Tower of Power, the originally Oakland-based exponents of horn-driven funk and soul founded by alto saxophonist Emilio Castillo and baritone saxmeister Stephen “Doc” Kupka that’s been steadily recording and performing for 50 years and counting, employs a wide range of Audix microphones for its live concerts.
In the live realm, the group is usually comprised of two trumpets, three saxes, full rhythm section, Hammond organ, and six vocalists where Castillo and Kupka deploy D6, D2, and D4 on drums along with OM6 handhelds on vocals and another D6 paired with i5 instrument mics on the organ’s Leslie speaker.
“Just about everyone in the band uses Audix mics on something,” says drummer David Garibaldi. “My first set was a drum miking kit consisting of a D6 and I believe D2s and D4s on toms. I love them because they have a very low-profile way of attaching to the drums. They don’t get in the way, and the way my drums sound is phenomenal. I’m not an engineer, but I can say subjective things to the monitor and front-of-house guys like ‘more thud’ and they can always dial it in. Our sound has been more consistent than ever since we’ve used Audix.”
“Doc’s baritone sax mic is an Audix D4,” adds Castillo. “On background vocals, Adolfo Acosta and Mike Bogart [trumpeters], and Roger Smith [keyboardist] each have an OM6. There are several on the drums as David described. I’m not a real technical wizard but I have a good ear. Because I’m concerned about the audience, I go to the front-of-house engineer, and they’ve all given me very positive feedback.”
Monitor engineer Nathan Bauld singles out the D6: “It crushes every other kick mic. Take the frequency response — it has a built-in kick drum EQ. It’s fantastic that a capsule performs this way. You don’t need to add EQ, which can offset the phase and smear the transients. By getting the right frequencies up front, you preserve the impact.”
Being a large outfit with a five-piece horn section and six members who sing, Tower of Power has numerous open mics onstage at any given time, with the band finding the mics to be a safeguard against related pitfalls. “With mixes, people think that the more you put in, the bigger it sounds,” Castillo explains. “In fact, everything gets more crowded and can sound boxier. Audix mics help us to avoid all that and achieve a high-quality mix with clarity.”
“Our front-of-house guy Andrew Gilchrist has worked with Maceo Parker and Dumpstaphunk and a bunch of New Orleans bands,” adds Garibaldi. “Whatever it is the Audix mics deliver, he gets that times ten with us. That classic R&B sound with the nice bass but a lot of clarity on top. People who come to see us comment that they can distinctly hear every instrument in the mix with a lot of separation.”
