MICROPHONES

"I was introduced to the wonderful world of Sontronics by Paul Epworth who used to have the studio below me in Queens Park, London. He was always going on about how great they were so I was intrigued, especially by the idea of their phantom-powered ribbon mics. I tried some of the mics Paul had in his studio (he's bought most of their range!) and decided to get an APOLLO, SATURN, DELTA and HALO for myself. 

"The APOLLO absolutely blew my mind. I used it as a piano overhead and it just sounded so lush and silky and big, even from a good distance. It's a tour de force. The APOLLO is permanently set up above me so I can use it when I want. 

"I really feel the possibilities are endless with APOLLO. It's beautiful! I ended up using APOLLO on my song Come Into My Dreamland on my new Time Of Dust album. I used it on the piano and that's what gives it such a warm, open feel... much more preferable than the result from the pencil mics I keep under the piano. 

"I tend to use the SATURN on lots of different things; it's my go-to mic at the moment, especially when I'm working with Fem Fel (great rapper from London) and I use it for pretty much everything: percussion, double bass, guitars... SATURN is so versatile and incredibly detailed and clear but without getting too bright. It really does sound good on everything. 

"I use the SATURN with Ren Harvieu and she loves it. I've also used it with a new singer called Norma Jean Martine and she actually prefers the SATURN to the Neumann U-47 with M7 capsule! 

"The DELTA has an amazing smooth richness to it. I've been using on my mariachi guitarron bass a lot and also on my guitar cabs. It really captures the body of the amp... you can't go wrong! I've also been trying out the DELTA on my drums, particularly the toms. They sound massive!" 

Here are just some great artists that Ed's been working, performing and using our mics with lately: Fem Fel, Foe, Rae & Christian, Jamie N Commons, Magic Numbers, Carl Barat, Kate Miller, Kathryn Williams, Laura Jansen, Ren Harvieu, Marianne Faithfull plus... 

"Sophie Ellis Bextor's 'Wanderlust' album is something I'm very proud of. It's quite a departure from her usual dance music. There's a guy called Timothy Bloom in the States, his record is really great. Oh and Fiona Bevan and Catherine A.D are both brilliant songwriters whom I did remixes for recently. At the moment all my free time I have is spent writing my next record which I'm making with Flood."