With hundreds of millions of combined YouTube views for their signature celebrity-cameo, satire-laced singles, The Lonely Island’s latest album Turtleneck & Chain comes to life with the help of AKG microphones and JBL studio monitors.
Whether recording demo tracks in the Saturday Night Live studio offices or providing additional overdubs to the tracks and mixing at New York City’s Downtown Music Studios, AKG C 414’s and JBL LSR6300 series studio monitors were on hand throughout the entire process.
Akiva Schaffer, Jorma Taccone and Andy Samberg – “The Dudes” of The Lonely Island – offer 19 new tracks and skits featuring Michael Bolton, Akon, Snoop Dogg, Niki Minaj, Rhianna, Beck, Santigold and Justin Timberlake on their latest album, now available.
Selected to mix the entire Turtleneck & Chain album, Grammy-Award-winning engineer Jason Goldstein utilized an AKG C 414 XLS for vocal overdubs on the original recorded demos The Lonely Island, provided for mix, which were also recorded on Samberg’s personal C 414. Although the tracks are humorous in nature, The Lonely Island team is meticulous in ensuring their songs are assembled to deliver punch lines perfectly.
“We mixed the songs as if they were truly jokes – meant to be understood the first time they were heard – so it was important each one-liner, each syllable, however quick or random, was perfectly delivered and audible the first time you listen,” says Goldstein. “You don’t want to be listening to the song while asking yourself ‘what was that joke again?’ The quality demo tracks the group recorded on their C 414, along with our recordings on the C 414 and mixing on the LSR’s, help us put together a great-sounding record, where the joke would be clearly and easily understood. The final mix emphasizes the superior quality of the C 414.”
While mixing, Goldstein continues to rely on the JBL LSR6300 series studio monitors. Schaffer, Taccone and Samberg knew what Goldstein could bring to a track after listening to his previous work, so The Lonely Island, who are very emotionally attached and involved in their music, trusted their recordings to be of the same quality.
With their own headphones and a monitoring system short of a professional audio setup, the group was pleased to hear their final work played back out of the LSR’s. Goldstein’s monitors brought a reference of quality to each track that would not only sound perfect during studio playback, but through any means of listening from laptops, YouTube and MP3 players to mobile phones and digital shorts on Saturday Night Live.
“The LSR’s are my go-to reference as they provide the high-quality playback we need to ensure the best service to our clients,” continued Goldstein. “If it sounds great out of the LSR’s, it will sound great anywhere. The AKG mics also provide a consistency and quality needed for a high-energy record such as this.”
