its actually low 1977. Its perfect for your abilities.

No matter the Mic, Dave sounded great on Violator. His tone, Bravado was still on point. Has anyone heard the Halo demo, from 1989,Before the finished song?, It's good.

I'm not that surprised about the mic used. If you look at some entry level references, you can have good results. For example the Prodipe TT1 is cheap ( about 40€) and sounds really good for vocals. I'm a bit more surprised by the fact that it was recorded in the control room.

When you sing and perform like Dave, you can use pretty much any damn mic you want, and it's going to sound good. The person using the tool makes all the difference.

I use the Pyle SM57 clone I got years ago for $10. Pop filter and you’re good. No room tone to deal with.

As someone who was given the privilege of hearing DG's raw, untreated vocal track once upon a time, I feel that I live with a secret.

SM58 👍

It doesn't surprise me, as Depeche Mode have always done things in their own way, and picked what works for them.

I have six mics here at home... I prefer the Rode NT1 Sig. But...for Vocals, I use a 27 US$ Yamaha Copy of the Sm57. Why? Dunno! I like the sound! That's it.

There are certainly 'better' mics out there, but the SM capsule is the sound of rock and roll, whether we like it or not. I firmly hold the belief that if you're in a pinch, you can always get it done with a 57, a bit of creativity and bugger all else.

Im not surprise Dave have powerfull voice, in my case i always use the sm57 instead of my akg or rode mic for my personal vocal, why because i have a very powerfull voice as loud as a Trumpet , i add terrible experience with a very costly Neumann (the big tube one use for orchestra recording...) in real studio and this amazing mic have distorted and cannot handle the db of my voice , i finish the recording session at more than 2 meter away from the mic to keep the vocal performance at a reasonable SPL , we finaly decide to use the SM 57 as a proximity effect it was much better and more appropriate for me, so my condeser mic now is for my drums and guitar recording only.

Floods all about capturing a perfomance in the studio so it makes sence, give Dave the same mic he uses when singing live and a simillar enviroment no vocal booth. The result warants the method.

No cans, so lots of bleed?

that's funny that's how I exactly record 57 with the monitors loud ... And people laff

🥰👍❤👍🥰

instead Shure (S)m57 Dynamic ???? 😀

I got a 57 to record my vocoder now it will take my vocal takes 😂😂 or at least try and listen ❤

It's not that uncommon for producers to do that. Rupert Hine has done it very often in the past.

ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-1AR2vBG639I.htmlsi=TTiCttKJ9pkB7go6&t=4132 reminded me of this clip recording "Sweet Dreams"

Maybe a 58 , I read flood using no headphones and a 58 to get singers to give a better performance.

pure YT nonsense.... for the "hobbyists good feeling" ^^ HINT: SM57/58 was only for fast sketches, performance improvisations and demo takes !!!! Most of Violator was recorded at Puk Studios in Denmark. They have a healthy collection of Neumanns at Puk -U47, U67, M49 - and these mics were often used for Dave Gahan´s voice! plus a biiiiig SSL console, expensive Neve preams, API stuff, Urei comps, etc.

There is a _lot_ of repetition in this one. Please edit out redundancies. Nobody wants to hear the same thing five times in one video. You could have used this time to explain the change in sound and/or handling instead.

Actually I am more bummed with this video, now I know I cant do music like that because Im not talented like them, no matter how expensive equipment I would buy

All true...I will add however, one thing that can ABSOLUTELY RUIN an album is a poor drum mix. I have heard excellent albums by up and coming bands that were SOOOO close to greatness, if the dang drums had only been mixed properly

sm 57? i think bon iver.

The U87 is really not the mic you want to have as an example of a good mic. And 2.5k is cheap on the mic world. Try a C12 a U47 and check the prices

SM 57's have been used on thousands ,if not millions of recordings... That microphone in front of you is basically a glorified 57...only twice the price...

Actually a 57 can be a first choice for great vocalists. Don't think so? Well, you haven't heard enough stories yet then.

These microphones are good for micing up drivers with synths , I use them with the ensoniq Mirage to get natural acoustic reflection are reverb in a room of the right dimension and hard surfaces, the electronic percussion is excellent but you need to bounce it around, it dose not come across the same recorded directly into the mixer .also use the roland srv-2000 ,these kind of tricks were used heavily on the construction time again album, these recordings are so much more interesting win you can hear into the room , and all the different contrast you get , daw based with software synths are so boring....they recorded this in Milan, of course , Alisa Milano ....... Violators of the order will be persecuted until death .......... It's in dogmas and morals by albert pike a 150 year old satanic god spelled backwards piece of excrement.

i mean you still have to process things a lot. but yes nuunmann mikes are overrated easily. it’s a good voice and not really about the michaelphone.

Both 57 and 58 soynd like shit! Never understood why they are used

Great album but no, not the greatest electronic album ever. That would have to go to “music has the right to children” (1998) by Boards of Canada.

good god man you do an unbelievable amount of digression and repetition this makes for an extremely hard watch. Just get to the point!

Black Celebration and Ultra were both better than Violator.

Black Celebration and Ultra were better.

Andy: Alan... we have a problem with the console, the power supply needs calibration and is going to take the entire day so you do not need to come... Andy: Dave, are you sure you want to record with that mic?

The Sure SM57 is what every single band uses, is the cheapest microphone you can get. If you go to a bar in a ghetto in Namibia and there is a band? that is the mic they are using. nd it does the job very well but in studio you can get something way better.