Norah Jones

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 Variable Mu's status as a stereo unit is specified by this transcribed March 2005 interview.

"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."

Used on Jones' vocals for The Fall, as stated by producer Jacquire King in this February 1, 2010 Electronic Musician interview with Jones, Jacquire King and assistant engineer Brad Bivens.

She was into adding delay on her voice, trying not to just make it pretty with reverb. The delays were both analog and plug-in. I use Audio Ease Altiverb, SoundToys EchoBoy delay, some of the UA plug-ins—they have a nice EMT 140 emulation—and the Cooper Time Cube Delay. We used The Magic Shop’s Marshall Tape Eliminator AR-300, a tape slap simulator. And Norah had an old Ibanez analog delay. We used a Roland Chorus Echo and EMT 140 plate reverbs, too. Sometimes I will use an Eventide H3000 for harmonic delay effects, and as I get them going I will print them in Pro Tools with the transfer from analog.

Used extensively on Feels Like Home, as mentioned by producer Jay Newland in this May 3, 2004 Mix Online article.

“The 2-1176 was used on every song on Norah's new record. Recording and mixing, I would have to call it the perfect everyday, ‘go to’ piece of gear. From subtle to slamming, it sounds great on everything: overheads, room mics, acoustic guitars, vocals—really fantastic,” commented Newland.

“On Norah’s record, there are a lot of songs with two guitars: left and right. The 2-1176 pulls them out but somehow connects them together in a very cool way. At my home studio, it is the path for all the vocals: lead and background.”

Used to record Come Away With Me, as mentioned by producer Jay Newland in this transcribed March 2005 interview.

"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."

Used on Jones' vocals for The Fall, as stated by producer Jacquire King in this February 1, 2010 Electronic Musician interview with Jones, King and assistant engineer Brad Bivens.

She was into adding delay on her voice, trying not to just make it pretty with reverb. The delays were both analog and plug-in. I use Audio Ease Altiverb, SoundToys EchoBoy delay, some of the UA plug-ins—they have a nice EMT 140 emulation—and the Cooper Time Cube Delay. We used The Magic Shop’s Marshall Tape Eliminator AR-300, a tape slap simulator. And Norah had an old Ibanez analog delay. We used a Roland Chorus Echo and EMT 140 plate reverbs, too. Sometimes I will use an Eventide H3000 for harmonic delay effects, and as I get them going I will print them in Pro Tools with the transfer from analog.

An RE-501 can be seen in the far right of this photo of King's LBT studio from this June 28, 2018 Mix Online interview.

Part of Jones' home studio, as stated in this February 1, 2010 Electronic Musician interview with Jones, producer Jacquire King and assistant engineer Brad Bivens about The Fall.

Demos for The Fall began at Jones’ Manhattan home studio in May 2008, with engineer Tom Schick manning her custom Neve console (with 1073 modules), Otari 2-inch 24-track MTR- 90, and a sumptuous collection of vintage tube mics (Neumann M 49, U 47, and Telefunken ELA M 250).

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 LA-2A is also mentioned by Newland in this transcribed March 2005 interview.

"In the mix stage, the voice went through a new Universal Audio LA-2A. Again the threshold was set so that compression was minimal."

Used to record The Fall, as stated in this February 1, 2010 Electronic Musician interview with Jones, producer Jacquire King and his assistant engineer Brad Bivens.

Recording in mid-2009 at New York’s The Magic Shop, Studio A (Neve 80 Series console with 1079 modules to 16-track Studer A827 2-inch 24-track to Pro Tools|HD3) and L.A.’s Sunset Sound, Studio 2 (Neve 8088 with 1073 preamps and EQs to Studer A827 2-inch 24-track to Pro Tools), Jones and King adopted a quasi Steely Dan approach, often recording the same song with different groups, then cherry-picking the best performances.

Used to record The Fall, as stated in this February 1, 2010 Electronic Musician interview with Jones, producer Jacquire King and assistant engineer Brad Bivens.

Recording in mid-2009 at New York’s The Magic Shop, Studio A (Neve 80 Series console with 1079 modules to 16-track Studer A827 2-inch 24-track to Pro Tools|HD3) and L.A.’s Sunset Sound, Studio 2 (Neve 8088 with 1073 preamps and EQs to Studer A827 2-inch 24-track to Pro Tools), Jones and King adopted a quasi Steely Dan approach, often recording the same song with different groups, then cherry-picking the best performances.

Used on Jones' vocals for The Fall, as stated by producer Jacquire King in this February 1, 2010 Electronic Musician interview with Jones, Jacquire King and assistant engineer Brad Bivens.

She was into adding delay on her voice, trying not to just make it pretty with reverb. The delays were both analog and plug-in. I use Audio Ease Altiverb, SoundToys EchoBoy delay, some of the UA plug-ins—they have a nice EMT 140 emulation—and the Cooper Time Cube Delay. We used The Magic Shop’s Marshall Tape Eliminator AR-300, a tape slap simulator. And Norah had an old Ibanez analog delay. We used a Roland Chorus Echo and EMT 140 plate reverbs, too. Sometimes I will use an Eventide H3000 for harmonic delay effects, and as I get them going I will print them in Pro Tools with the transfer from analog.

Used on Jones' vocals for The Fall, as stated by producer Jacquire King in this February 1, 2010 Electronic Musician interview with Jones, Jacquire King and assistant engineer Brad Bivens.

She was into adding delay on her voice, trying not to just make it pretty with reverb. The delays were both analog and plug-in. I use Audio Ease Altiverb, SoundToys EchoBoy delay, some of the UA plug-ins—they have a nice EMT 140 emulation—and the Cooper Time Cube Delay. We used The Magic Shop’s Marshall Tape Eliminator AR-300, a tape slap simulator. And Norah had an old Ibanez analog delay. We used a Roland Chorus Echo and EMT 140 plate reverbs, too. Sometimes I will use an Eventide H3000 for harmonic delay effects, and as I get them going I will print them in Pro Tools with the transfer from analog.