Advanced Microphone Techniques with Vance Powell

In this video, Grammy-winner Vance Powell explains some of his advanced mic tricks. In addition to miking techniques, Powell discusses panning, and phase tricks.
Read the full interview with Vance here: u.audio/2u273gK
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00:40 - Keeping Drums in the Center
03:22 - Snare Miking
04:23 - Finding the Sweet Lowdown
04:52 - Phase Alignment
06:04 - Exploiting Phase in the Mix
06:48 - How Out of Phase Can Be Useful
07:38 - Using Phase to Widen Guitars
08:16 - The Rolling Stones Phase Trick
08:54 - Finding the Rooms Natural Curve
12:02 - Adding A Mono Room Mic
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“Mic bleed isn't anything to be afraid of. I love the unintended consequences.”
Vance Powell is a four time Grammy Award-winning record producer, mixer, and engineer. He has worked with countless artists including The White Stripes, Arctic Monkeys, Martina McBride and Chris Stapleton.
After decades of experience producing, recording, and mixing grammy-award winning records, Vance Powell presents his top miking recipes during a live workshop at Music Expo SF. Vance starts out by sharing his thoughts on where drums should sit in the mix: in the middle, just like classic records. His approach for this session is to recreate how we hear music in a live setting, and build the rest of his band around the rhythm section through various panning techniques.
In addition to Vance explaining how he records full bands as they sound on stage, Vance shares his thoughts on phase alignment and how to exploit phase in the mix. This includes using phase tricks to widen guitar stereo images, and how The Rolling Stones used similar phase tricks on the piano track of their famous hit, “Sympathy for the Devil.”
Finally, towards the end of this workshop, Vance Powell explains how to set up room mics in a curved fashion to help bleed sit in the mix effectively. He also suggests using a mono room mic to add life to your kick drum. Here, Vance really focuses on using the natural shape of your room to get the best results.
By the end of this video, you will get a taste of how this brilliant music industry professional uses a combination of classic recording techniques and his own methods in order to create impeccable sounding indie folk rock records.
“I love recording bands live. I like bleed, and all the things that come with it. I don’t think anybody should really be scared of mic placement or mic choice. All of those things can lead to a really nice recording, that sounds like a band actually being recorded together; which is kind of a crazy thought these days.”
- Vance Powell (The Revivalists, The White Stripes, Martina McBride)
Hear how Vance’s mic techniques resulted in this Apollo Artist Session - • Apollo Artist Sessions...
To learn more production, recording, and mixing techniques with exclusive interviews and tutorials, visit UA’s blog: u.audio/2K1bTpv
☞ Microphones Used:
Kick: MA-301fet (outside)
Snare: MA-100 (top), MA-101fet (bottom)
Hi-Hat: MA-101fet
Rack Tom: MA-100
Floor Tom: MA-100
Overheads (L,R): MA-300’s
Mono Room: R-122
Stereo Room: SF-24
Bass: MA-300 (Plus DI)
Electric Guitar: R-121, MA-100
Violin: R-122, SF-2
Vocal: MA-1000
Learn more about the featured microphones:
royerlabs.com/
mojaveaudio.com/
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[@acommon]

That guitar phasing trick is crazy. It's basically mid-side mixing on doubled tracks. Crazy

[@knoxvilledrummerslaidoc4508]

Thanks for emailing me back Vance - your answers to my questions were very helpful ! Your awesome - keep up the good work

[@assshakerstudios549]

So proud of Vance calling out the guy who wound the cables wrong! Never wrap cables around your arm, use over under wrapping. That way the copper doesn't bend it break inside your cable! And it doesn't conform to the same shape, which over time wears out your cable.

[@brianbauer3148]

It could have been a marker.😄 advanced technique, take care of your cables properly.

[@Ryan-Hall]

Thanks for Sharing a Engineers Ears and His direct Audio Approach to Recording positions and Mic Types and in the Mix perspective, Many Thanks UA and the Engineer 🫶🔊🤘🎸👌🎙️👂🥁👍⏺️🎚️📼🎛️🎬🤘🎸🤠

[@nathanzammit9003]

this guy would never need a pop filter

[@TheLightAluminum]

Older video but still really good, Vance Powell knows his stuff.

[@Kleyver]

Completely loved this video. I'll watch it several times until I can catch and dig everything he says...

[@AudioEcstasyProd]

He's amazing, love his work....and the beard!

[@Salantsoundstudios]

This is a goldmine of information thanks guys!

[@UniversalAudio]

👍

[@analogdragon4709]

Basically my favorite dude ever in record making

[@jessebalber]

the 545 unidynes came with transformers however there are versions that came without transformers! i removed the transofmer for one on my top snare and one with a transformer on my guitar cab at all times and it basically lives there (its like removing a blanket off of an sm57, way more detailed in my opinion). .

[@analogdragon4709]

I just love when he explains shit

[@battman919]

Love the Transformerless57's. When I swapped in my Crimson Audio White handle, it changed the game! E GTR and Snare never sounded so good!

[@BarryWarne]

I've been opting for mono drums (or near mono) for a while now and prefer it. And this was after years of being super pan-happy with everything. YLYL.

[@UniversalAudio]

👍🏻

[@self4autism333]

I got the rolling stones song on tidal, master quality. I listened on my phone speaker which is mono and can hear the piano still clearly. Maybe from the vocal mike?

[@davidhodgin8900]

need more people to be taking notes

[@kicksncapz]

Audio Voodoo, smiling!

[@Nullllus]

Just checked Sympathy for the Devil. That's true!

[@Radwalls]

Good ole 9k at Ex'pression! Hope everybody is doing well.

[@TheOliveradams]

I just checked the Rolling Stones track and the piano really complete disappears in mono !

[@zpawn1]

there is still a little bit of lower mids present, maybe to beef up the bass and also give a hint of the harmony

[@colinaclark]

Just tried this as well. Can confirm it is true. You can still hear it a tad, probably because the analog processing isn't 100% precise. Just bouncing the mono track to an additional tape track would likely introduce some minor distortion that would keep the two tracks being identical.

[@dimakushnir7506]

"Best piano record; Mono piano on two channels, flipped phase." Wow, that's pretty impressive. I'm assuming one of the channels is getting phase flipped.

[@imark7777777]

I'm thinking no because then he said that they cancel each other out when you sum it

[@self4autism333]

Yes, flipped. Otherwise no point as it would be doing what a pan knob set to the middle does in mono.

[@imark7777777]

The best tip ever and it's not notated at 11:45. Somebody wrapped my cable around an arm!!!

[@UniversalAudio]

😂

[@Myckey6]

Hi there, can anyone explain me this wide guitar trick from around 7:50 time please? i dont get it, i have two takes of the same guitar part and each of them has two mics. One of the mic from the first take is panned left, second mic right, than second take two mics are panned in the middle (or made the mono) and than swith phase on one of the mics? or on the whole second take? .. than what?? please help

[@emmakessler3081]

You leave the 2 panned center alone, but flip one of the wide panned mics out of phase from the other to help create more width in a stereo mix. When listening in mono the wide guitar will disappear, but the other center penned will still be there

[@Myckey6]

@@emmakessler3081 thank you

[@gabrieljosetororodriguez903]

👍🏻

[@soulSaysHi]

That lady's pissed.

[@johnchungking]

how about MS...... two of the best...blumin........

[@milangraafland]

5:32

[@thibaultlanchamp8066]

Why does he "really don't like pads" on preamps ?

[@UniversalAudio]

Because they are added circuitry in your signal path.

[@crispyfrostings9620]

The audio quality in this video is appalling Lol....

[@neoaureus]

Irony : a badly mic'd episode on Advanced microphone technique ! ....camera mic ?

[@jipspi9554]

How does an audio company record such bad audio for this video?

[@imark7777777]

Audio for video is hard, because it's like 90% of video. You really want close miking but you don't want to see them they could have done way better though. Is probably just an off-the-cuff recording. It's also hard if your talent is moving around and you're not booming.

[@JohnWehmeyer]

How about showing the mics instead of just talking about them?

[@BeauStephenson]

John Wehmeyer he’s talking about technique. It’s not a gear porn vid man.

[@russwilson2305]

The song snippet at the end. The vox are mangled. Can't understand a word he says. This style must end.

[@nemonucliosis]

Damn.. Who were some of the old farts in the audience?

[@joemug4079]

nemonucliosis Vance....is an old fart. Is that what you mean....

[@ignaciogarza5994]

he speaks as funny as he looks.. too bad for such a great Audio Company...

[@treyjobus724]

Ignacio Garza if you guys shut up for a band you can come Sioux Falls and put one on at my house