Indie rockers Lord Huron recently released the group’s fourth album, Long Lost, recorded at Whispering Pines Studios in Los Angeles and they’ve also been working on a live streaming show entitled “Alive From Whispering Pines,” utilizing microphones from DPA for both ventures.
According to Mark Barry, drummer and engineer for Lord Huron, he and other members of the group, which includes founder Ben Schneider (lead singer and guitarist); Tom Renaud (guitarist) and Miguel Briseño (bassist and keyboardist) are fans of the quality and performance the microphones provide. In 2019, the band selected a few DPA mics for the additional horns they brought in for live shows at Red Rocks and the Hollywood Bowl, and soon after, Barry was introduced to them in a studio setting.
Following those experiences, the group’s members and Audio Engineer Ben Tolliday decided to bring DPA o-board for the Long Lost album recording. Barry and Tolliday chose 4018 supercardioid, 4011A cardioid and 4006 omindirectional mics to support various instruments and songs.
“Honestly, you can make things sound good with a wide variety of different mics, but we chose the DPAs for their natural and consistent sounds,” Barry says. “The songs on Long Lost are very dynamic, more so than on our previous albums, and we wanted a pair of drum overheads that we could keep set-up for the entire tracking session. We looked for mics that could handle the detail of brushes and attack of sticks, while also consistently sounding good. Everyone agreed that the DPA 4011As were best for this; full, clear and detailed―but not harsh-sounding mics. The 4018 on the snare drum won every shootout.”
Tolliday arranged the DPA 4011As in XY as the overhead mics on the drums. While “on the snare top, I used the 4018 and I tracked the strings on the first two singles on the album, ‘Mine Forever,’ and ‘Long Lost.’ All of the spot mics were DPA – I had 4011 mics on the violins and 4006s on viola and cello,” he explains.
Tolliday adds that once he knew the band would be referencing certain 1960s records, that small diaphragm condensers were going to play a part on this record” “I knew I needed small condenser mics with a slightly faster transient response and a little more focus for the strings and drums specifically. When the opportunity arose to use the DPA mics, I really jumped at the chance and it was awesome for us. It was the perfect fit for what we wanted.”
“My experience with DPA has been terrific,” adds Barry. “The mics are very high-quality and reliable. DPA is a great go-to mic for many applications where I can count on the instrument sounding like the instrument. DPA has a proven audio quality that truly sounds like what’s being recorded.”
Lord Huron’s previous albums include Lonesome Dreams, Strange Trails and Vide Noir. In addition to the recent launch of Long Lost, the group will be hitting the road this fall for a slew of live shows, including the Outside Lands Festival in the San Francisco Bay Area.
