UA WebZine "Playback" October 06 | You Send Us Your Music, and We Play it Back

Playback: You Send Us Your Music, and We Play it Back

Thanks to Richard Larsen for using a 2-610 Dual Channel Tube Microphone & Instrument Preamplifier to warm up this month's dreamy Playback. There were a lot of great tracks this month, so don't be surprised to see yours up here in the future. In the meantime, grab your batidos, chill out, and listen to "Blue Dress"

September '06 Winner: Richard Larsen

Blue Dress.mp3

Richard writes:

Jennifer Cook sings in a very natural sytle, reminscent of Julie London and Astrud Gilberto, so what could be better than the UA 2-610? The samba inspired track, Blue Dress, also featured Ramon Stagnaro (Ricky Martin, Luis Miguel, Shakira) who played acoustic guitar, also tracked through the legendary warmth of the 2-610. Using all of three takes, Ramon gave the track it's grace as a perfect compliment to Jennifer's passionate plea "Please don't let another moment pass us by".

While this track uses modern electronica techniques, the classic analog sound of voice and guitar draws the listener into a cozy listening vibe. The UA 2-610 was the perfect foil to the background of edgy synths and static drum loops.

Carlos Castro, of Watersound Studios in Studio City has a lot of vintage UA gear. It was his special accomodation that allowed me to stage a mic-pre shoot-out with help from Rob Zenn of the Guitar Center. After comparing all available mic-pre's and even Carlos' vintage UA pre, several studio owners agreed, after the blind test, that the 2-610 was not only the best sounding pre, but also most like Carlos' amazing UA pre.

I used an AKG 414, using the hi impedence load, input gain at +5 and output at about +7.5 with no EQ, in and out of the pre to a Sharp DAT, the SXD-200, then digital to ProTools, an 882. It might not be the latest thing, but I record everything at 44/16 and nobody believes me. The 2-610 makes so much sense in that it clearly presents a detailed character, capturing all the nuance in her vocal. Jennifer Cook is a wonderful singer and has a voice that uses every bit of the detail that the 2-610 provides. Also, no compression was used, I did fader moves to keep everything that the UA pre captured.

updated 10-18-06