Audio-Technica endorser Mindi Abair performing with the ATM35. Photo by Sherry Fisher.
Saxophonist and Audio-Technica endorser Mindi Abair’s third CD, Life Less Ordinary, debuted at Number One on Billboard’s Contemporary Jazz chart. A graduate of Berklee College of Music, Abair (pictured) picked up the saxophone in fourth grade, gathering inspiration from her saxophonist father, and took her skills straight to the stage. Abair has toured with John Tesh, Bobby Lyle, Adam Sandler, Jonathan Butler, Duran Duran, Mandy Moore and the Backstreet Boys.
Abair is also an accomplished composer and vocalist, and has direct involvement in every aspect of her music, including her choice of gear. She selects Audio-Technica microphones to achieve her signature tone. “I started using Audio-Technica’s wireless systems in the early 1990s,” Abair says. “It’s part of my live sound. It’s part of how I hear myself.”
Working with producer and co-composer Matthew Hagar, Abair has tried many approaches to the recording process. She notes, “In the studio, a mic can change everything. I tried so many mics when we recorded my first CD. When I heard the AT4060, I just knew it was right. We recorded everything on it—all the saxes, all the vocals, acoustic guitars. It didn’t color my sound. It just portrayed it as I heard it in my head. That’s what I want from a mic. We’ve now used that on almost every recording I’ve done.”
Abair is also a fan of A-T’s AT3060, ATM35 and Artist Elite Series wired and wireless mics, though she confirms her special affinity for the classic AT4060: “We went right back to the 4060 for this CD. I wanted my sound and the 4060 was it. It’s such a pure representation of what goes down in the studio. That makes all the difference.”
Abair is currently on a nationwide tour in support of her new album.
For more information, visit www.audio-technica.com and www.mindiabair.com.
