Andy Gray shot to fame in the 90s for his theme tune to reality TV show Big Brother, co-written with Paul Oakenfold. Since then he’s composed and produced soundtracks for award-winning films, TV shows and adverts, including Get Carter, Zoolander, Swordfish, TT3D: Closer To The Edge and CSI Miami. He’s also in demand as producer, co-writer and remixer for many big names including BT, Enter Shikari, Tori Amos, John Foxx, Gary Numan and Radiohead.

As a self-confessed microphone nut, Andy has a mic collection that would be the envy of many a world-class studio. While it’s usually vintage and esoteric mics that catch his eye, he has recently bought a host of Sontronics microphones to add to his collection.

“A while back I read a cool write-up on the Sontronics mics and I had to try them,” says Andy of his new love for these British-designed mics. “I’ve been using their ribbon mics, and now I’m also using their new drum mics plus HALO on guitar cab. They’ve featured on all my recent stuff including a new track for CSI Miami, a new John Foxx track and all through the Craig Douglas Project album.”



Andy is well known for is his attention to detail when it comes to drum sound, one of the reasons he was drawn to the Sontronics trio of condenser mics for kick, snare and tom, launched only last year.
“I’m using the chunky DM-1B on kick drum,” begins Andy, “and when you get it in the right place, it sounds as good as my Neumann U47fet does outside the kick, which is amazing! I’ve also used DM-1B on bass cab and found it fantastic.”

Following his discovery that Sontronics' sub-three-hundred-pound
DM-1B could equal the sound of his vintage, multi-thousand-pound U47, Andy was keen to try Sontronics’ other drum mics and has now invested in a complete collection for his studio kit.

“The DM-1S is one of the best close snare mics I have ever used," Andy admits. "It works amazingly well. It gives you a real open snare sound, unlike the snap/crack you get with a 57. I’ve just started using the DM-1T on toms too and even with close miking you get a nice open sound. These mics are amazing!”

Andy was already using Sontronics’ DELTA ribbon mic on guitar amps when he heard about the new HALO dynamic mic for guitar amps, which makes a perfect partner to the DELTA. Unsurprisingly, Andy’s a convert to this too.

“HALO is amazing on guitar,” he enthuses, “it gives you a real direct, in-yer-face sound. It can make your amp push through the mix like a DI guitar with a plug-in. It’s great, I love it!”