R&B artist Allen Stone recently recorded four episodes of “Live From The Lab” at the TELEFUNKEN Soundstage. Stone, who has released five full albums and has been touring extensively, has performed on television shows such as Conan, his work has been featured on Netflix, and his “Live From His Mother’s Living Room” has 13 million YouTube views and climbing.
“I’ve been using TELEFUNKEN mics with Allen Stone for eight years now,” says Stone’s front of house engineer Ryan Drozd. “I can’t imagine using anything other than an M80 on his voice.
“My first encounter with the M80 was at Toads Place in New Haven, Connecticut back in 2013,” he continues. “I was working the show as the monitor engineer and Minus The Bear was headlining that night. Their front of house engineer was absolutely raving about the M80 he had purchased and was using it on their lead vocalist Jake Snider. I was eager to hear it at soundcheck and became an instant fan the second I had that vocal cued in my cue wedge.”
In 2012, Stone was featured on the song “Neon Cathedral” by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis off their album “The Heist.” Stone was voted one of MTVU’s Freshman 5 and tapped as VH1’s first “You Then,” followed by an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show singing “Sleep.”
Drozd describes the varying characteristics of Allen’s voice in performance and how the M80 accommodates his unique voice, “Allen has an extremely powerful and soulful voice. He’s one of the few singers that I’ve worked with who is as comfortable in his falsetto voice as he is in his chest voice, or even when he’s digging down deep in a baritone vibrato channeling an amalgamation of Michael McDonald, Barry White, and Issac Hayes.
“The M80 is as versatile as he is, while maintaining a high level of crisp detail regardless of the register Allen is singing in. It handles the high SPL when Allen hits a high note in his falsetto with ease and clarity, and doesn’t get muddy with too much proximity effect when he’s slowing down the vibe for a more intimate and quiet moment during the set. The M80’s tight polar pattern picks up his voice, and only his voice, while he’s pacing the edge of a stage delivering a sermon-esque message of love and unity through the power of music.”
Drozd has toured and worked with numerous other types of vocalists. “If I’m working with an artist who doesn’t already have a vocal mic they prefer, I always have them try an M80 and see how they like it. I’m currently out on tour with Scary Pockets and have the distinct pleasure of working with two great vocalists Therese Curatolo and Mario Jose. We started the first leg of the tour using another industry standard microphone capsule, and after a few shows of the vocal not sitting in the mix the way I wanted it to, I ordered two more M80-WH capsules. They were delivered in time for the start of the second leg of the tour and we were all extremely pleased with the sonic difference. I was able to get so much more clarity, and Therese could crowd surf and get down into the barricade without having to worry about feedback in FOH or the frontfills.”
Go here to see the first video “5 Minutes” — Upcoming “Live From The Lab” episodes with Allen Stone include “A Bit of Both” on June 2, “On The Way Down” on June 7, and “More To Learn” on June 12.
