Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Sanken Microphones Chosen By Engineer Jim Anderson
Anderson chose Sanken microphones for their ability to accurately capture saxophone.Professor and recording engineer Jim Anderson recently recorded the new live album from jazz legend Lee Konitz at NYC’s Village Vanguard with Sanken Microphones.
Anderson chose the Sanken CU-41 dual capsule condenser mic for Konitz’s alto sax and the stereo Sanken CUW-180 for the piano.
“Sanken CU-41’s are my go-to microphones for sax, drum overheads, acoustic guitar, and electric guitar amplifiers,” said engineer/producer Anderson, who is New York University professor at the Clive Davis Dept. of Recorded Music and Fellow and Past-president of the AES.
“It’s a microphone that is especially suited to Lee’s alto sax. On a previous recording with Lee (“Strings for Holiday” - Enja Records), the CU-41 did a remarkable job in the studio of capturing the subtle detail of Lee’s playing and I wanted to recreate that sound, live.”
Key to the CU-41’s performance is its double condenser capsule design. Unlike typical microphones, the CU-41 consists of two condenser capsules, one of small and one of large diameter. The small capsule picks up the upper range of audio frequencies and the large one picks up the lower range.
“The dual-capsule stereo CUW-180 was perfect for piano and worked out well for this album because we recorded live to a stereo 2-track mix,” remarked Anderson. In a live recording, where leakage can be an issue, using the CUW-180 gave me excellent focus on the piano, while the off-axis pick-up was what I like to call “good leakage.”
“Leakage that doesn’t detract from the final mix. I’ve been a longtime user of Sanken Microphones and I find that the off-axis quality of their products to be excellent.”
Sanken Microphones Website