Ted Perlman–producer, engineer, composer, arranger, and multi-instrumentalist who has worked with acts ranging from Bob Dylan to Whitney Houston–has just added a Brauner Phantom V variable pattern FET microphone to his arsenal of
equipment.
“If a U87 is the standard everything else is judged by, this raises the bar
and changes the standard,” declares Perlman. “I would take this Brauner over
that one. This is the most unbelievable microphone. I’ve worked with
everything. It’s perfectly even, from the bottom through the middle to the
top. If somebody is screaming loud or singing high, it doesn’t get all
screechy. If they have a deep voice, it doesn’t get boomy. It’s just
beautiful.”
Perlman works with a great many vocalists at his Buffalo Sound studio in the
San Fernando Valley, and until now has been used to pulling out one mic
after another to match each different voice. But with the Brauner Phantom V,
he says, he’s found a vocal mic that suits everyone. “I haven’t found a
microphone that is so versatile. I’m just so knocked out by how many
different applications and situations it works well in. So I rarely have to
change the mic now.”
Offering an example, he continues, “We had Howard Hewitt, a great, amazing
singer, here last month. We went through a few mics and they just didn’t
sound right. I pulled the Brauner out and–bam!”
According to Perlman, the new mic has also saved him a lot of time and
effort, in particular on a new project with U.K. singer Zara Phillips, who
has recorded with Bob Geldof, among others, during her 15-year career. “Her
voice is cool and interesting but difficult to record. I had to go through
and fix her tracks and take out these noises, so I changed to the Brauner.
Instead of having to spend six hours cleaning up the tracks it immediately
sounded good. And I could get back to my life!”
The mic also offers benefits to the artist, he says. “It picks up so well.
With most mics, when you back up it tends to get thin, but with the Brauner,
you can back up two feet and it sounds just as full and wonderful. You don’t
have to sing right on top of it. That way, you hear the room, and it’s a
much nicer sound.”
For more information about the Brauner Phantom, visit www.lasvegasproaudio.com.
