Steven Miller at Dave Matthews’ Haunted Hollow Studios with the Telefunken | USA R-F-T M16 MkII.
Engineer and producer Steven Miller (pictured) chose a matched pair of Telefunken | USA’s R-F-T M16 MkII microphones for the recording of the upcoming studio album from the Dave Matthews Band. Sequestered at Matthews’ Charlottesville, Va. studio, the band has been tracking the follow-up to their 2005 album, Stand Up.
“I’ve known Telefunken | USA’s founder, Toni Fishman, since he started the company six years ago,” says Miller. “I met him at Ocean Way Recording when he was working with Allen Sides to research the re-creation of prized microphones from Allen’s extensive collection.”
The M16 MkII large diaphragm tube microphone is one of a new line of affordable microphones designed to faithfully re-create the legendary vintage Telefunken sound. The microphone features a dual-sided center-contact gold sputtered capsule and the same vintage tube used in the Telefunken Ela M 251.
“Before we started recording, I went through all the mics we had, including some very rare mics from Dave’s collection,” Miller explains. “But when I put up the pair of M16s as room mics, it was the perfect sound: less cymbal splash, more low end and a rock bottom that worked exactly the way I wanted in that room. I immediately knew I had it.”
After completing four tracks with the Telefunken | USA stereo matched pair, Miller brought the band in for playback. “There was one tune that really needed a rock drum sound,” he continues, “and when I brought up the sound of those two mics, the band was amazed at the sound we got in their studio. ‘Whoa, what’s that? How did it turn into a rock sound,’ they asked. I pointed out into the room at the two mics, which ended up giving me about 80-percent of the total sound I wanted for the record.”
For more information, visit www.telefunkenusa.com and www.dmband.com.
