Royer R-121 Ribbon Microphone

Used for the guitar on *Icky Thump*, as stated by recording and mixing engineer Joe Chiccarelli in this October 2007 *Sound on Sound* interview. > “The Trident at Blackbird Studio D was used for monitoring, and also some guitar microphones, plus most of the room microphones. Some room mics went through an API 512, and a few through a crazy old RCA OP6 tube preamp. Most of the other close mics went through various Neve 1073, Brent Averill API 312 and Chandler TG2 preamps. Jack loves the sound of ribbon microphones, so we used a lot of them, on guitar amps, vocals, and as room mics: Coles 4038, Royer 121, AEA R84. I would have six to 10 room mics up, and would chose a stereo pair from them." > (...) “For the song ‘Icky Thump’ I had the Royer and an AEA on Jack’s two guitar amps, and a couple of U67s for room ambience. In a few cases I used the Shure SM7 guide vocal mic. Ribbons are prone to overloading, so we blew out four Coles mics on the guitar amps. Luckily Jack had several Coles 4038’s with him! The guitar mics went through Neve and Chandler preamps, and then always through an API 550A EQ, and then an 1176. The Univox sounded great acoustically in the room and was miked with a U87 across the room, going into a Chandler TG2 preamp and then some slight compression with an LA2A." This is restated by Chiccarelli in [this October 1, 2007 *Mix Online* interview](https://www.mixonline.com/recording/white-stripes-365875). > The Twin was one of two amps that Jack White used, the other being a rare Silvertone piggyback amp. Chiccarelli used an assortment of ribbon mics on the amps, including an AEA R84, a Royer 121 and a Coles. He would also put a Neumann 67 back in the room for ambient tracks. As far as outboard gear, Neve 1073 preamps and UREI 1176 compressor/limiters were typically used, with a Fairchild compressor also being employed occasionally.

John Mayer was using the Royer R-121 Ribbon microphone while playing an acoustic version of "Something like Olivia". The microphone is slightly hidden, but can be seen at 1:47

"What microphones did you use to record your guitars? I use a Shure SM57 positioned on axis a couple of inches from the cone. On some tracks the engineer, Ryan Hewitt, added a Royer R-121 ribbon mic, positioned about 15 feet away, in order to capture some of the room sound. We used a Telefunken Ela M 250 tube condenser mic on the acoustic guitars."

The Royer-121 was one of three mics used to record the guitar cab for Daft Punk.

This mic can sometimes be seen on Matt's cab

Used for "Get On Your Boots", as stated by producer Declan Gaffney. > "Most of 'Get On Your Boots' was recorded in Dublin by Richard Rainey, and the basic backing tracks were done live, by the whole band together. (...) Edge's thick guitar sound is entirely from the live band session, recorded with two Royer 121s, one on his Fender Deluxe and the other on his AC30, and the mics went through the Neve and then an LA2A, though it's not doing anything, it was just there for the sound. When recording Edge's cabinets, it's almost always a 121, or a Sennheiser 409, occasionally a 57. I record completely flat, because Edge will have found a great guitar sound, and you just record it." The 121 was also used on *Songs of Experience*, as stated by engineer Math Bishop in [this ProSoundWeb article](https://www.prosoundweb.com/channels/recording/recording-engineer-math-bishop-chooses-focusrite-for-new-u2-album/). > “With The Edge I’d always have a Royer 121 and a [Shure] SM57 set up on the amp, and on these sessions I ran them through the Focusrite ISA 828."

in this article, Mac states his sound tech purchased several mics for the recording of This Old Dog, including a Royer R-121.

Reverb.com commented on a video of john saying that he used a royer r-121 and a shure sm-57 in the video.

you can see that josh use a rover r-121 for his marshall.

Pictured and mentioned in [this *AudioTechnology* magazine article](http://www.audiotechnology.com/coldplay-live-how-its-done/) about the Ghost Stories Tour, erroneously typed as a portmanteau of Royer's SF-12 (a stereo coincident ribbon mic) and R-121. > Jonny Buckland’s pedalboard is a two-man lift. Meanwhile, the rack (which is replicated for redundancy’s sake) packs his wireless receivers, TC2290 delays, Line6 processing and an Eventide Harmonizer. The Fender amps are serviced by Shure SM57s, with a coincident Royer SF121 [*sic*] ribbon on one cab.

[This page](http://www.royerlabs.com/blink182.html) includes photos of a Blink 182 recording session, and the captions confirm that a Royer R-121 was used on Tom DeLongue's cab.

We can see a Royer R-121 Ribbon Microphone on this Marshall Cab. During the Download Festival, June 2017.

"Generally we have three microphones on each cab—either a Shure SM57 or Heill PR 30 next to a Sennheiser 421, and then either a ribbon mic like a Royer R-121 ribbon or a Neumann FET47, to capture a fullness of sound." - excerpt from Premier Guitar interview.

"The band tours nearly 300 days a year so to keep things running as efficient as possible Barakat uses a Kemper Profiler so he can quickly access all the band’s recorded tones and even shared settings given to him by Mark Hoppus of Blink 182. For his clean tone he’s using an AC30 model that’s miked with a Royer R121 ribbon microphone and for the more aggressive stuff the core tone is sampling from Barakat’s Budda Superdrive 30."

Brian Setzer’s Royer R-121 Mic is shown at 19:50 in this Rig Rundown from Premier Guitar.

The vocalist is seen using the iconic Royer Ribbon Microphone in the music video to Bring Me The Horizon's single Drown.

"In general I used both Shure SM57 and Royer R-121 ribbon mics, a few inches back, just off the center of the cone, give or take an inch or two depending on the part. When you back the mics off a bit, it can help a part sit in a track better, especially if there are more that two guitar parts."

"Mics on the amp were a Shure SM57 and Royer R-121. Everything was recorded into Logic Pro. Beat was made with Native Instruments Battery 4." -Andy Othling

"I have an [AKG C414 TLII](https://equipboard.com/items/akg-c414-tlii) for vocals and acoustic guitar, a couple of Royer R121s and some [Shure SM57](https://equipboard.com/items/shure-sm57-instrument-vocal-mic) and [58s](https://equipboard.com/items/shure-sm58-vocal-microphone) for guitars, and that's it." - [Ken Lawrence](http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jul13/articles/it-0713.htm).

"I sometimes used a Royer R121 ribbon and I would sometimes use a [Shure] Beta 52."

> Nowadays, I use ribbons and a great combination of the Royer 121 and something called a Turner. Turner was a company in the 1930s. First they made headstones, then they made PAs for funerals—and they also got into shortwave radio mics—but they had two or three that were high-end mics. But they’re not very high end.

Oz Noy lists all of his current gear, including this one on his website.

According to the "equipment list" found on Church Studios, owned by Epworth, one of the things listed is Royer R121.

"I use a Royer R-121 and Shure SM7 and sometimes a Sennheiser MD 421 on my cab. That’s going through a Retro compressor, a Burl Mothership [analog to digital converter], an Empirical Labs Fatso compressor, and a Dangerous Music BAX EQ. That signal chain’s amazing, but everything else is just coming through my pedalboard."

> When I mic an amp, it’s usually with a single Royer 121 — that almost always sounds better to me than anything else. Since it’s a figure-eight pattern, you get the same depth you might obtain using a close-positioned dynamic mic and a more distant condenser. If I must use a dynamic, I’ll pick a Sennheiser 421.

“On guitars, we had a selection of Royer 121s, Sony C37a’s, and I own a bunch of old ’60s Shure SM56s. Each amp would be double-miked with a condenser or dynamic, and a ribbon mic, and there were almost always two amps going at once,”

"Electric guitar wise, I like to use the Royer 121 in combination with a 57."

Used on *A Thousand Kisses Deep*, as stated by recording engineer Joe Chicarelli in this December 1, 2003 *Electronic Musician* interview. > **What mic were you using on trumpet?** > Mostly a Royer 121, which you wouldn't expect to work in that situation because it's bidirectional. You'd think there would be a lot of bleed into the back of the mic. I tried it because I've used Royers on trumpets before and they sound nice and warm. On some songs, Chris thought the Royer was a little too dark, so we ended up using a Neumann U 67. But overall, I liked the Royer, especially for muted trumpet, which can sometimes get a little nasty in the midrange. We also used a Sony C37A for some songs; I remembered it was Herb Alpert's favorite trumpet mic!

Used on the trumpet for Justin Bieber's "Love Yourself", as stated by *Purpose* mix engineers Josh Gudwin and Andrew Wuepper in this May 2016 *Sound on Sound* interview about the mixing of the title track and others. > “I didn’t want to add much to the session, but I did continue working on it until it felt right to me. I wanted to maintain the fact that the arrangement is very bare, yet also add small things to make it sound fuller than it is. These small additions are like ear treats. When Phil came in to play his trumpet, I recorded him sitting in a chair, with a Royer mic right underneath and just a Neve pre, and no compression. Right after cutting it, I immediately worked on the sound. I put a reverse reverb on it, and a UAD MXR flanger and a delay. The ‘Audio 1’ track has a trumpet loop that I made, a texture thing on which I had the UAD SPL Vitalizer." According to [the official microphone list of Record Plant](http://recordplant.com/microphone-list/), where "Love Yourself" was recorded, the only Royer microphones are two R-121s.