We head to the South Coast for a day of drum recording with Lauten Audio Microphones.
Salvation Studios is a top-tier recording facility located in Brighton, UK. Previously a Salvation Army concert hall, the building had been slated for demolition to make way for a block of flats! Thankfully it was saved from such a fate by the Salvation Studios team, who recognised its potential as a recording space.
Enlisting the help of renowned acoustician and architect John Flynn – known for his work on Olympic Studios and Abbey Road – the building has been transformed into one of the finest recording complexes in the country.
So naturally when Salvation reached out to us about bringing them a selection of Lauten Audio microphones to try out on a session – headed up by Producer Sie Medway Smith – and suggested we join them and film the day, well that was an opportunity we were never going to pass up!
Check out our video diary from the day below – hopefully it shows that you don’t always need a ton of mics to get a great drum sound, and provides some inspiration for getting creative in the studio.
Massive thanks to everyone at Salvation Studios, along with Sie Medway-Smith, Engineer Jake Stainer, and Drummer Declan Haughian.
“This is Christmas”
“This is Christmas for me, a box full of microphones in this place,” jokes Sie as we begin unboxing a full set of Lauten Audio microphones in Salvation Studios’ spacious live room.
Having started out as a tape-op at the legendary Milo Studios, Sie found himself at the heart of the UK’s evolving music scene, witnessing firsthand the rise of Trip Hop, Drum n Bass, Dubstep and many other popular UK genres.
The knowledge and enthusiasm he brings to a session has made him one of the most sought-after names in mixing and production today: Sie has helped shape the sound of countless records, including releases from such influential names as Björk, Massive Attack, Depeche Mode, U2, Rudimental and The Chemical Brothers. With Sie at the helm, this session was guaranteed to be something special.
And as for the space itself, Salvation Studios offers everything you need from a modern studio. The perfect combination of inspiration and functionality, the studios’ 77m² live room features two isolation boothes and a serious collection of vintage guitar amps, with a Yamaha C3 Baby Grand at one end and selection of high-end drum kits at the other. All of which is illuminated by a stunning stained-glass window, created by local artist Anna Davies.
Equally impressive is the large control room, built around a meticulously restored 1973 Neve 8068 console.
“I keep coming back for the Neve,” Sie says on his favourite thing about recording at Salvation. “You push the faders up and it just sounds amazing.”
“The Neve definitely joins everything together,” adds Jake Stainer, one of the studio’s in-house engineers. “Everyone who’s come here has been incredibly happy with the results they get.”
“Then out in the live room you can get that real big, ‘John Bonham’ sound,” Jake says on of the live room’s larger isolation booth, which can be opened up or closed off as needed.
“Your close mics and overheads can be really tight, and not let too much of the room in, but you still have the ability to open the drum sound up if you want, and into the roof as well.”
How many mics do you need to record drums?
Ask five sound engineers this question and you’ll probably get five different answers… Whilst putting a separate mic (or more!) on each drum provides more control, many incredible-sounding records have been recorded with only a couple of choice microphones on the drum kit.
In fact, as few as three microphones can be all you need, particularly if your selection includes a couple of high-quality studio microphones. Enter the ‘Glyn Johns method’!
Named after legendary producer Glyn Johns (Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, The Who), Johns often opted to use only three mics on a drum kit, with two overheads positioned equidistant from the snare, and a third mic aimed at the kick.
A lot of great music has been recorded using this simple technique, so it seemed like the perfect place to kick things off, with the option of adding more mics later if needed.
“We started off using the Eden, Atlantis and Clarion,” Sie explains. “Using the Glyn Johns technique, with the Eden in front of the bass drum. That was essentially our foundation for the kit, these three mics. Once they were in position, we pushed up the faders… and it sounded great immediately!”
G is for Gentle
The combination of Declan’s excellent playing and Sie’s musical direction meant it wasn’t long before we’d captured some drumming magic.
Next up then, time for some experimentation with the Lauten Eden and Atlantis’ ‘Multi-Voicing’ feature.
Providing a selection of different tonal balances, each ‘voice’ is its own discrete circuit path within the microphone: perfect for matching the sound to suit different genres and instruments, and without needing to swap out the mic.
“All the settings were great, but the Gentle took it for me. At least for the thoughtful, considered thing we were doing,” Sie remarks on the different voicings.
“I’d definitely say the Gentle for me as well,” agrees Jake. “But also the Neutral setting – they’re versatile mics for sure. The Toms have a really nice bit of body to them in that mode.”
“Yeah man, they’re really tight aren’t they,” adds Sie. “And that kick, so good!”
Adding more mics and Rim Mounts
The Eden, Atlantis and Clarion were already sounding huge, capturing Declan’s vintage Slingerland kit in all its glory, and truth be told we probably could’ve stopped there.
Everyone was keen to see what Lauten’s other mics could bring to the mix however, so we began breaking out some of the other mics on offer, including the highly-directional LS-208 – perfect for some extra isolation (and which interestingly sounded really good as a kick drum mic!) – as well as Lauten’s new Snare and Tom Mics.
This provided some additional control to the drum mix – allowing individual elements of the kit to be brought up or down – as well as providing an option for some extra sonic shaping after the sound hits the desk.
But it was also an opportunity to try out a couple of Rim Mounts, Lauten’s ingenious, premium microphone clip.
“Yeah these are cool,” says Declan as we give him a quick run-through of how to attach the Rim Mount to his drums. “Yeah they’re quality.”
“They’re cool aren’t they?” chimes in Jake. “I’m almost more excited about these clips than I am about the mics haha. I’m not into drum clips whatsoever, but these might actually change my mind. Even just for the toms, that’s two stands out of the way.”
Pseudo-808s and homemade phasers
By this point we had plenty of amazing takes to work with, so we spent the rest of the day getting creative: pulling Lauten’s LA-120 pencil mics through a series of pipes to create a phaser effect, and even finding time for Declan to bust out the clarinet (is there any instrument that man doesn’t play??).
We also ran things things through an awesome-sounding prototype 500 Series channel strip, kindly Brought along by Matthew Allum of ALM/Busy Circuits, which when driven had the kit sounding like a massive distorted 808!
Great room, great drummer, great mics…
Final thoughts go to Sie then, who set the tone for the day:
“Even if that (using just the three mics) was what we got I’d be well happy,” he says. “Great room, great drums, great drummer, great mics, great desk, it’s great man!”
Massive thanks to everyone involved! If you’re looking for a beautiful recording and mixing space on the South Coast, check out the Salvation Studios website or follow them on Instragram here.
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Want to know more about Lauten Audio?
Give us a call on 01727 821 870 to speak to one of our team, or contact us here.