Snarky Puppy’s forthcoming Empire Central album represents a return-to-roots recording, tracked live in front of a studio audience and slated for release in autumn. The eight-night live recording session at the Deep Ellum Art Company in Dallas, Texas, saw engineer Nic Hard using 26 Lauten Audio microphones to capture 19 musicians simultaneously.

‘Trinity’ is the first single from Empire Central and is currently available on YouTube, where many of the 26 Lauten Audio mics can be seen on-screen. ‘Every Lauten mic seen in the video, and those not seen, is used in the mix,’ Hard says. ‘They worked out perfectly.

‘I really believe that without these mics, the record wouldn’t sound the same. Lauten Audio mics are now an important part of my arsenal,’ Hard continues. ‘What stood out to me the most was Lauten’s functionality and manipulability. I loved having all of the filters on the mics, and I loved the control of bleed I could get with the LS-208s, as well as being able to change the sonic character of the Atlantis.’

The unexpigated list of Lauten Audio mics used on the Empire Central sessions includes four LA-120, ten LA-220, five Atlantis FC-387, three Clarion FC-357, and four LS-208. The session set-up included three complete drum kits, where each tom was recorded with its own LA-220. Hi-hats were captured with LA-120, and a Clarion was used for the outside kick drum. Atlantis mics were chosen for percussion overheads and solo trumpet.

‘I find the extensive filters/roll-offs extremely useful for drums, and I had no EQs available to process sound on the way in, so I was taking advantage of the options available on the Lauten mics,’ Hard explains. ‘I used a Clarion on a kick, and it sounded great.’

Lauten Audio’s LS-208 offered unexpected performance in this live recording environment. ‘I chose the 208s for horns because it was necessary to have as much isolation as possible. The surprise for me was how tight the pickup pattern is on the LS-208s – an incredibly useful tool. Honestly, I could’ve used about 20 more of the 208s for percussion. Using the 208 for talk-box made it much more vibrant, while still having manageable amounts of bleed.’

Michael League (Snarky Puppy band leader/composer/bassist) is also a Lauten Audio enthusiast. In a recent video testimonial, he said, ‘What I love most about the Lauten Atlantis and the LA-120s is that I can bring them to any recording session with any instruments, anywhere in the world, and get the sounds that I need to make a beautiful sounding record.’