Music Mixer Lawrence Manchester Picks the M 80 for Guest Artists
NYC, May, 2010 – “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” music mixer Lawrence Manchester has picked the M 80 dynamic microphone from TELEFUNKEN Elektroakustik as the preferred vocal mic for guest musical artists. “We needed a vocal mic that could meet the challenges we encounter with our particular stage and work flow environment,” he explained.
From night to night, the show features a wide range of musical artists and bands. “The Telefunken M 80 is especially versatile with the loud stage volumes that we deal with and the close setups,” Manchester commented. “We have a relatively small stage footprint that requires lots of monitors, close monitor wedges, and a PA. It’s a nightly challenge to get clarity and isolation on the vocals.”
The TELEFUNKEN M 80 has been adopted by many touring bands, such as Phish, Taj Mahal, and Green Day, all three of whom performed on the Fallon show during a recent week of tributes to The Rolling Stones. The microphone is prized for its precise directional pickup, natural tone, and ability to isolate the vocalist from unwanted stage ambience.
“The direct sound-to-leakage ratio is far better than other mics I have tried,” says Manchester. “It rejects the sound of the monitor wedges, which in some cases can be very close, as well as other stage instruments like drums and loud guitars. The ability to reject all those sounds gives me the best shot at getting the vocal present in the mix.”
The M 80 combines a low-mass voice coil with an extremely thin Mylar membrane and a high quality step-up output transformer. “It’s a very durable mic and it looks beautiful,” adds Manchester. “We have six M 80s with two sets of grills, the silver grills that they shipped with and the black grills, which in a TV application often works well because of less glare on the lens, appreciated by the directors. Nathaniel Hare, our FOH mixer and Paul Klimson, our foldback mixer, have come to the same conclusion as me, that this microphone has solved some of our greatest vocal challenges.”
Manchester has engineered the scores for three Academy Award-winning films, numerous Gold and Platinum albums and a broad range of major musical broadcasts here and abroad. “When bands come on the Fallon show, they often provide gear and mic requests,” says Manchester. “For vocals, I try to steer them to the M 80 and they’re usually agreeable to trying them out. In every case we have done that, it has definitely improved the situation and everyone has been happier for it.”