Los Angeles, CA… With a string of highly-regarded recordings to his credit with acts such as Tool, Queens of the Stone Age, Bad Religion, The Melvins, Skunk Anansie, Turbonegro, and Weezer, producer/engineer Joe Barresi certainly knows how to capture the musical energy that defines his and his clients’ success. Part of that sonic magic comes from his choice of microphones and, for one of his recent recording endeavors; he found success with the new R-101 ribbon microphone from Royer Labs.
One of Barresi’s most recent albums is the latest offering from Southern California-based punk rockers Bad Religion. The band’s new CD, The Dissent of Man, on the Epitaph label, was recorded and mixed at Barresi’s own studio, affectionately known as Joe’s House of Compression. During the final testing stage of Royer Labs’ just introduced R-101, Barresi was asked to test and evaluate a pair of the new ribbon mics, which he found to be just the ticket for miking guitar cabinets. He discussed his experience with the R-101’s.
“I’ve maintained a very close relationship with the folks at Royer Labs and their sister company, Mojave Audio,� says Barresi, “so as the new Royer R-101 was going through its final stages of development, I was asked to put the mic through its paces. The company provided two prototype microphones, which I immediately began experimenting with. I A/B’d them against each other to determine if either mic sat better in the track and then I also compared them to other Royer mics such as the R-121. I was genuinely impressed with the results I heard and proceeded to use them on some guitar tracks for the Bad Religion CD I was working on.�
“Both R-101’s were used to mic a guitar cabinet,â€? Barresi continued. “Since the main left and right rhythm tracks were already done, I used the Royers to put a single rhythm guitar ‘thickening’ track up the middle. For the most part, the R-101’s were miking an EVH (Eddie Van Halen) 5150 III head thru a Rivera cabinet with four 12-inch speakers. The R-101’s were a really good choice for this application. The mics handled the sound pressure level of the blasting 4×12 cab up close and personal. The tone was solid with nice low end and just the right amount of top end. The sound fit well in the music and that particular combination really brought out some beef in the rhythm guitars.â€?
Barresi reports the band members were equally impressed with the sound acquired from the Royer R-101’s. “They loved the tones,� he said, “and sometimes the sound was so good, we ended up doing two tracks and making this setup the new Left and Right rhythms.�
As he shifted his focus back to more pressing studio-related matters, Barresi offered this parting thought about the new R-101 ribbon mics and the company behind them, “The folks at Royer Labs are great to deal with. There’s always someone available who will answer the phone and your questions and, most importantly, they really listen carefully to what you have to say. You simply can’t go wrong with a Royer Labs microphone— they’re durable, and capture sound with great detail. The new R-101 is yet another winner in an already impressive line of ribbon microphones.�
To learn more about Joe Barresi, visit him online at www.joebarresi.com.
About Royer Labs
Located in Burbank, California, Royer Labs’ microphones are a staple of leading recording and broadcast facilities. Additional information on the entire line of Royer Labs microphones and other aspects of the company can be found at www.royerlabs.com.
###
Photo info: Image of Joe Barresi with his Royer Labs R-101 microphone.
