Jon Secada Gets Ready For The Holidays With Audio-Technica Microphones

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Eric Schilling (left), engineer, and Jon Secada at The Hit Factory/Criteria Studios in Miami with the Audio-Technica AT4060. Photo by Jill Kahn. (This photo is property of Jill Kahn and may be used by the press only for the purpose of one-time reproduction. Unauthorized use or alteration of this image is strictly prohibited.)

111th AES CONVENTION, NEW YORK, NY, September 21, 2001 - Over the course of a decade-long career, Jon Secada has firmly established himself as both a composer (six of his songs helped propel Gloria Estefan's "Into The Light" album to multi-platinum status in 1991) and a performer, selling six million of his own albums to date. In September, Epic/Sony Records will release Secada's first Christmas album, a live orchestral recording whose smooth sonic consistency was created largely with an array of microphones from Audio-Technica.

Secada's Christmas recording, sung in both English and Spanish, was recorded during June in the huge Studio A tracking room at Miami's The Hit Factory/Criteria Studios, home base for Secada's producer and mentor, Emilio Estefan. Master engineer Eric Schilling specifically requested Audio-Technica microphones for these momentous sessions. "We were going for a very Nat King Cole type of record, one with tremendous dynamic range for the orchestra but also with the kind of close-up, intimate vocals which create the kind of atmosphere that only a live orchestra and singer can make," Schilling explained. To achieve this effect, Schilling recorded strings, horns, brass and percussion sections ensemble, as Secada sang live in an isolation booth.

To further enhance the sinuous blend of voice and orchestra, he used A-T microphones on virtually every component of the recording. Secada's voice was recorded with an AT4060; AT4051 microphones were used as overheads above the string sections, with the lower strings recorded through AT4050 microphones; the brass section was captured by AT4060s, with a combination of AT4050 and AT4051 microphones used on the percussion section.

"The idea of using microphones from the same manufacturer produced an incredible result," Schilling proclaims. "The consistency you can achieve by doing that is amazing and lends an additional sonic dimension to the record. It was a real joy to record." In fact, the use of the A-T microphones enabled Schilling to record the entire record virtually flat, with no EQ on the basic tracks, and with only minimal EQ added during the mix.

"I was particularly impressed with the performance of the AT4060 on Jon's vocals," Schilling continues. "It has a clear yet still very warm-sounding brightness to it, which enabled me to record him as though he were singing right in your ear. This is an intimately sung record - a crooner's record, if you will. The AT4060 made a world of difference in achieving that effect." Schilling had been introduced to the AT4060 two years earlier, when he recorded the vocals of Natalie Cole with producer Phil Ramone. "I knew right then this was a special microphone," he says. "And it certainly proved that on Jon's record, as well."

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