Pursuit Of Perfection: Concert Sound For Steely Dan’s Summer Tour

Green Earrings
In addition to mixing the support act and flying MLA, OSA system tech Bob Alumbaugh is responsible for the tour’s mic inventory. As studio connoisseurs, Fagan and Becker are especially particular about microphone and outboard electronics selections, which were made primarily by Dowdle.

Earthworks SR40V condenser vocal mics have been the choice for Becker and Fagen’s vocals since their introduction in 2011. Background vocalists Cindy Mizelle, Carolyn Leonhart-Escoffey and La Tanya Hall sing into new Telefunken M81 dynamic vocal mics, which retains the M80’s original 5 and 10 kHz presence peaks without its rising HF response.

“The M81 produces a smooth vocal range while maintaining an isolated, somewhat remote characteristic to the backing vocals so that I’m able to place them in the mix with pinpoint accuracy,” Dowdle says.

Michael Leonhart and Jim Pugh play trumpet and trombone into a pair Neumann U87 big-boy condensers. Walt Weiskopf’s tenor sax and Roger Rosenberg’s baritone sax are captured with two AEA R84 ribbon mics, angled to take advantage of their classic figure 8 polar pattern with its 90-degree side rejection. “The AEAs for the saxes in the lower register are awesome,” Alumbaugh states. “Combined with the clarity of the U87s used on bone and trumpet, the balance between them is great.”

An AEA KU4 ribbon mic for horn solos located downstage center.

Downstage center, an AEA KU4 supercardioid ribbon mic—a re-creation of a rare RCA KU3A used for Hollywood film scoring in the 1940s—is deployed for featured horn solos. The design employs a unique baffle to attenuate the rear lobe of a typical figure-8 ribbon. Monitor engineer Peter D. Thompson says the KU4 “sounds delicious and has great rejection qualities as well.”

My Old School
The approach for Keith Carlock’s six-piece Gretsch drum kit starts with a Telefunken M82 dynamic end-address mic inside the kick, employing it’s 350 Hz notch filter. “I’m able to reproduce the kick in ways that truly emulated the original Steely Dan recordings,” Dowdle says. “The mic’s filter switch and internal shock mount system are vital to its response and quality.”

The infamous Granelli Audio Labs G5790, a 90-degree modified SM57, is used on both snare and second snare. “The Granelli’s right-angle allows the mic to correctly address the snare drum, which often is compromised by hi-hats and drum hardware nearby,” he explains.

A look at the drum miking approach.

A Shure Beta 56A dynamic is applied for snare bottom, with Sennheiser e904 dynamics on the four toms. Telefunken’s new M60 small-format tube condenser handles hi-hat and ride cymbal. Dowdle toured with prototypes last year, which are an FET version of the AKG-designed class-A ELA M260 tube pencil condenser. “The transient response is magnificent and the audio is so crisp and clear that it seems almost too good to be true,” he says. “The M60 is the best high hat mic I’ve ever used.”

Telefunken C12 tube condensers serve as overheads. “Having used C12s in the studio, I knew I’d be pleased, but I had no idea what a huge difference they’d make,” Dowdle notes. “The drum sound is robust and truly amazing. I’m able to capture every nuance from not only the cymbals, but the rest of the kit as well. The result is a powerful, open sound with a pleasing air that emanates from the entire drum kit. They’ll have to pry these mics from my cold dead hands.”

Becker’s guitar plays through a Satellite Mudshark or one of several Dr. Z tube amp heads (KT45, RxES, Mazerati GT). Three double-12 cabinets are each miked with a Shure SM7B dynamic. The cabinets are removed offstage and gobo’d with foam and packing blankets. Music director Jon Herington’s closed back dual-12 Celestion cab is powered by a Guytron GT-100 “F/V” head and is also miked offstage with a Shure KSM313 ribbon mic.

Keyboardist Jim Beard’s Hammond XR-3 into a Leslie 122 is captured with a Sennheiser MD421 dynamic on the low rotor and a pair of Shure KSM313s, while his Nord Stage keyboard is taken direct with a Radial J48 active DI. The Steinway D grand piano is outfitted with an Earthworks PM40T Touring PianoMic System, supplemented by a 3-bar Helpinstill pick-up feeding another Radial J48.