When I worked for the CBC in Canada we had an amazing microphone locker that ranged from Neumann U87's, U47"s to 184's as well as AKG 414's (and other AKG's) and vintage RCA Ribbon mics. Plus a number of mics from Sennheiser 441's, 421's, 202's, Shoeps', Shure's, Sony 48's, EV's, as well as some specialty mics from Sanken CM7S, some ORTF stereo microphones and a Sennheiser Dummy Head unit. Literally hundreds of mics for multiple different purposes and uses. It was always an adventure to go on a remote with a few mics that you hadn't used before to see how they sounded next to your regular favourites. If they sounded good at the rehearsal we would use them for the actual concert recordings. The Classical Music Department always had access to the most interesting of the microphones as they had, at the time, the budget for some very expensive specialty equipment that were carefully locked away in their studio rental locker. I'm sure I've missed mentioning dozens of microphone brands that were in the various mic lockers in the building and I was there for 35 years and worked in virtually every technical room.
This was exactly what I needed today. Seeing that you are actually interested in an artist like Jacob gives me such huge respect for what kind of "reviewer/RU-vid person" you are. More of this, please!
Wouldn't mind seeing more of this. I also love knowing what mics and gear people are using and why they actually do use them, and mic spotting is always a fun time
@@Podcastage On my Tarantino podcast I used to do, during an Inglorious Basterds review, Til Schweiger was brought up obviously, and the reference in question was discussed in length. This led to a section of each episode dedicated to A Moment of Appreciation for Til Schweiger.
If you find the time Andrew I'd love to see more videos like this, make this a series where you check out what mics artists use and the insights from there, whether they use it well or even not.
This was great. I started following you when I was shopping for a microphone, but once I had what I needed I didn't have a huge reason to watch, this filled that void and you have a great personality
Such an excellent artist to choose for a mic run down - very fun video! It's a lot of fun to get your comparison of (and hear) the characteristics of mics outside of a review video I love the bass in the bathtub - as someone doing VO work on the side I'm so used to seeking out the most controlled space possible. Meanwhile, music be all like "WOOO Let's get creative reverb in a bathroom with string instruments!!!"
Bandrew, what a fun and informative video! You should feel Free to explore new formats and ideas this way! Your usual review format is the best I've seen, but it must be getting repetitive for you going through all the steps to create, edit, post. This video captures your excitement at doing something fresh. Go For It! Thanks, cb
@@Podcastage From the very limited research I did, Klaus Heyne mods replace the transformer with a number of tweaks. Supposedly the microphone is fuller and richer but I wouldn't know because I don't have a U87, much less a modded one worth $6,000.
I believe you're right at 6:40 on those being AKG C414 microphones. I've read Chris Martin uses that set up for his stereo piano takes, and I think Jacob likes Cold Play, so that would make sense.
Cool video! (Craig) So interesting because I too am (becoming) a microphone nerd, although one with a lower budget than Jacob. We also used only a vintage 1980's USA made Shure SM58 on our 1st album, Neutral Earth. For our 2nd album, "Current, Volts & Ohms", we stepped up our microphone game and used a Neumann TLM 102, AKG C3000B, Shure SM7B and the SM58. Now working on our 3rd album I've added a dbx 286s pre-amp processor and it is mind blowingly amazing! I also added a Rode NT1, Audio-Technica AT2020 and a Sennheiser e935. I'm finding that microphones are like guitars, I keep trying a different one until I find the one that fits the song. We're just a couple guys that are having a blast creating music for fun and are learning about recording and songwriting along the way! Love your channel!
Yes indeed. Mic application. You were asking the public about what to post about for future vids. I suggested “vintage” (old) mics that we might find randomly on Craigslist or sumpn’ and find applications where they might be useful. This video is a nice lead-in to that. I come from a time that we recorded the band with the boom box in the corner of the room.
It would be so so so cool if you could do a video on the mics that Daniel Tompkins (frontman of TesseracT and one of the best vocalists today) uses. This was absolutely amazing to watch!
Yes! I love the pairing of mics! I've been using a ribbon with a dynamic and loving the sound pairing. I'm using a Golden Age Project r1 mkiii with a Sennheiser e835-s. The GAP ribbon handles the lows and mids really well, while the e835 takes care of the highs and mid-highs quite nicely.
@@Podcastage If you were to pair 2 or more mics for vocals, what would you choose and why? (I know this boils down to personal preference A LOT, but I'd be interested to hear your take on it.)
Thanks man as always good stuff, the guy Jacob is something else indeed ! Back to you comment you made for U87 being so original towards ones voice , what about Tlm 49 whats your thought on that vs the u87 ? does TLM 49 colors ones voice ? What is ur fav u87 vs tlm49
My current collection includes: MXL 770 condenser mic; Behringer B-5 (Pencil) condenser mic; One Rode Podmic; Two Shure SM57s; One Shure SM58; and one Sennheiser e-835.
In my room was recorded entirely on those 414s I think, and maybe the earthworks stereo pair. I’m not completely sold on collier as an actual songwriter, but he’s a fascinating guy to listen to and I agree his arrangements and production are always interesting at least.
Hey Andrew, this is maybe a really niche video idea, but I was wondering if you could do a video pairing bright and dark microphones on electric guitar cabinets I saw you comment on the Electrical Audio video a few months back where Steve Albini walks through this technique, and I've been wanting to utilize it myself, but my microphone selection and budget is pretty limited. I'd be nice to know which of your microphones work well together for the technique, and if an affordable ribbon like the MXL r144 can still sound decent with the technique as well
You struck a nerve with this one Bandrew. I knew I loved this channel. Jacob Collier's Moon River is in my opinion the greatest work of the human mind since Beethoven's 9th. I love everything he does, All Night Long, the thing with Snarky Puppy, all his own works,, anything he's associated with. It's one thing to be one of the best jazz pianists on the planet, one of the best bass players on the planet, and be REALLY good on every other instrument. But his technical mastery and of course his off-planet command of harmony and theory make him easily the greatest musician of the last 150 years.
I love your podcast but would like to contradict your statement that the U87 is a neutral, natural sounding mic. I think it's heavily sounded, the sibilants are kind of flattened in a non-natural way, the high end is overrepresented. Of course for many artists this is what they want, it's a classic with good reason and this sounding translates well in a mix. For voiceover, I don't like it very much except if it's really well equalized for the individual voice. If you want a neutral sounding mic, the user could try a class 1 measurement mic, but the do typically not sound very good on voiceover and are omnidirectional; or you could use something like Gefell M930, which in my case was the most natural sounding. The test scenario: let people speak, record them, then hearing their record with a linearized speaker (FIR-Filter measured) and let them speak again (standing near the speaker) and compare. The M930 sounds very similar to UA Sphere emulation of Sony C55P (called "OW55" by UA), by the way. And the Sphere is an excellent tool to study mic sounds and mic technique, I love it. But, Gefell is a german manufacturer (once divided from Neumann). So ... better buy the M930/M940/M950 to support my fellow countrymen ;-)
That is very fair. If I did say neutral then I should not have used the term. What I mean is I found that the U87 does a voice no favors, it captures what's in front of it good or bad.
Hello Podcastage, Pleas could you do a review/comparison of Takstar SM8B and Behringer C1? I want to get one of these but I'm confused on which one to buy. Thanks
Yes, but the converse of microphone selection is very true: talent is the first ingredient. Jacob is a multi-Emmy award winner as a 20-something-year-old. Hie is a genius and a driven, productive genius. Jacob's understanding of harmony is probably 3 sigmas above that of most conductors and composers. The corollary is this: No amount of microphone quality or character will even move the needle on listeners' enthusiasm. Nor will it replace your appearance on video, or acceptance if you have little or unpopular stuff to say. You can't purchase talent at the price of a U87... or twenty of them. Or by buying Abbey Road.
We can digitally process one mic sound into another, can't we? Like we add Air, 4k, Vintage, etc. into our interface processing or use multi band EQ steps with our DAWs? I have found a supply of EQ curves for headphones to "correct" them to the Harman curve, or from one model's sound to another, but I haven't found the same lists for mic sounds. Is someone curating such a list and I just haven't found it or is there some voodoo about mics that stops such processing from being possible (or desirable)?
Thank you for the video, Bandrew! Speaking of screenshoting mics! A week ago a stumbled upon a still from Bowie's video Jump They Say. Four mics are shown in there - two of them a obvious: RE20, pointing at the floor helplessly and u87 besides it - but the other two... I've showed them to my sound engineer friend, but we both are struggling to point out - maybe you have some ideas? The orb one looks like some kind of ribbon, but all ribbons with round-shaped grill that I could google is quite different. And I have no slightest idea, what the earthworks-looking thing is in front of him. Neither I couldn't find any good forum threads on topic. The video is here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-xPZWgCLMsW8.html
I don’t record music or songs. I am looking for a microphone for voiceovers, that would make my voice sound like Morgan Freeman’s and can also turn my heavy Asian accent to proper British or American accent. Any recommendations?
sometimes people want to watch videos bcz they work in production and they get paid for recording people and dont want to give bad quality recordings all while not spending so much on industry standards.... u know
As someone who was paid to paint illustrations with physical media for many years and whom still owns over 75 paintbrushes (some costing over $45, one of them in today's money would cost over $65 to replace), the analogy of a paintbrush is simplistic, not entirely accurate, but I can understand why people whom haven't used [physical] flats, rounds, filberts, fans, hake, riggers, hog bristle, badger, synthetic and sable enjoy the analogy. In fact one manner of art brush is called a "bright". But I doubt many painters or people whom have used all the types of brushes cited would be watching Jacob's vids, so 🤷♂️. Aside from that, the AKG c12 mic looks like it should be firing mortar rounds, 😳.
@@voodoochili12 Possibly. I'm guessing you are under 30; Your observation, made from the perspective of someone under 30, would be culturally-true to a younger Gen Y/older Gen Z.