In 1985, David Royer (
Royer Labs) started producing hi-quality condenser microphones on a small scale from his garage in Fullerton, CA. Today these mics are highly sought after by engineers and producers for their precision, character and design. After reading some back story about David, I decided to buy a
Mojave MA-201fet when I was in the market for a general "all-purpose" mic and found that it gave a great sonic representation of just about anything. It has since become my "go-to" mic for recording! When it came time to record drums recently for my band
The Sour Notes, I thought I'd give a pair of
MA-100s a try as overheads. These small diaphragm tube condensers feature two interchangeable, 3-micron capsules, Jensen transformer and a military-grade JAN 5840 vacuum tube. I ran them through a slightly overdriven
UA 4-710d preamp, which gave me a crisp, bright response that sat great in the mix! I set them up about 3-feet above the hi-hat and floor tom and used a Beta-52 on the kick, 2-57s on the top & bottom snare and an Octava MK-319 5-feet in front of the kit. Check out the final mix below by
Danny Reisch and mastered by
Joe LaPorta at
Sterling Sound.
Song: Mannequin (Wire cover) on BandCamp
Video: Recording drums with Mojave MA-100s and Jordan Johns
by Jared Boulanger (singer/guitarist at
The Sour Notes)
