Neumann M 49

Accoridng to this May 2015 *Sound on Sound* interview with producer Al Schmitt, Young used an M 49 for his vocals on *Storytone*. > "Neil stood right next to the conductor, and sang into the same Neumann M49 that Barbra Streisand used. I figured that mic would work well on his voice, and it did. (...) I used my Neve 1081 mic pre on Neil’s voice, though I did not use compression in his case."

An M49 can be seen throughout many photos from the recording sessions of *Highway 61 Revisited*, including this one of Dylan. Its exact use is unknown, but [this photo](https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/news_large/s3/imagelibrary/C/ClassicTracks_02-0510-pPkGP11UiaF52DVyQOPyOJsYIVhvfCkC.jpg) suggests that it was used as a vocal mic. Neither Dylan's guitar amplifier (which is facing away from the microphone) or his bass (the cable of which appears to run away from Dylan's station, far from the mic) are level with the M49. Yet, the M49's boom stand is set up in such a way that Dylan would only need to look up to sing into the mic. The following is an excerpt from [pg. 322 of *Bob Dylan: All the Songs (The Story Behind Every Track)* by Philippe Margotin & Jean-Michel Guesdon](https://books.google.com/books?id=7iRBCgAAQBAJ&lpg=PP322&pg=PP322#v=onepage&q&f=false). > Out of the nine songs, only "Like a Rolling Stone" was produced by Tom Wilson. Aside from the arrival of Roy Halee (future producer of Simon & Garfunkel) as a new sound engineer, methods and recording equipment were nearly identical to those used for the album *Bringing It All Back Home*. However, a Neumann M49 mic appears in various photographs, though it is difficult to say which producer is responsible for this change—presumably Tom Wilson.

Used for the electric guitar and most vocals on *Bone Machine*, as stated by engineer Biff Dawes in this February 26, 2015 *Mix Online* interview. > Dawes describes what he recalls about placing those mics in 1992: “Usually I would take Tom’s guitar direct and I would close mike his amp [either a Princeton Tweed or a Fender Deluxe Reverb],” he says. “Sometimes I would tape mics to the guitar, and then we would add in the more distant mics from the room. Prairie Sun has a wide selection, so we used a lot of Neumanns: U 67s, U 87s, M 49s, that kind of thing. (...) Rennick says that Waits used one main vocal mic pretty consistently at Prairie Sun: “He gave every vocal on one Neumann that we still own, an M 49,” Rennick says. > However, Dawes remembers switching things up more: “It depended on the song,” he says. “A ballad, we would have a nice warm condenser, and sometimes the louder pieces we might use a [Sennheiser MD] 421, a dynamic to cut through. There was no standard. On ‘I Don’t Wanna Grow Up,’ it probably would have been something like a 421 close to him, but there also would have been a 67 or something like that, two or three feet away." The microphone would later be used for vocals on *Mule Variations*, as stated by producer Jacquire King in [this interview](https://www.audiotechnology.com/PDF/9/AT9_Recording_Tom_Waits.pdf) from issue 9 of *Audio Technology* Magazine. > "Tom’s vocals were always recorded with an Neumann M49, through a Neve mic pre and Teletronic LA2A tube limiter – although we often altered the sound of it afterwards."

Used as a room mic for some of *Only by the Night*, as stated by producer Jacques King in this December 2008 *Sound on Sound* interview. > "I had half a dozen mics up for the room sound: a Neumann U67, M49, AKG C12, RCA 44, and/or a Royer SF12 in the echo chamber. I'd leave the door to the echo chamber open so the sound of the drums was happening in there as well, and I'd move the room mics around to get the sound that I wanted for a particular song. I would then bus different combinations to the two room tracks, depending on the song. In the case of 'Sex On Fire' I used a U67 and an RCA 44 for Room 1, and an RCA4 4 and an SF12 for Room 2. Some of these mics went through Neve preamps, some through an old RCA tube mic that Blackbird customised. The combination of room mics was bussed through a Fairchild 670." [The Blackbird Studios condenser microphone list](https://www.blackbirdaudiorentals.com/condenser-mics) has both the M 49 and the M 49 B. Given that lack of King's specification and the fact the microphones are aesthetically different enough to distinguish each other (which would otherwise encourage specification anyway), the version used was most likely the original.

According to this *Sound on Sound* interview with producer Roy Halee, the M49 was used extensively for Simon & Garfunkel. > "Right from the start, I loved their sound because it had a classical feel," he now says. "It was very beautiful, very legitimate, with these two voices on one microphone. They never worked with two separate microphones, never. It would not work. You couldn't use two [Neumann] M49s, separate those voices and then mix them together." Halee goes on to explain that the M49 was revisited during the recording of *Graceland*. > "For microphones, we used the usual selection of tube Neumann 49s, 87s and 67s. In fact, Paul's mic always seemed to end up being a tube 67 thanks to how it helps with sibilance, enunciation and all-around fullness. I tried different mics with him through the years, but I always went back to the standard M49 or U67."

Used on *Untouchables*, as stated by engineer Frank Filipetti in this transcribed March 2005 interview. > KORN > "I Did My Time" > Producer: Jonathan Davis of Korn > Engineer: Frank Filipetti > "It's about clarity," says Korn frontman/producer Jonathan Davis, "especially with my stuff cause there's so much low-end and sh-t going on. A lot of mixes can come out not really that clear, and that's one of the reasons I love Frank, because he records great vocals. So any vocals that I do or produce, it has to be about clarity. I have a couple mics that I really like to use; the Sanken is one of my main ones. It's all about not f--kin' with it - just a little bit of compression, that's it." > Signal Path: Tracking > "I was out on the road at the time writing the lyrics," says Jonathan. "I sang a verse in New Orleans and shipped it off to Frank on Pro Tools, so actually we used two different mics when I recorded that. The first was a [Neumann] U 47 with my chain, my preamp [Tube-Tech MP 1A], and the stuff I did at the house [ElemenTree Studios] with Frank was a different process. We used the Sanken [CMU-44]. But with Frank, he totally knows. I listen to it and I really don't have to say anything, 'cause Frank knows me." > "The vocal signal path I used for Jonathan is a Sanken CMU-44, into a TUBE-TECH MP-1A mic pre," adds Filipetti. "From there it went to a Neve 1073, then into the [Universal Audio] 1176, and from there to a GML EQ. Then I brought it into the tape monitor on the SSL 6000, then to the Euphonix R-1. We also used the DBX 160SL on the return on playback to vary the levels slightly, but we didn't record with it. That was part of the chain as well. It's about 85% of what we came up with on the last record with some slight modifications. It's a different console to begin with and a different microphone. The mic we used the last time was an M 49. We chose the Sanken because it just has the best overall combination of lows and highs. > "Jonathan has a very powerful voice," he continues, "especially when he starts to get into it. Some mics pick up the low level detail very well and some mics can hold themselves with screaming really well, but this seemed to have a good combination of both. We were able to get a nice quality between Jonathan singing softly and Jonathan screaming out full-bore. After comparing a lot of other mics, we ended up with the Sanken. In fact the top two mics were the Sanken and the [Audio-Technica] AT4060." > As for the other key components in the chain, Filipetti explains: "The Tube-Tech provides the presence. It has more presence than any other mic pre that I've used and it has an incredible midrange. The 1073 was there just to add a little bit of that Neve crunch - we ran it pretty hot. And I also used a tiny bit of the low frequency and the high frequency EQ. Then I went to the 1176; after trying out a bunch of compressors on Jonathan's voice, the 1176 worked out best. It just seemed to hit him properly. We used that real high-end stuff on the GML, which added that over-end air, which it does incredibly well, and then brought it into the console. On some tracks at the end of the chain we added a DBX 160SL. On a couple tracks that just added a punch that worked out really nicely." > Vocal Philosophy > "My objective with Jonathan is what it is with everybody," says Filipetti. "Basically, the song lives and dies with the vocal. I tend to gravitate toward and work with singers who have real personality. I'm not looking for dancers who are singers. My approach is to make sure that all of that personality comes out; I don't want anything to get lost. I'm looking for all the little quirks and the harmonic things in their voice that make them special, and I look to bring that out. Sometimes it's a matter of just putting the proper mic in front of them. Sometimes it's a matter of adding more things in the chain, but basically, like I do with everyone, I always listen in the room to the singer and then try to capture as much of that as I can through the vocal chain."

Used for vocals on *Come Away With Me*, as stated by producer Jay Newland in this September 2003 Universal Audio WebZine interview. > The single from the Norah Jones record “Come Away With Me” was actually a demo track that was cut in a small live room at Sorcerer Sound, with the entire band live. It was recorded with a Neumann M49 Mic thru a Manley pre amp and Vari-Mu compressor limiter. Newland used LA-2A compression very subtly on the vocal in the mix. “The LA-2A for me is sort of a default that I always go to. It always works great. I’m just getting into using the 1176 more for more of that in your face vocals. For the jazz stuff, the transparency of the LA-2A is sometimes nicer.” The M 49 is also mentioned by Newland in [this transcribed March 2005 interview](https://www.gearslutz.com/board/rap-hip-hop-engineering-and-production/352371-vocal-compression.html). > "The first time I heard Norah Jones sing at a rehearsal before our initial sessions, I knew she had a truly great voice," says Jay. "I only mention this because it's the crucial first link in the chain. The recording chain for 'Don't Know Why,' as well as most of the rest of the record, was a Neumann M 49 microphone into a Manley tube mic pre. We tried other mics, a [Neumann] U 47 and a [AKG] C12vr, but the M 49 had the right amount of 'air' while maintaining a real fullness and warmth. The tube pre was also warm but a little less colored than, say, a vintage Neve pre, which I love in many cases. This went into one side of a Manley Vari-mu compressor with a fast attack and release setting. The threshold was high so it was barely hitting the compressor. The Vari-mu can also be very transparent, which is why I liked it for this application. This went to BASF (Emtec) 900 analog tape at 15 ips on a STUDER A820 with Dolby SR. Although I like Pro Tools HD, we did not use Pro Tools on this session. No Auto-Tuning. The console is custom built by Al Fierstein, owner of Sorcerer Sound, and is called Acoustilog." Jones revealed in [this February 1, 2010 *Electronic Musician* interview](https://www.emusician.com/artists/norah-jones-producer-jacquire-king-and-engineer-brad-bivens-embark-on-a-bolder-and-darker-trip-for-the-fall) that she bought the M 49 personally for *Come Away With Me* and also used it on *Feels Like Home* and *Not Too Late*. > I bought the Neumann M 49 from Sorcerer Sound where I made my first record. It has a quality with the way I sing that just works. I realized on my second record [2004’s Feels Like Home] that it was pretty special. I couldn’t get that same quality as easily with another mic. I love the M 49 and I also used a Telefunken ELA M 250 on my third record [2007’s Not Too Late]. It depends on the type of song and the way I am singing for which one sounds better. I love the 49 ’cause it gets all the grit and warmth, but sometimes it can sound a little too muffled if I am singing a certain way. Then the 250 gives some nice high end and a lot of air. And I like to be close to the mic to catch all the nuances. An M 49 can also be seen in [the promotional video for Seth MacFarlane's *Music Is Better Than Words* at 2:09](https://youtu.be/ayZ6c8WrD5U?t=129), revealing that it was used for Jones' vocal feature on "Two Sleepy People".

Visible in this photo of Davis from the *Porgy and Bess* sessions. In [this article](https://londonjazzcollector.wordpress.com/2016/09/23/microphones-and-missiles-the-legendary-neumann-u47-microphone/), LondonJazzCollecter states that the M49 was the only mic Davis used for himself on *Kind of Blue*: > The M49 was a favourite of recording studios in the 1950s and 60s and was the standard microphone used on smooth pop and soulful jazz recordings during the era. (...) Miles Davis was said to have exclusively used this microphone on his best-selling album: "Kind of Blue".

Used for Michael's vocals on *Faith*, as mentioned by sound engineer Chris Porter in this March 2013 *Sound on Sound* interview. > "The microphone he used on that album was a Neumann M49 at Puk that I ended up buying and still use today for quite a lot of vocal work. It's got a nice, controlled top end, so it's not harsh at the top but very, very open. One of the problems with early digital recordings was that you did tend to get quite a harsh top end that was a bit unforgiving. That has improved a lot over the years, but back then the Sonys and even the Mitsubishis had a ceiling on the top end that was almost like a glass wall. I found the M49 gave you a lovely warmth, a lovely depth with a controlled top end, which you could then accentuate without it becoming too metallic and unnatural.”

"Barbra Streisand, for example, has been using a particular Neumann M49 since we did 'The Way We Were.'" — Al Schmitt, producer

Visible in this photo of Bennett.

According to LondonJazzCollector, "[f]or the vocals on Simon and Garfunkel’s 'Bridge Over Troubled Water', producer Roy Halee used a M49 to mic Art Garfunkel." Halee said the following about recording Simon & Garfunkel in [this *Sound on Sound* article](https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/classic-tracks-paul-simon-you-can-call-me-al): > "Right from the start, I loved their sound because it had a classical feel," he now says. "It was very beautiful, very legitimate, with these two voices on one microphone. They never worked with two separate microphones, never. It would not work. You couldn't use two [Neumann] M49s, separate those voices and then mix them together."

Visible in this photo of Franklin.

Used to record Was' bass on Benmont Tench's *You Should Be So Lucky*, as visible in this Twitter post by Tench.