Into The Walls Of Mandoness (Thile)

[Demetrius]

Does anyone know what Thile was using here to capture his mandolin signal?
Was he using a mic? A pickup? Both? This was around the time he was using a schertler dyn I think.
But don't think that's it though.
Listen to pure Mando tone epic ness at 50sec in.
It's just so clear.


I'm sure most of you have heard this album but for those of you who haven't I truly
recommend you check it out. It's not only beautiful music but the recording itself is an incredible live recording. It was released like 12yrs or so ago and truly captures some magic happening between these virtuosos. If you're looking for some really fine mandolin work from Thile then listen to this album.

I really hope the imbedded video works, if not the link should work,
Be sure to listen with some nice headphones or good speakers cause
you won't believe how wide open this recording sounds.

qofNjTlJ3cg

http://youtu.be/qofNjTlJ3cg

Happy New Year!

[BrianWilliam]

The embedded video didn't play on my iPhone but the linked worked.

[Barry Wilson]

This video is not available

[aphillips]

Hey it's working fine for me - I just clicked on the link. And DANG, you're right, it sounds incredible. I hadn't heard it before so thank you!

I can't say 100%, but I have to to think that that sound is coming from microphones, and probably condensers. I can't imagine it is from pickups.

[foldedpath]

Allmusic.com's info page (http://www.allmusic.com/album/thirty-year-retrospective-mw0000328358) on the album says it was recorded in the "concert hall at Vanderbilt University's Blair School of Music," which explains the great acoustic ambiance.

Given the venue, I'd assume a traditional Classical/Studio recording technique, which would be one or two small diaphragm condenser mics as a spot mic on the mandolin, possibly with an additional room mic. It could be a Neumann KM84 or similar; that's a fairly standard go-to mic for this kind of thing. It has that "air" quality which suggests a condenser mic and not a ribbon mic. Definitely not a pickup. That's the sound of a nice microphone (or pair, in stereo) through a high quality, clean mic preamp.

If you wanted the full info you could try to contact one of the recording engineers on the project, listed on the credits page.

[Demetrius]

I wish I could find a photo, or a video, any kind of visual documentation from that magical performance.
Crazy thing is, I was living in Nashville when this Vanderbilt performance happened but I was away on
vacation that week and missed it. Boy do kick myself for missing that concert. I wonder if Mark O'Connor
Got any really cool pics or video of it. Can you imagine a DVD of this being released?

[Kip Carter]

I'd have to bet that was recorded with a ribbon mic something ultra sensitive low noise. The mandolin is isolated too.

[foldedpath]

I'd have to bet that was recorded with a ribbon mic something ultra sensitive low noise. The mandolin is isolated too.

If that's a ribbon, then there's a heck of a lot of high EQ on it. I know that's often done with ribbon mics in the mixdown, but I'd still bet on a small diaphragm condenser mic for the air frequencies and the "sparkle" I'm hearing.

[Marcus CA]

That version is the remake of the closing piece from O'Connor's False Dawn album from 1982. He wrote all of the tunes and played all of the instruments on the album. The original of this piece starts out as a traditional string quartet and then seems to give way to a church organ --- which is still the string quartet. (Listen to that through headphones!) Then, it becomes a mandoversion of a string quartet: two mandolin tracks, a mandola, and a mandocello. It's pretty incredible work --- especially for someone in his early twenties.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4Zx1ZpnD3w