Santa Cruz, CA – December 2019… The Art & Science of Sound Recording Master Class Training Sessions offer audio professionals and aspiring professionals alike the opportunity to gain hands-on sound recording tips and tricks from two of the industry’s best known icons. Created by audio engineer, songwriter, musician, and record producer Alan Parsons and keyboardist, producer, author, and music technology journalist Julian Colbeck, the program offers three class levels and enables attendees to participate in a recording or mixing session in a professional recording studio. With a combination of live performance and instruction, the need for highly articulate speech intelligibility is paramount to the success of each program, and that’s precisely why Parsons and Colbeck rely on E6 Earset and H6 Headset microphones from Menlo Park, CA-based Countryman Associates.
According to Colbeck, who serves as the event producer and coordinates both the artists and musicians being recorded and all of the details of the program, “Alan conducts the sessions exactly as he does when he is working on a normal project, except that he will comment on what he is doing at various points throughout the day and also answer questions. The purpose is to give attendees an inside look into a genuine recording/mixing event. Many sessions have gone on to have commercial releases and many attendees have gone on to develop new careers, including some now working for Alan Parsons!”
Colbeck reports that the Countryman microphones are presently being used exclusively for speech, in other words, the instruction portion of each seminar. “At this point, we use one E6 and one H6,” Colbeck reports. “At the most recent master class, we conducted the entire program using just the E6. We have the two Countryman mics interfaced with Sennheiser Evolution Wireless G4 systems and, together, they make a great combination.”
When queried about those attributes that make the Countryman E6 and H6 microphones so well suited for use during the master classes, Colbeck offered the following thoughts, “There are three primary aspects of the mics that we like: (1) These mics are unobtrusive to both wearer and viewer—to the point of effective invisibility,” he explained. “Almost immediately after putting either the E6 or H6 on, no one notices it’s there. (2) The sound quality is ultra high and very natural sounding, while the pickup range is ideal for acquiring the wearer’s voice and very little else. (3) These mics deliver plenty of gain before feedback, making it easy to get the right amount of level.”
“The nature of our events is that Alan—at various points during the program—may be facing directly into the loudspeakers or may be thirty feet away in the live room,” Colbeck continued. “At no time during two intense days of recording and mixing did we encounter feedback or any technical issues whatsoever. This is very impressive!”
Given the challenges of administering and conducting the Master Class Training Sessions, the ability to get responsive, capable support should it be necessary is crucial to the ongoing success of their program. In this regard, Colbeck has been very impressed with Countryman’s customer support services. “Countryman is highly efficient, knowledgeable, and helpful. They’ve been very supportive of our endeavor and are a pleasure to work with.”
While Parsons and Colbeck have only been using the Countryman E6 Earset and H6 Headset microphones for just a few weeks on recent training seminars, they had also worked with the microphones earlier this year during Winter NAMM. Summing up their experience with the Countryman mics, Colbeck offered these parting comments, “We’ve been delighted by the whole Countryman experience—the people and the products! We also look forward to using the Countrymans on upcoming video projects in 2020 and to experimenting with the different ‘caps’. Thus far, we haven’t needed to use the supplied pop shield, as we didn’t encounter any conditions that required them. We did, however, use one for photos, as the mic itself is so small and unobtrusive!”
To learn more about the Art & Science of Sound Recording Master Class Training Sessions, go to https://www.artandscienceofsound.com/.
About Countryman Associates
For more than 40 years, Countryman has focused on developing microphones and accessories that deliver maximum gain before feedback, with the highest possible rejection of wind, vibration, interference, and other unwanted sounds. The result is warm, clear vocals in speaking and singing applications, delivering natural audio reinforcement that requires almost no attention from the sound engineer or the performer. For additional information about Countryman Associates, visit the company online at www.countryman.com.
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