Antibalas – Antibalas

Used to record the horns on Antibalas, as mentioned in this May 15, 2012 Dubspot blog post.

For recording horns, particularly baritone sax and lower brass, I use a Beyerdynamic TG88 or Sennheiser 421. I don’t own these and usually borrow them from friends, or rent them from a local gear rental place. Renting can be a great way to have access to mics that cost hundreds or thousands of dollars. Usually, gear rental places will give you daily, weekend, weekly, and monthly rates. This is a great way to try out and experiment with high end microphones before you invest in something that may not be right for you. Scour garage sales, thrift shops, and junk shops for old mics and experiment with them as well. If they don’t work out, you can resell them or trade them or save them for a rainy day. The last record I made was with Antibalas at Daptone, a tape only studio. We had all four horns recording onto what I remember was a RCA DX77, an old ribbon mic. They have an assortment of incredible vintage gear and microphones, as well as a surprising variety of Radio Shack and other lo-fi microphones used for specific applications.