Apr 28, 2008 5:35 PM, By Blair Jackson

THESE DAYS, BOTH THE MUSIC AND THE TECHNOLOGY ARE A BLEND OF OLD AND NEW

BANJO

Paczosa: “I’ll usually put a mic down below the tone ring, near the bottom left pointed up. Because it’s a harder sound there, I like the Royer 121 for the tone ring. Then, in front of the banjo I usually will put a large diaphragm—either an Audio Technica or a Neumann M49 or a 67—about eight inches away from the open spot below the strings and angled up, towards the bottom strings. Another mic I’ve used and loved is this really old, nasty, giant iron microphone—a Telefunken 201 into a Telefunken V76 pre amp. It is outstanding to blend that in with any large diaphram Neumann. It has a midrange punch that is perfect for banjo in a full track. In general for preamps on banjo, I use the Mastering Labs—I love the tube compression, especially if the banjo is being played hard. And if I need more compression, the dbx 160 has a nice attack and release for banjos.”

VornDick: “I stereo mic banjos. On the high end you really can’t beat a KM84. Sitting in the position of the banjoist, coming in from down to the left, I’ll put it in between the resonator and the head, then move it around until you hit the sweet spot. Then I’ll use a U89, which is sort of an unsung hero. A lot of banjo players like a U87. Another one I like is this Swedish microphone, a Milab 56. When Bela Fleck brings out his old Mastertone banjo, which is a beautiful instrument, I’ll mic it differently, maybe using a C-12 or a C-24.”

Kohrs: “For banjo I’m a Mojave Audio fan all the way. I’ll run stereo Mojave MA200s. I like my stereo zone to be right where the neck joins the head of the banjo; to me that’s the sweet spot, but it depends on whose instrument it is. I’ll use two channels of Fred Forssell preamps—banjo takes a really fast pre, and most times I won’t compress the banjo at all going down. In fact upright bass is the only thing I compress at all.”

Chandler: For J.D Crowe I have a wonderful 40-year-old U87 that I have used on him for years. We’ve tried other things but we always come back to that. Sonny Osborne, too: He says, ‘Just bring that U87; that’s all I want.’ If I do use two mics on a banjo player it’ll probably be two U87s. There have been instances where I’ll reach out and grab a [RCA] 77X ribbon mic. I recorded Earl Scruggs the other day and that’s what I used on him. And I’ve also used the Royer [121], which also sounds the way a ribbon should sound. I used that on NewFound Road at Dark Horse. I usually record everything pretty flat because they bring these $100,000 instruments in there and if you’ve got a good mic, you’re in good shape. So I almost never insert the EQ button. I like using Tube-Tech preamps on banjo; in fact I like that on just about anything. But I also like Neve and API preamps, as well.”

GUITAR

Paczosa: “Usually I’ll use KM 54s or the Royer SF24. I'm leaning more on the SF24 these days, especially if I'm not looking for a wide stereo image in the mix. The SF24s have a little bigger low end than I usually want on guitar, but after I shape the bottom a bit and dig out some top end, it's beautiful. If it’s a more sparse production, I might head back to the 54s so that I can get a wider image. If it's the 54s I end up with, I love the Mastering Lab preamps, GML EQ and GML compressor. If I go with the Royer, I usually pair it up with the Vintech X81 which has plenty of gain for a ribbon and great-sounding EQ.”

VornDick: “This really depends a lot on the player and the guitar, of course. On Tony [Rice], historically, if he’s going to be playing Clarence White’s [1930s Martin D-28] guitar, I’ll use a Sanken 31 and 32. On someone else I might use KM84s or 184s. Martins can get really boomy when you get to the 35s and 45s; the D-28s are still pretty smooth on the low end; they don’t have that thump. I’d normally use an API or Neve [pre], depending on where I’m recording—if I’m going to bring in my racks.”

“My mic placement on guitar is a little odd. I have one where the neck joins the body; pointed in the area, looking at the guitar, to the right, between the hole, arch and neck, where the higher transients are. Then I have another one that looks down from where his right shoulder is, because most guitar players play to the right ear—and that mic is pointed down to the upper end of the guitar, covering the area in the middle between the wrist and shoulder. That microphone emulates what the guitarist is hearing, and will be deeper in tonal timbre. I keep the 3-to-1 rule in mind [if a mic is one foot away from the instrument, it must be three feet away from another mic that is a foot away] and the two mics are no wider in angle then 90 to 110 degrees. They both will be focused to the back of the sound hole.”

Kohrs: “Recently I’ve been using a stereo pair of Peluso P-28s run through either Telefunken V72s or the Forssell pre’s. Placement depends on how boomy the guitar is—if it’s a boomy old Martin, Mike and I will either use a Blumlein at the 12th fret, to get a lot of punch and what have you, or we’ll do an over and under. If it’s a finger-picking thing, I tend to mic the guitar left and right wide and get it really close to the guitar to get the fingerpick noise”

Chandler: “The guitar determines what mics I’ll use, but I have favorites. Ricky Watson always comes to the studio with a good Herringbone [a type of Martin D-28 made between 1932 and 1946] because he’s got 12 or 15 of them! And of course Tony [Rice] has that awesome [D-28], but his right hand is awesome, too, and pulls the tone out of that guitar. Both of those guys like the small diaphragm mics like KM84s, but sometimes I might put a U87-size mic or a 47 miking from the center out and then put an 84 or an 86 up around the neck area. For pre’s I stick with Neves and APIs.”

UPRIGHT BASS

VornDick: “For bass, you can’t beat a 47 or a 77DX, or a 44. The Shure KSM 44 is really amazing because it has a really tight low end to it. Then there’s the El Diablo, which I mentioned earlier. That can take so much level. Typically, I’ll have that lower mic six to eight inches off the bridge, either a little to the left or the right depending on the player. For the upper end mic, historically I used to use a KM84, but right now I’m loving the new Telefunken 260: I used that on this new Charlie Haden record and we both loved it. For that upper microphone, I’ll go to the center of the upper curve and angle it toward the strings. For a preamp…for ribbons and large diaphragm mics like that I’d choose a Great River [Electronics] preamp because you have a lot of options and a pretty fast slew rate. “

Kohrs: “When I’m using two mics, for the bottom mic I’ll use a K2 Rode or Audio Technica 4060 through a [Universal Audio’ LA-610 [tube preamp] with mild compression at -2, run through a Natale Audio-modified Ampex 351. For the top mic I use a Violet ‘Finger’ mic run through a Forssell preamp. I use that for finger noise to get some punch. Sometimes I’ll add a third mic to the bass, too, like another 4060.”

DOBRO

Paczosa: “On Dobro, it really depends on who is playing. Jerry Douglas makes it really easy. Depending on the Dobro and the key that the song is being played in, I will start with a pair of Neumann 582s into the Vintech X81, into the Empirical Labs Distressor. If it's sounding too metallic then we move right to our Royer options—Jerry owns a few and always brings them along.”

VornDick: “On Jerry Douglas, historically I use a pair of 67s through a Great River preamp—on his new album, that’s what I used. On another session I used 260s—because I was using the 67s for vocals—and that was immaculate, too. Mike Audldridge likes KM84s, and I’ve also used KM86s. I’ll place the mics six to eight inches off the instrument—one where the hole is on the treble side, and one off the resonator, but it depends a little on whether we’re talking about a Dobro [brand] or a Scheerhorn or a Beard, because of the way the overtones work on those particular instruments, it affects where I put the mic.”

Kohrs: “Again, I’ll use Peluso P-28s run through the Telefunken V72; or the Violet ‘Dolly,’ now called ‘the Black Knight, works great, too. Doing tracks with heavily featured Dobro, a darker sound sometimes sounds better and I’ll go with Royer 121s.”

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