Kings of Convenience acoustic sounds

[marqueemoon]

Obviously it helps that their mixes are generally pretty minimal, but can anybody guess at what sorcery is at work here?

I suppose it really starts with the playing and arrangements, but yeah.

To my ears the main guitars sound like they are miced pretty closely, but they never sound woofy or heavily eq-ed, nor does there seem to be any obvious pumping. They’re natural sounding, but also perfectly reigned in.

Maybe really good omni mics to mitigate proximity effect + really transparent multiband compression? Just a wild guess.

[Larry Mal]

New to me, but I just listened to "Washing Machine", I'll give some more of their stuff a listen to since I am always into acoustic sounds.

Your idea about the omni mics is very plausible.

[marqueemoon]

New to me, but I just listened to "Washing Machine", I'll give some more of their stuff a listen to since I am always into acoustic sounds.

Your idea about the omni mics is very plausible.

Yeah. I consider their stuff up with the best of modern recorded acoustic sounds.

The nylon string sounds in particular are pretty great. A lot of times that’s playing the bass role.

[Larry Mal]

Well, this is a video of a recording session of theirs, I can't quite make out all the microphones, though.

https://www.facebook.com/kingsofconveni ... 1520513994

[Larry Mal]

However that video isn't really playing for me from the link. Let me know if it doesn't work for you and I'll find some other way to get it up.

[marqueemoon]

However that video isn't really playing for me from the link. Let me know if it doesn't work for you and I'll find some other way to get it up.

Worked for me, but yeah can’t make out much.

The thumb pick Erlend is using is probably the biggest insight for me.

[Dok]

Looks like a Sennheiser 441 on the guy on the left? Surprising. And the woman on the right seems to be playing into some sort of Beyerdynamic ribbon. The rest are vocal mics and I can't tell what the guy in the middle is being recorded with due to the angle.

[øøøøøøø]

Looks like a Sennheiser 441 on the guy on the left? Surprising.

Only surprising if you've never tried a 441 on acoustic!

It's one of the few moving-coil mics that I think really works fantastically on acoustic guitar. Obviously it's not a KM56, but it's a different kind of thing... a very good thing.

I don't get the sense that there's anything magical in the recording chain/process here--it's guitars played with fingers with a certain kind of time feel and concept of blend.

[Telliot]

the woman on the right

Isn’t that Feist?

[marqueemoon]

I don't get the sense that there's anything magical in the recording chain/process here--it's guitars played with fingers with a certain kind of time feel and concept of blend.

A lot of it is the playing/arrangements, and there is a lot of judicious editing and automation bringing parts in and out.

Still, if there is some secret sauce here I want to know what it is.

[Dok]

Looks like a Sennheiser 441 on the guy on the left? Surprising.

Only surprising if you've never tried a 441 on acoustic!

It's one of the few moving-coil mics that I think really works fantastically on acoustic guitar. Obviously it's not a KM56, but it's a different kind of thing... a very good thing.

I don't get the sense that there's anything magical in the recording chain/process here--it's guitars played with fingers with a certain kind of time feel and concept of blend.

I've never tried a 441 on anything. It's next on my list if I come across a good deal.

[Dok]

the woman on the right

Isn’t that Feist?

I was looking at the microphone!

[UlricvonCatalyst]

This documentary will probably yield a few clues, and is an interesting watch if you haven't already seen it.

[marqueemoon]

This documentary will probably yield a few clues, and is an interesting watch if you haven't already seen it.

Thanks for the link. That was great.

The one thing that stood out to me was the 3 hour soundcheck. That’s got to be a combination rehearsal/soundcheck, but still.

Must be nice to be able to tour on the train and have the government buy your unsold tickets.

No big revelations on the recorded sound, and it seems like they take a pretty pragmatic approach to their live setup.

Nylon strings seem to be on the smaller and shallower side, so that might partially be responsible for the more controlled low end.

[UlricvonCatalyst]

Ah, I thought there was some studio footage in there - it's been a while since I watched it.