After self-releasing her first three albums, Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Regina Spektor signed with the Sire/Warner Bros label and released four further albums. Having now completed her fifth, Remember Us To Life, she has make extensive use of microphones from Mojave Audio and Royer Labs.
LA-based Samur Khouja engineered Spektor’s latest endeavour. As the owner of Seahorse Sound Studios in downtown Los Angeles, he is well known for his sound design and synthesis capabilities. In addition to Spektor, he has worked with Devendra Banhart, Cate Le Bon and Joanna Newsom. Spektor’s Remember Us To Life was recorded at several locations, including Khouja’s Seahorse Sound Studios and LA’s Village Studios.
‘Regina is fantastic to work with,’ Khouja reports. ‘She is really cheerful and gets so excited when she hears new sounds – and she seriously shreds on piano. On Remember Us To Life she was very enthusiastic about trying new ideas and was also very focused on having things technically correct at all times. We recorded most of the songs with her singing and playing simultaneously. Because of this, the Mojave MA-300’s continuously variable polar pattern selector was a huge benefit for finding the sweet spot with the least amount of bleed in this type of situation.
‘Using the MA300s on background vocals also worked out really well, as their ability to use patterns in between omni and cardioid enabled me to instantly add more or less room sound,’ he adds.
Further, the Mojave MA-300s were used on grand piano, cello, and viola as well as room mics for the drums. Additional performances on the grand piano were captured using the Royer R-122 ribbon and SF-24 stereo ribbon microphone. When recording the upright piano, Khouja turned to Mojave’s MA-100 condenser mics.
‘We loved their off axis response, which really flattered the pianos we were using,’ he says. ‘For the faster, more technical songs, the fast transient response of these small diaphragm mics really helped a lot. We also used Mojave’s MA-201fet mics for both kick drum and recording bass – these have a very nice low end that works really well when mixing.
‘I have been using Mojave mics for almost ten years now,’ he reflects. ‘Design engineer David Royer is truly a special and incredibly talented person and Mojave’s Dusty Wakeman and the rest of the crew really make things honest and easy. The best part for me is knowing I can trust these microphones – especially when I’m recording in new environments. That inspires a lot of confidence and goes a long way for me personally.’
