- in Production by Bobby Owsinski
Al Schmitt Talks Recording
After 23 Grammy’s for Best Engineering (more than any other engineer) and work on over 150 gold and platinum records, a #1 book on Amazon, and even his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Al Schmitt needs no introduction to anyone even remotely familiar with the recording industry. Indeed, his credit list is way too long to print here (but Henry Mancini, Steely Dan, George Benson, Toto, Neil Young, Paul McCartney, Quincy Jones, and Diana Krall are some of them), but suffice it to say that Al’s name is synonymous with the highest art that recording has to offer.
This interview excerpt from the 4th edition of my Recording Engineer’s Handbook has Al talking about his recording philosophy, his setups, and the most difficult things for him to record.
Do you have a philosophy in your approach when you’re recording?
I get with the arranger, find out exactly what he’s trying to accomplish, make sure that the artist is happy, and get the best sound I can possibly get on everything. If there’s something that’s near and dear to the artist or arranger, then I’ll work towards pleasing them, although most of the time they’re happy with what I get. Most of the guys that I work with, like Tommy LiPuma or David Foster, concentrate on the actual music and leave the sound up to me nine times out of ten.
I’m always very early on dates. I want to make absolutely sure that everything is working. I don’t just click through mics, I talk into them to make sure that they sound right, then during the session I’m constantly out in the studio moving mics around until I get the sound that I’m happy with. I’ll do this both between songs and every time there is a break.
Do you use the same setup every time?
I usually start out with the same microphones. For instance, I know that I’m going to immediately start with a tube U 47 about 18 inches from the F-hole on an upright bass. That’s basic for me and I’ve been doing that for years. I might move it up a little so it picks up a little of the finger noise. Now if I have a problem with a guy’s instrument where it doesn’t respond well to that mic then I’ll change it, but that happens so seldom. Every once in a while I’ll take another microphone and place it up higher on the fingerboard to pick up a little more of the fingering.
The same with the drums. There are times where I might change a snare mic or kick mic, but normally I use a D-112 or a 47 FET on the kick and a 451 or 452 on the snare and they seem to work for me. I’ll use a Shure SM57 on the snare underneath and I’ll put that microphone out of phase. I also mic the toms with 414’s, usually with the pad in, and the hat with a Schoeps or a B&K or even a 451.
What are you using for overhead mics?
I do vary that. It depends on the drummer and the sound of the cymbals, but I’ve been using M 149’s, the Royer 121’s, or 451’s. I put them a little higher than the drummer’s head.
Do you try to capture the whole kit or just the cymbals?
I try to set it up so I’m capturing a lot of the kit, which makes it a little bigger sounding overall because you’re getting some ambience.
What determines your mike selection?
It’s usually the sound of the kit. I’ll start out with the mics that I normally use and just go from there. If it’s a jazz date then I might use the Royers and if it’s more of a rock date then I’ll use something else.
How much experimentation do you do?
Very little now. Usually I have a drum sound in 15 minutes so I don’t have to do a lot. When you’re working with the best guys in the world, their drums are usually tuned exactly the way they want and they sound great, so all you have to do is capture that sound. It’s really pretty easy. And I work at the best studios where they have the best consoles and great microphones, so that helps.
I don’t use any EQ when I record. I use the mics for EQ. I don’t even use any compression. The only time I might use a little bit of compression is maybe on the kick, but for most jazz dates I don’t.
How do you handle leakage? Do you worry about it?
No, I don’t. Actually leakage is one of your best friends because that’s what makes things sometimes sound so much bigger. The only time leakage is a problem is if you’re using a lot of crap mics. If you get a lot of leakage into them, it’s going to sound like crap leakage, but if you’re using some really good microphones and you’re get some leakage, it’s usually good because it makes things sound bigger.
I try to set everybody, especially in the rhythm section, as close together as possible. I come from the school when I first started where there were no headphones. Everybody had to hear one another in the room, so I still set up everybody up that way. Even though I’ll isolate the drums, everybody will be so close that they can almost touch one another.
Let’s talk about when you do an orchestra. Are you a minimalist, mic-wise?
Yes, I try to use a few as possible. On some of the dates I’ll just use the room mics up over the conductors head. I’ll have a couple of M 150’s, or M 50’s or even M 149’s set to omnidirectional. I’ll have some spot mics out there, but lots of times I don’t even use those. It works if you have a conductor that knows how to bring out a section when it needs to be louder, so I’ll just try to capture what he’s hearing out there.
For violins I prefer the old Neumann U 67’s. If I’m working on just violin overdubs I’ll use the 67s and keep them in the omni position. I like the way that mic sounds when it’s open and not in cardioid. It’s much warmer and more open this way, but it’s not always possible to do that because if there’s brass playing at the same time then I’ll just have to keep them in the cardioid position on the violins.
On violas, I like the Royer ribbon mics, the Neumann M 149s or the 67s, depending on availability. On celli I usually use the Neumann KM 84s or M 149s if they’re available. The mics on the violins are about eight or ten feet above them; the same is true for the violas. For the celli, the mics may be 3 or 4 feet above them.
On harp, I like the Schoeps, the Royer or the Audio Technica 4060. On the French horns, I use the old M 49’s. I use the M 149’s on the rest of the woodwinds.
What’s the hardest thing for you to record?
Getting a great piano sound. The human voice is another thing that’s tough to get. Other than that, things are pretty simple.
The larger the orchestra, the easier it is to record. The more difficult things are the eight and nine piece things, but I’ve been doing it for so long that none of it is difficult any more.
You can read more from The Recording Engineer’s Handbook and my other books on the excerpt section of bobbyowsinski.com.
You can find out more about Al here, and also get Al’s excellent book Al Schmitt On The Record here.
