Frank Sinatra – Strangers In The Night (Expanded Edition)

Mentioned on page 181 of Sessions with Sinatra: Frank Sinatra and the Art of Recording by Charles L. Granata.

Recording enthusiasts may have wondered about the microphone depicted on the cover of Strangers in the Night–a mike that looks like curiously like a Shure handheld dynamic microphone. (...) It is, in fact, a Senheiser 405 condenser microphone, a crisp, snappy microphone which was a bit more directional than other condenser mikes.

The book does not specify which kind of Sennheiser 405 was used (the MKH 405, MD 405 S or the MD 405 T). Moreover, the album cover photo is from a November 1965 session for Moonlight Sinatra. However, it is worth noting that the official microphone list for EastWest Studios's Studio One (where Moonlight Sinatra and Strangers in the Night was recorded) lists an MKH 405. Additionally, the MKH 405 is the only 405 not to have a narrowed housing at the mic capsule, matching the uniform, cylindric housing of the Strangers in the Night microphone. One can deduce that the spherical windscreen in the album cover was borrowed from another microphone.

Used for Sinatra’s recordings at Western Recording Studios, particularly Strangers in the Night, as featured in this May 18, 2019 Julien’s Auctions listing.

The original Universal Audio 610a console built for and used in Studio #2 of Bill Putnam's legendary Western Recorders Studios in Hollywood California. Consisting of fourteen 610a microphone preamps, with mic and line inputs, three echo sends and three echo returns, the console was installed in 1962 and went on to record countless hit songs and memorable television soundtracks.

Credited as the father of modern recording and the inventor of the modern recording console, Putnam founded Universal Audio in 1958. By then he had already become one of the most sought after audio engineers and producers in the industry and just a year prior had sold interest in his original Chicago based studio, Universal Recording to move to the west coast. By 1961 Putnam had established the first Universal Recording Corp. studio in Hollywood and bought the neighboring Western Studios, merging them into what was then to be known as United Western Recorders. The complex was home to artists like Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, and the Beach Boys and was widely regarded for its unrivaled technical excellence.

Studio #2 and this console specifically were used to create such iconic pop recordings as Frank Sinatra “Strangers in the Night,” The Beach Boys "Barbara Ann," Ricky Nelson "Fools Rush In," Wayne Newton "Danke Shoen," Crosby Stills and Nash "Long Time Coming," as well as the theme songs to The Beverly Hillbillies, Green Acres, and Hawaii Five-O. The console remained in Western Studio #2 until 1970. Sometime after Western was purchased by Alan Sides the console was sold to Producer/Engineer Mark Neil, who installed and operated the console in his San Diego studio. Around 1994 the console was sold to Producer/Engineer Mark Linett, who once again used the console in conjunction with the Beach Boys in the recording of "Brian Wilson Presents Smile" and his stereo remix of the Beach Boys "Pet Sounds." Linett also expanded the console with several new components.

An incomplete yet vast list of artists and recordings associated with this console compiled by Engineer Joe Sidore is available on request.