The microphone of the German Schoeps shines at the Power Station studios in New York

After its inauguration at the end of the decade of 1970 a Midtown Manhattan (New York), the studies Power Station have come confident in the best audio equipment available, including the microphones of the German Schoeps.

Since his birth, Power Station earned a reputation for the sound of its legendary venues, with a sonic signature that can be heard on some of rock's biggest releases, pop, jazz and classical music, film and television soundtracks and Broadway productions of recent 50 years.

Ben Miller, studio operations director, who has worked at the facilities since 2017, highlights that “We turn to Schoeps when we look for timbral detail, clarity, realism and precision when trying to capture sound as it exists in the room. The sound is already fantastic in the rooms, but we can shape it with placement, polar pattern and microphone choice”.

“What sets Schoeps apart is its clarity and transparency”, says the engineer Neal Shaw. “Many other companies in the classical field tend to offer a brighter sound. Schoeps never seems overly brilliant to me. On the contrary, brings a warmth and spaciousness that others do not have. Although higher brightness may help in some darker rooms, Schoeps' unique color is an invaluable tool”.

six rooms

Power Station has four rooms that adapt to a wide variety of clients. Studio A lends itself to recording ensembles of up to 60 personas; studio B, cozier, It is suitable for small bands and overdubs; Studio C's dimensions and booth layout make it ideal for big jazz bands; and studio G is perfect for solo musicians, mixes and overdubs.

“En Power Station, have six Schoeps: of the CMC 5 with MK capsules 4 and four CMC 6 with MK capsules 5 interchangeable”, explains Shaw. “These shine in the string sessions in studios A and C. with many musicians, the hall can sometimes be a little brighter than a concert hall, and the Schoeps microphones balance things perfectly. They are very uniform microphones, which makes them excellent for recording strings, or with MK capsules 5 changed to omnidirectional, as wide/flanks to capture the room. I have also used them on piano for jazz sessions and on theorbo and classical guitar with a baroque ensemble. On big band sessions and cast albums, Our Schoeps are often used on woodwind instruments such as the flute, the clarinet, the oboe or the soprano sax”.

Henry Reinach, assistant engineer and studio engineer, recognizes that “I use a couple of CMC 6 with MK5 capsules on the piano on the keys all the time; It's one of my favorite ways to mic our pianos., especially in study B. The C7 in that room is very warm and soft, and the Schoeps microphones pick up lots of exciting highs that balance it out”. Also uses Schoeps microphones on acoustic guitar, for both mono and dual-track miking and stereo acoustic recording. “They are very crystal clear and capture a lot of nice details for fingerpicking or more intimate performances”.

Many visiting freelance engineers, as well as the staff, They have worked so much in the rooms that they know exactly which microphone to use on each source, and Schoeps microphones offer the consistency and predictability that allows any session to run efficiently. “If you are doing a big orchestral session with 50 people and you have 80 microphones, You don't have the time or money to listen to each microphone in each location and adjust the position or microphone.”, assures Miller. “You need to know exactly what everything is going to sound like when you're setting it up.. You don't even need to look at the microphone which is in the input list. Just look at the fact that it is a high-end microphone., so I know it will be a Schoeps. I know the piano hammers will be the CMC 6 with cardioid capsule”.

Power Station recording spaces are very appreciated for their acoustic qualities and engineers often turn to Schoeps microphones to capture that atmosphere, especially in Study A, with its vaulted pine wood ceiling 10 meters high. In the string sessions, Reinach states that “I place a pair of Schoeps XY microphones near the director. I made it for the strings on an upcoming Matilda Marigolds album. I also used Schoeps for room mics on vocals for an upcoming movie soundtrack that featured a quartet of singers”. ​

Although New York City's competitive real estate market has caused many major studios to close in recent decades, Power Station at BerkleeNYC is one of the few remaining temples of sound in Manhattan, which puts the facilities in a unique position. “The service Power Station provides to the music industry in New York City is irreplaceable. We are the only place left that can do what we do”, Miller concludes..