Daniel Sanint, chief engineer at Flux Studios in New York, chooses the Lauten Audio Eden LT-386 for recording vocals on Ingrid Michaelson’s new single “Miss America”, featuring Sara Bareilles.
The Lauten Audio Eden LT-386 microphone was recently used for the vocals on American singer-songwriter Ingrid Michaelson’s latest single “Miss America”, recorded at Flux Studios in New York. The song is taken from Michaelson’s latest EP “Alter Egos”, which was released on May 12th 2017, and also features Grammy-nominated singer Sara Bareilles, who has sold over nine million singles and over one million albums in the United States alone.
Engineering duties for the session fell to Daniel Sanint. Having started out as an intern at Flux Studios back in 2009, Sanint rose to the position of Chief Engineer and Studio Manager, and has worked with artists including David Crosby, Moby, James Bay, Andre 3000, Robert Glasper, Brasstracks, and Rubén Blades. For this session, Sanint was eager to hear how Michaelson and Bareilles would sound through what he calls his ‘go-to female vocal mic’.
“I remember the first time that I tried the Eden,” Sanint explains. “It was a vocal session that I did here at the studio with a female singer. My typical vocal chain is a Neve pre with some EQ, then I run through the LA-2A for a little bit of compression, that's how I print vocals. I try to not use too much EQ or compression while I'm recording. While recording her, I popped in the EQ, the singer is singing, I'm staring at the EQ and thinking 'I don't really have to do anything' — it sounded great, right off the bat without EQ, and without compression. Ever since then I've been using the Eden on a lot of sessions, mainly for female vocalists — it works very, very well with female vocalists."
“I'm staring at the EQ and thinking 'I don't really have to do anything'
— it sounded great, right off the bat without EQ, and without compression.”
Producing the track “Miss America” was Chris Kuffner, a long-time collaborator with Ingrid Michaelson, who originally wanted to use a U47 for her voice. Sanint says "It was a pretty fast session, we got everything done in four or five hours. That was one of the reasons why, when Kuffner called, my first choice was to have just a couple microphones up including the Eden. The producer asked me to have a U47 for Ingrid. But knowing that the Eden has great top-end extension and great body, I chose it, as I typically don't even have to use EQ, the mic already has a great tone."
"For Ingrid, because the producer had asked me to use the U47, we started with the U47, we did 2 takes, and I had to stop and say, 'Hold on I need to try the Eden microphone’ — because the high-end wasn't there. As soon as we popped the Eden on her next vocal it was such a huge difference! It just jumped out of the speakers right away. Kuffner was asking, 'What microphone is this?!'"
“It just jumped out of the speakers right away.
Kuffner was asking, 'What microphone is this?!'"
Sanint continues, "The other reason I often choose the Eden is because I know it's going to sound good regardless of the type of voice. Also, on a lot of these sessions, the artist comes in and you don't even have time to set your compressor or swap microphones. The singers are super busy, they come in, do three or four takes and then they are out. The immediacy of having a microphone like the Eden that is well balanced, that you know is going to work on any type of voice, is super important for us."
Sanint also described the processing chain he used for the session. "The Eden mic into a Chandler Limited LTD-1 — that's a 'Neve- esque ' mic pre — then a touch of compression on the LA-2A. This is a soft song, there's no belting , it was very intimate, nice and close. Sara recorded first, to rough vocals of Ingrid's. Sara's voice is just ridiculous, her voice is amazing, it's very rich. Sara did about 5 takes top to bottom, with a few things she wanted to fix on the second chorus, and that was it. Sara was there for about 1 hour, half of which was recording. And Ingrid was the same, we did full takes with the Eden for both of them."
The Eden LT-386 was also recently reviewed by leading pro audio publication Recording Magazine, and chosen for the issue's cover. In the review, which also features an interview with designers Brian Laudenslager and producer Fab Dupont, Recording Mag's reviewer Paul Vnuk Jr. says "'Versatile' does not begin to describe the Eden. Thanks to its patterns, filters, and voicings, you can dial it in for most anything and everything, all with a depth and sound that holds its own against many high dollar classics. Another Lauten winner."
"I know it's going to sound good regardless of the type of voice."
Read the Recording Magazine review of the Lauten Eden LT-386
Find out more about the Lauten Eden LT-386 microphone
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