Step 1: bring hot water bottles and cardigans, lots of them…oh and mics too.
Step 2: wait for the car zooming about outside to stop then press 3 on your keyboard.
Step 3: DO NOT exhale at the end of any takes; first, allow the giant reverb tail to dissipate.
Well, there was a tiny bit more to it…
We recently had the pleasure of recording talented singer-songwriter, Flew The Arrow (aka Lee McGilvray) at Hamilton Mausoleum in South Lanarkshire.
Lee’s contemporary folk style, soothing guitar melody and haunting lyrics/vocal performance of his track ‘Day & Age’ were very much complimented by Sarah McWhinney on cello, Ross Hull on fiddle and Caitlin Mackenzie on flute.
Our recording approach was to close mic each instrument to keep some control in post while also capturing the incredible ambience of this iconic local structure.
Close + stereo mics
We put an AKG C451 on Lee’s acoustic guitar which picked up lots of finger-strummy goodness and an AKG C414 – on hypercardioid – for his vocal.
An sE Electronics 4400a was used on Sarah’s cello, which captured a nice balance between the instrument’s earthy low mids and finer detail. A second 4400 picked up the gentle high end of Caitlin’s flute. Both 4400s on hypercardioid.
For Ross’ fiddle, we initially put up a Sontronics STC, however the condenser picked up some external noise (in rather fine detail though it must be said) so we switched this out for a trusty Shure SM7. With a spot of EQ in post, this mic did the trick!
Finally, a matched pair of 414s were placed in front of the quartet in an ORTF position to capture the remarkable 15-second reverb tail which makes Hamilton Mausoleum one of the most unique spaces in Scotland.
Top tips
If you’re thinking of recording in the Mausoleum in future, we’d absolutely recommend a tour of the building (especially if you’re into History) to get acquainted with the space...you can’t help but make sounds inside! We’d also suggest mics with low self-noise, particularly for capturing ambience + some form of monitoring for musicians.
Want to support Scottish spaces + music?
Then why not download the track when it’s released v v soon?
Courtesy of the kind Mr Flew The Arrow, all proceeds from this recording will go direct to the Mausoleum to aid its ongoing repairs.
Count that as your good deed for the day and support amazing Scottish spaces and musos!
To follow Flew The Arrow’s magical, musical endeavours do check out: https://www.facebook.com/flewthearrowmusic/ + https://flewthearrow.bandcamp.com/
Interested in amazing culture and history right on your doorstep?
Have a gander at Hamilton Mausoleum: https://www.slleisureandculture.co.uk/info/201/hamilton_mausoleum
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