Recently, engineer Matt Lane and producer Keith Saunders worked on a recording project for recording artist Jar-e. Asheville, North Carolina-based, Jar-e is a multi-instrumentalist and multi-genre songwriter. He plays a Rhodes and a trombone in his six piece band and is signed to Exotic Recordings. He recntly spoke with GW about the experience of recording his most recent album.

“For this record, Chicas Malas, we decided to record the band on location in a barn in Marshall, NC, a small mountain town about 20 miles outside of Asheville,” says Saunders. “Our goal was to capture the sound and performance of a well-honed, electrifying band. We knew recording guitar, keys, bass and drums at the same time was important. There's so much happening between the band members during the songs in the moment, even the though the songs are well structured and arranged.”

The barn they used has been used before as a studio so there were isolation rooms and a control room, but most of the recording equipment had to be brought in.

One of the pieces of gear they used was a Schoeps BLM 03cg PZM microphones.

“Their intended purpose is to be used for tabletop pick up of spoken word. They tend to be nice for large rooms with low absorption coefficients.” says Lane.

Saunders adds that you usually seem them in theaters across the front of the stage.

“They use them to reinforce sounds happening during performances, like foot stomping, prop sounds, etc.” says Saunders.

In recording drums for the Jar-e sessions, the duo used the BLM positioned between the snare bottom and beater-side kick.

“This technique worked out really well. We killed two birds with one stone: bottom snare and beater-side kick on one track. The mix levels were balanced perfectly on that track, and really enhanced the sound of the drums as a whole,” says Saunders. “We also placed a BLM inside the back of the guitarist's amp cabinet for a few songs, and achieved a very warm -- and well-isolated -- guitar track.”

Saunders says that the best feature of the mics is their flat design, which allows them to be placed in tight places. This also makes them low profile when you use them live.

“They are nice PZM's, however, [the microphones' circular housings] are not the best design for the plate. Not much is really worth the cost when we are talking prices like these unfortunately .” Says Lane. (Ed. Note: the BLMs usual go for over $1500 US, new)

He adds that they are one of the better PZM models.

More from Saunders and Lane soon.