Pete Mroz is seen in his hotel room preparing for a performance on “The Voice.” He has a Copperhead for his vocals and an ELA M260 on his guitar.
Phoenix, AZ, April 2021 – “The Voice” finalist Pete Mroz has been rehearsing while on the road with his TELEFUNKEN microphones before his appearances on the popular network show. The twentieth season of the series premiered on March 1, 2021, on NBC. Blake Shelton, Kelly Clarkson and John Legend returned as coaches for their twentieth, seventh, and fifth seasons, respectively.
Mroz has been using his large diaphragm “Copperhead” condenser mike alongside his small diaphragm ELA M 260 tube mic for his rehearsals, hotel room practicing, and live streams. Check out Mroz singing “Can’t Find My Way Home” on “The Voice”:
https://www.nbc.com/the-voice/video/blakes-old-bandmate-pete-mroz-on-blind-faiths-cant-find-my-way-home-voice-blind-auditions/4320358
“I’ve been recording for 25 years,” Mroz says, “and being a vocalist, I’ve used a ton of different microphones. I was very specific on what mic I was looking for because I naturally have a lot of high-end tones in my voice. Typically, microphones are too crisp and it becomes an EQ nightmare when I’m recording myself. I did a lot of research and I have some great artist friends that love Telefunken and they turned me on to the Copperhead. When I tried it out, it blew my mind. I finally found the right mic and I love it.”
Mroz’s large diaphragm “Copperhead” is a versatile microphone, accurately capturing vocals, acoustic and electric guitar, drums, and a variety of other sources.
“I can put that Copperhead in front of me and sing a good vocal that is clean, clear, and precise,” Mroz explains. “Or I can move it in a little bit lower and record my acoustic guitar together with my voice and it sounds perfectly balanced. Next, when I paired the Copperhead on vocals with my ELA M60 on guitar, I was immediately impressed with the separation that I got, and there weren’t any phase issues. It’s like the room opens up when I use these microphones — almost magical.”
Mroz grew up with a single dad and got his start singing in the school choir. When he was 19, he moved to Nashville and met another young aspiring musician: Blake Shelton. The two performed together as part of a songwriters’ group, but after losing his father to a heart attack, Mroz got serious about his career and now plays shows throughout the year.
Mroz likens recording and photography. “People don’t talk about this enough, but great microphones are like great cameras. When you’re in photography, a great camera body is one thing, but the magic is in the glass, the lens. And singing’s the same way, the magic is in that microphone capsule. And it’s going to reveal everything that you want and sometimes things you don’t. When you record and you hear the results, it opens up parts of your mind that you never knew existed. It fosters creativity in a way that has been overlooked. I put a lot of stock in microphones.”
TELEFUNKEN’s small diaphragm condenser ELA M 260 is one of today’s premium acoustic and classical recording tube microphones, offering plenty of tone with exceptional detail and clarity.
“For my performances on the show, people have asked me how I practice,” Mroz explains. “First I rehearse with the show’s band of amazing studio musicians and they send me this flawless track for my rehearsal. I fly that track into Logic on my Mac and then in the hotel room, I practice with the Copperhead on my vocal, and the 260 on my acoustic guitar. I just go over it and over it and over it again. It is an amazing way to work alone and get ready for a major TV show performance.”