We've got our collective hands on a few new bits of kit of late. You might have spotted Marc wielding a new axe in a couple of pics or at our last show. It's a Gibson Les Paul gold top with P90 pickups, which sounds just as good as it looks. He's also added a new delay pedal to his board which will no doubt get shown off on some of the recording shots. Rob has also been trying out new pedals, and might finally be consigning an old multi-effects unit to a dusty shelf somewhere. Adam has borrowed a couple of basses to use on the recordings, and has been trying out which have the right tone for which tracks. A vintage Fender Precision bass might be on its way down to the studio to try out tomorrow, and I think Marc and Rob plan to try some other guitar options in the same session.

 

I've also got a couple of new mics, bought more for live vocal use than the recordings. If you've seen us live you'll have an idea how hard Shane likes to hit the drums, and consequently up goes the volume on the amps so that they're not drowned out. What you might not know is how hard the engineer consequently needs to push the level of the mics so the vocals can be heard, a difficult balance between volume and howling feedback noise. It's a problem for a lot of louder bands. Without getting too technical, a microphone with better gain before feedback means that we can push the volume of the vocals higher in a live situation.

 

I started off as a kid singing through a Shure SM-58, a classic dynamic mic that had been around for decades. In fact I have acquired a few of them, including a wireless one that I used to use. I upgraded from the SM-58 to its newer version the Beta 58 in the early days of Dear Acetate, which I've been using live ever since. As I was alluding to above, it can be a struggle for the vocals to cut through at shows, and it can be the same in the rehearsal room. This has probably been more apparent of late as we've been concentrating on new songs, and I need to hear how my vocal ideas are working in context of the tracks. Others also needed to fit parts to work with my vocals on a few songs, and needed to hear the vocals clearly. We could get round it by playing more quietly, but that in turn could affect the dynamics of the song.

 

I thought it about time I tried a new live microphone. As it was I ended up getting two new mics, a Neumann KMS 104 live condenser mic, and an Audix OM-6. Both have good reputations, the Neumann Muse use live, and the Audix I gather Tool use for lead vocals. With vocal mics it's very much a case of getting the right mic for your voice. What can suit one voice might easily not be a good match for another singer. I've only had chance to try them through the PA in the rehearsal room so far, but from what I can tell they both seem pretty good, and an improvement on my other live mics.

 

The Audix OM-6 certainly cuts through, probably because I can get it so much louder than with the other mics. What I'd heard about 'gain before feedback' is true. I'm tempted to plug it in to my Rupert Neve pre-amp for when I put down my guide vocals next week. Before I choose the mics to record with I intend having a bit of a 'shoot-out' and see which mics paired up with which pre-amps suit my voice best for which tracks. I've already got some specialist mics for recording, but it's possible the Neumann or Audix might just be the right sound for my voice. We'll be keeping you updated on the recording, so if you're interested you can watch out for which mics I end up using.