Grammy and multi-Emmy Award-winning recording and mixing engineerTommy Vicari reported that the Neumann M 149 is among the most used onhis sessions, which have recently included recording and mixing severalfeature film and cable television projects with scoring engineer ArminSteiner.
“I frequently use the Neumann M 149 for vocals, various instrumentsand room sounds,” said Vicari. “The M 149 is one of the best mics madein a long time. It sounds great and it has a lot of gain. I reallyenjoy it.” Recent scoring collaborations with Steiner have includedDisney/Pixar’s animated feature, Finding Nemo and the upcomingAngels in America for HBO. Vicari also used Neumann mics forrecording the main title for the HBO series, Six Feet Under.
Vicari has been using the M 149 large-diaphragm tube mic ever sinceits debut, recording a variety of singers. “It virtually works on everysinger I’ve put it in front of. For instance, on projects for theDisney theme parks, when I am faced with a wide variety of vocals, frombaritones to sopranos, this microphone seems to work on everyone. In aperfect world, when recording a vocalist, you can put up several mics,experiment and pick the best one. But in most of my recording sessions,there is no room or time for experimentation. However, during a scoringsession, I will set up an array of microphones on different instrumentsso that the musicians can immediately move from one instrument toanother.”
In addition to the M 149, he said, “I use the Neumann U 67 forpercussion and piano. I also use the TLM 170 on woodwinds and vibes. Onrecent big-band recordings for Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Bandand Sammy Nestico’s This Is the Moment, I used vintage U 67s onsaxophones.”
For more on the mics, visit Neumann online at www.neumannusa.com.
