News
The Black Keys go back to basics with Shure
Rob Hughes Dec 18 2008, 10:00am
Midwest duo record new album with the help of vintage gear
Attack & Release, the latest album from guitar-and-drum double-act The Black Keys, was produced using an irreplaceable collection of vintage equipment, including pieces by Shure.
The band (who can individually be identified as guitarist/vocalist Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney) worked with producer Brian ‘Danger Mouse’ Burton – the man behind the sound of Gnarls Barkley – to record the album
"We decided we wanted to go into the studio with a real producer," Patrick Carney said, "to use really nice old equipment for once."
Starting from scratch on the record right in the studio, the only things the pair brought with them from the outside world were the tricks they learned during years of their own home production. Shure KSM44 condenser mics were put to work on their behalf, along with KSM141 condenser microphones with switchable polar patterns.
Complementing the vintage theme of The Key's record project, Auerbach also procured a Vocal Master PA in Cleveland that the pair used onstage while touring just before entering the studio.
Introduced in 1967, the Shure Vocal Master was touted in advertising at the time as the "first portable total sound system", with an integrated power amplifier and mixer.
"We wanted to get that kind of weird vocal sound blended in," Auerbach recalled. "They're kind of dangerous; heavy as hell, metal-lined on the rims. If you drop one, you'll cut off your feet. Besides that, they're awesome."
Attack & Release was recorded in Ohio at a studio outside Cleveland called Suma, owned by Paul Hamann. The Black Keys picked the location based on the availability of Hamann's engineering skills as well as its ambience. "The place is covered with dust, it smells like a moldy cabin, and it looks like a haunted house," Carney explains on The Black Keys website. "It was fitting for our first time of going into a real studio."
shure.com
