Crystal Gayle has been working with production manager and front of house mixer Edaghogho Eferakeya Jr. for the past decade in Nashville, as well as touring extensively all over the globe.
Their vocal mic of choice is Telefunken‘s M80 dynamic microphone.
Eferakeya explains, “I started out experimenting with the M80 on country music and Christian artists, as well as employing it at major corporate events. I remember speaking through a flat M80 and finding a vocal sound that was full, rich, present and magical. I was so relieved to find a microphone that is consistent with the way I tune my PA.”
Once convinced of the response of the M80, Eferakeya tried the mic with Crystal Gayle. “We auditioned lots of vocal mic’s over the years,” he recalls and we kept coming back home to a dynamic vocal mic on her. Telefunken’s M80 for her vocal is the best of both worlds: the high frequency detail of a studio condenser microphone with the warmth of a dynamic mic.”
Crystal Gayle is best known for her 1977 country-pop crossover hit, “Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue.” She earned 20 #1 country hits during the 1970s and 1980s and six of her albums were certified Gold by the RIAA. Gayle became the first female artist in country music history to reach Platinum sales, with her 1977 album We Must Believe in Magic.
Eferakeya further extols the qualities of her M80 on vocals; “The proximity effect is awesome and allows Crystal to move freely around the stage and always sound so rich and full. Good sound in the monitor wedges is easier and the mic’s rear rejection is just great. The M80 gives us a coherent sound that always feels good.”
In addition to the M80 on Gayle’s vocals, Eferakeya also tours with Telefunken’s DC6 Drum Pack, comprised of an M82 on kick drum, M80-SHB on snare, M81-SH for toms, and the M60 FET cardioid for cymbals and overheads.
“While touring worldwide on fly dates, we often use rental drum kits, and the switchable mic settings are really helpful in shaping a great sound at the source. The M80’s and M81’s on snare and toms are nice and fat. The hidden jewels on the drum kit are the M60 FET, which has helped me shape my live drum sound into a studio-like sound that is clean and crisp with lots of detail. The amount of usable low end these mic’s pick up makes the snare and tom’s sound big and totally natural.”
