Artists
John Cate
John Cate is a prolific songwriter. He has written more than 500 songs and recorded 7 albums since returning to music in 1996, two of which have been released by Blue Rose Records in Germany. Producers include Anthony J. Resta (Collective Soul, Elton John, Duran Duran, Shawn Mullins) for "Livin in the Moment" and Rob Fraboni (Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Bonnie Raitt) for "Two Brothers". John has hosted a Boston-version of Billy Block's Western Beat showcase at Toad in Cambridge, Massachusetts, after creating and hosting the highly successful Americana Showcase at the House of Blues for 8 years. John and the van Gogh Brothers appear regularly in the Northeast, and periodically in the Midwest, Nashville and in Los Angeles.
"We first used the Studio Vocalist for the lead vocal on 'Lodi' a Creedence
Clearwater Revival track we were asked to cover by John Fogerty's publisher.
We have been in recording studios since the early 1970's, and have used all
different kinds of microphones- from bullet mics to vintage microphone's
owned by Keith Richards- all recorded by top notch engineers and well-known
producers. The Studio Vocalist was positively frightening in its clarity
and realism- my lead guitarist's comment was: 'It sounds too much like you!'
The vocal was so clean and cutting, that the normal track leveling was
unnecessary- the sonic clarity also obviated the need to mess around at all
with the eq. If you like the way your voice sounds when you sing live in
your living room, the Studio Vocalist will put the organics back in your
records."
-John Cate
Check out John Cate's music at www.johncate.com
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Jason Dunn
Jason Dunn - Producer/Engineer and owner of 5 Sonic Productions in San Bernadino, CA
"A nice mic pre for the Proscenium is the DACS Micamp. The DACS is very quiet and it sounds great on everything. It also has separate inputs for mics that require phantom power and mics that don't. So for ribbon mics, you don't go through a DC blocking capacitor. Plus it has extreme resolution of fine detail.
The new A Designs 'Pacifica' Class A mic pre is another really good one for this mic. And of course, the Crowley & Tripp also sounds fantastic through a nice tube mic pre.
So far I've mostly used my Proscenium for horns on some studio jazz recordings. On a record that features tuba instead of acoustic bass, I placed it above the tuba and off to the side a bit. We also had a little condenser clip-mic right on the bell of the tuba.
When the tuba/bass part is walking or playing accompaniment, I use both mics in the mix. The Proscenium blends very well with the other mic. When the tuba is soloing, I mute the condenser and only use the Proscenium. When I want it to sound like a horn instead of a bass, the Proscenium really shines!
Recently for the same record, we re-cut some soprano sax tracks on a very quiet quartet piece. On the original session we used a tube condenser mic for soprano. Although it was a very good mic, it sounded a bit thin and bright. Maybe it could have been placed more carefully.
So on these overdubs, the Proscenium just destroyed the previous recording! It was warm and present without any harsh top at all. And at the end of the tune it captured some beautiful breath noises that sound like a japanese flute. The high end on the Proscenium is just perfect for recording horns.
I've found the Proscenium very easy to place. The old technique of sticking you ear out in front of the instrument and listening for the best spot works great with this mic. On soprano sax I ended up placing it about a foot in front of the sax, up from the bell about six inches.
The Proscenium has a very clear and natural tone. You could also say it's warm, but the warmth comes from it's ability to capture the true sound of an instrument. This is not what I would call a "colored" sounding microphone.
I love how easy it is to place tracks in a mix when they're recorded with the Proscenium. They have a rich sound to them, yet the clarity allows the tracks not to step on each other.
The Proscenium takes very well to eq, even DSP-based plugin equalizers. You can shape the sound as your mix requires without any ugly artifacts. This is one thing I love about ribbon mics, and the Crowley & Tripp is a great example.
This mic really cuts through for a ribbon mic too. I found that my mic pre overloaded once, and it was nowhere near the top of it's gain. So you'll find that you don't need 70 dB of gain with the Crowley & Tripp mics very often. They have the most gain of any passive ribbon mics I've used.
I'll be buying a Crowley & Tripp Studio Vocalist mic soon. We're doing a jazz vocal project in February, and I think we'll try the Studio Vocalist as our main vocal mic. I'm sure it won't disappoint. I can't wait to hear it on 'Lush Life'.
Oh yeah, I need some more Prosceniums too! I look forward to trying them on all sorts of different instruments, elec/acoustic guitars, etc..."
Jason Dunn
5 Sonic Productions
Check out Jason’s studio at www.5sonic.com
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John Guth
John Guth - Composer, producer, and guitarist based in Valley Cottage, NY
"So far I have used the Studio Vocalist on 2 female vocalists and everyone
loves it. Very smooth highs. It also sounds great on acoustic guitar-I may
have to buy a second one so I can record guitars in stereo. It definitely
has a strong output for a ribbon mic making it easy to use on a quiet source
like acoustic guitar (steel string) and the sound is full with silky highs
and no annoying "edge". It really is a wonderful and unique new mic."
John Guth
Learn more about John’s work at www.johnguthmusic.com
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Lauren Passarelli
Lauren Passarelli - Professor of Guitar at Berklee College of Music, songwriter, and performer
"The gentle boost of sparkle in the Studio Vocalist sounds fabulous on my guitars, amps, drums and on my vocals. The warmth and rich qualities are stunning. I needed a louder ribbon mic in my studio with gorgeous tone."
Lauren Passarelli
Check out Lauren’s music at www.feather-records.com and www.alltogethernow.us
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Anthony J. Resta
Anthony J. Resta - Producer, composer, and engineer who has earned nine gold and platinum records and worked with artists including Collective Soul, Duran Duran, Megadeth, Elton John, Full Devil Jacket, Donna Delory, Nuno Bettencourt and many more.
"Having spent months using the Crowley and Tripp ribbon mics on a wide array of sound sources that include lead vocals (male and female), guitar amps, percussion, ambient room applications, acoustic guitar, flugelhorn, trumpet, and sax- I can honestly say that these microphones have really elevated the overall quality of my productions and to a significant degree at that. They have a quality and character that is completely unique to them and difficult to describe. Terms like incredible realism, clarity, fullness- a clear, detailed, and open high end do not do them justice. Quite honestly these Crowley and Tripp mics are heads and tails above any other ribbon I’ve ever used and in my opinion, are destined to become legendary! The science behind the mics is both groundbreaking and revolutionary. The folks building them are going to the ends of the earth to make a difference in the way we hear recorded sound. They are passionate sound sculpting artists and true innovators! I am honored to endorse these microphones, but I have to be honest and say that there is a selfish and greedy part of me that wants to keep the magic to myself! They have put a huge dose of analog back into our world."
Anthony J. Resta
Learn more about Anthony at his website, www.anthonyjresta.com
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Greg Snedeker
Greg Snedeker - Classical cellist, jazz pianist, engineer/producer and owner of Riverview Productions in Gill, MA
"I've used the Studio Vocalist microphone quite a bit in the last few weeks. I find it great for miking vocals both close-up and distant, but it is also working well on miking solo instruments. I helped Brad Michel record the Boston Modern Orchestra Project at Mechanics Hall in Worcester a couple weeks back. We recorded a piece for clarinet and full orchestra. We used your mic for the clarinet and it sounded great. We placed the mic about 3 ft above and 2ft infront of the clarinetist (we were recording in DSD-surround, Millennia pres, Meitner converters into Pyramix).
I've also used it on acoustic bass for a piano/bass contemporary piece (Robert Black -bass teacher at the Hartt School, John MacDonald (piano) - Head of Composition at Tufts University). Placed it two feet back, off-axis, level w/ the bridge, worked great. I have noticed that miking vocals close-up, you really need a pop-screen, but the mic has a smooth and natural response. I'm very pleased with it."
Greg Snedeker
Riverview Productions
More info about Greg’s studio and production company can be found at
www.riverviewpro.com
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Didi Stewart
Didi Stewart - Renowned vocalist, performer, and Assistant Professor in the Voice Department of Berklee College of Music
"This is the best microphone I have found in twenty-plus years of studio vocalizing. Never before have I used a mic with so much dynamic range, able to capture everything from up-close intimacy to the power of a high-register belt. The sound is crisp and clear, resonant and alive. This microphone represents an exciting advance in studio technology. I would recommend it to all singers, and particularly to “belters” who want to achieve a consistent sound without sacrificing vocal dynamics."
Didi Stewart
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Acoustic Instrument Recording Authority Bil VornDick
Discovers Crowley And Tripp Ribbon Microphones
 Mojo-Pie - 1/3/06
NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE -- Bil VornDick, the recording engineer and sonic architect behind many superb-sounding acoustic instrument-based releases, is one tough customer when it comes to microphones. His job regularly involves the recording of a performing musician or vocalist, who intimately knows the sound of his own instrument, rather than the sound of a subsequent sound-altering transducer such as an external amplifier and speaker cabinet. Because of this, matching high-quality, accurate, and aurally-pleasing microphones with complimentary microphone pre-amps can be a challenge, which many engineers don't face in such a unique manner.
"If you can make a musician happy, that's half the battle," insists VornDick. This philosophy has greatly influenced his choices in equipment, especially in the realm of microphones. VornDick's two front-end elements - and often the only two front-end elements you find on many VornDick recordings - are a great microphone and a great microphone pre-amp. Now, three of the latest creations by American microphone manufacturer Crowley and Tripp - the Studio Vocalist, Soundstage Image, and Proscenium ribbon transducers - have earned a spot in VornDick's impressive microphone locker. Matter of fact, they've rarely been in the locker at all.
"I saw them at the AES Convention in New York City, and they intrigued me," he recalls. "Any new mic intrigues me, but especially one that is built extremely well, where the sonic curves and frequency responses well match the instruments I record a lot."
After getting them back to his Nashville private recording facility, Mountainside Recording Studio, and inside his frequent Music City studio digs such as Quad, Ocean Way, and Masterlink, VornDick became hooked. "Their warmth impressed me," he explains. "They were nice, fat, and warm and sounded good on both acoustic instruments as well as amplified instruments. I've used them on vocals, saxophones, trombones, horns, as well as Marshall and Fender cabinets, and even overheads for drums. The Soundstage Image was used as a single overhead drum image on a psychedelic rock album I'm working on."
The quality of warmth, says VornDick, is something increasingly lacking in the world of modern microphone technology. This alone, he says, makes Crowley and Tripp ribbon microphones worth a try. "A lot of the microphones made overseas, not necessarily in Europe, but in China, are so bright and brittle," he says. "These were always warm and fat. I used them with my favorites - Neve 8068, API, Great River, and Focusrite mic pre-amps – with great results."
In turn, clients have noticed the sonic difference that recording via Crowley and Tripp can provide. "The microphones really shined on dobro," remembers VornDick. "The player I was working with has always been sold on another ribbon mic. I set one of these mics up in front of him and he was floored!"
Each Crowley and Tripp microphone is built in America and features a
stainless steel body and a hearty construction. "It really seems like
they're more concerned with the quality of what they're making," reasons VornDick. "The tooling is incredible, and they're definitely worth the price."
Of the three Crowley and Tripp microphones embraced by VornDick, the Studio Vocalist is the brightest and is tailored for vocal applications. Its frequency response exhibits the presence of a large diaphragm condenser with the smoothness of a ribbon. Similar to the Studio Vocalist but not as bright, the Soundstage Image is crafted to record sources without any added coloration to the signal, while the Proscenium provides users with a vintage-style ribbon sound with efficient performance and high output power.
VornDick's preference to capture performances without the use of equalization essentially requires the best in transducer and pre-amp technology. And according to him, this makes his trio of Crowley and Tripp microphones a perfect addition to his microphone collection. "If I EQ anything, I use a high-pass filter," he explains. "That's pretty much it. And depending on what key the song is in, if there's any overlapping in what I call 'resident dominant frequencies' between acoustic instruments, I'd rather duck frequencies than increase them. For this, the microphones I use are important, and the differences offered by each Crowley and Tripp microphone allow you to really be creative in their application."
Crowley and Tripp Microphones are now available directly from the manufacturer and through numerous pro audio dealers. For information about Crowley and Tripp's ten-day trial program, go to www.soundwaveresearch.com.
Crowley and Tripp ribbon microphones are hand-built in the company's Ashland, Massachusetts USA laboratory by people who know the art and science of acoustics, and who have years of experience with high output, low noise instruments used in medical and professional audio applications. Models include the Studio Vocalist, Soundstage Image, Proscenium and SPLx Custom.
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New Zealand based musician, artist, sound designer, and ribbon microphone aficionado Larry Killip. Our 'patron saint' of ribbon microphones. www.lkmusic.co.nz
"Bob Crowley's review of "Good to Getaway" from Cdbaby.com:
We recommend you check out "Good to Getaway" by New Zealand-based composer, songwriter, producer and musician Larry Killip. Larry has such a long list of musical accomplishments that we could hardly begin to summarize them here.
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/killip
Larry Killip's recent CD "Good to Getaway" displays his extensive commercial and studio talent and toolbag of catchy melodies, great hooks, with well-executed musicianship. I particularly enjoyed "Stalking the Wild Pendulum", and all of the tunes are upbeat, listenable, entertaining, and perhaps not too terribly serious. All in all a worthwhile CD with totally unashamed yet good use of pop idioms and fun grooves - - they are guilty pleasures to my jaded New England ears. Go, and listen.
-Bob Crowley from CDbaby.com
Larry's website is full of interesting bits. See Larry and his world at http://www.lkmusic.co.nz"
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