The folks at Soyuz have been making noise for the last decade or so and releasing top-quality and extremely functional gear, presenting audio in a way that is both familiar and, dare I say, formally unique. I’ve been a fervent supporter since we crossed paths in the Before Times, and the brand occasionally uses my High Bias studio as an informal beta tester and video set. This kind of long-term symbiosis between brand and studio is rare, but, like the clownfish and the sea anemone, we help each other. When local rock hero and Soyuz rep Scotty Iulianelli asked if he could drop by on his lunch break last summer and wouldn’t say why, I said, "Fuck yes!" These queries have brought nearly the entire line of Soyuz to my door, from the 013 Ambisonic mic [Tape Op #163] to the Lakeside preamp [#164]. The reason for this secret meeting was the arrival of the brand's first dynamic mic, the V1. After I ogled the mic's looks for a while, we talked about the V1 extensively over some al pastor tacos, had a quick cortado, and both went back to work. I was deep in a mix session that day, but I was daydreaming of the next time I’d get to mic something with the V1.
That dream came true the following day, as I had a tracking session with Dr. Pete Larson and his Cytotoxic Nyatiti Band. These dudes sound like Flower Travellin' Band meets Can if they were both from East Africa. The band consists of a rotating drummer, Fred Thomas [Tape Op #163] on guitar, and Pete on nyatiti through an extensive pedal board. The nyatiti is an eight-stringed lyre with a bowl resonator that comes from Kenya. The nyatiti dry signal gets split and sent to an Ampeg B-15 via an EarthQuaker Devices Pitch Bay pedal dropped an octave. The unshifted signal goes through Pete's rig and into an Ampeg Gemini II guitar amp. Contact microphones are used to “electrify” the resonator. Pete's playing and the intense shifts in timbre and dynamics due to the pedals make capturing this instrument a challenge. Part of that challenge is getting one mic to capture the pluck and high-end information without being so close that the proximity becomes unbearable when the heavy parts drop. The V1 presented the top end with an open and transparent tone that can only be called eloquent. The low-end material was handled with the same classiness, and where other mics have failed – requiring a separate low-end mic – the V1 was all I needed. The drummer this day was the venerable Jonathan Barahal Taylor. The guy is a beast, one of those jazz guys who loves Black Sabbath. His snare preference aligns with our go-to at High Bias: usually a 6.5x14 Yamaha Maple Custom with a Remo Ambassador Coated head tuned lowish. The axiom here is always getting close enough to the snare to escape the hats while avoiding the mountain of 200 Hz that ensues. Again, the V1 shined on the snare, producing tracks that cut through the psychedelic haze beautifully while still holding detail on quiet parts at the forefront. The only compression needed was a barely moving dbx 165 on the way in. It’s easy to sleep on the fact that Fred Thomas is a total shredder, what with all the songwriting and label running happening, but the guy is just nasty as a jammer. He rips a Fender Jazzmaster through a Fuzz Face into a dimed Fender Princeton amp. His playing simultaneously evokes Tom Verlaine and Michael Karoli, and his tone is a joy to record. It was when I was mic'ing Fred's amp that I noticed some things that made my earlier observations make sense. The V1’s capsule is set back a good half inch from the front of the grill. The proximity reduction and open top end now made sense, as did the pleasant diffusion of transients via the physical architecture of the mic's grill.
Portugal. The Man [Tape Op Podcast Ep.#113] is one of those bands that’s a way of life. If you like your music daring, your hooks at once familiar and brand new, and your songwriter restlessly creative and fearless enough to abandon the last move while staying true to the mission, this band is for you. I first met Portugal. The Man in the early aughts when I was FOH for Denver all-time legendary shit disturbers Vaux. PTM had just started, and witnessing the genesis was something to behold. I chalked this up to the fact that they were Alaskan AF/DGAF and had something to prove, but that fire burns brighter than ever now, after 20-some years, a slew of crushing albums, and a Grammy later. I was stoked and surprised when PTM manager Chris Funk hit me up to secure some dates while the band had a day off in Detroit last month. Core members John Gourley and Zoe Manville were joined by a cast of badasses from the live band. This day, John and Zoe brought the literal supergroup of Liv Slingerland, Dani Bell, and Kane Ritchotte. All of these folks can play several instruments, so a collective and varied approach was taken. This meant I had to pick gear that was both forgiving of quick placements and sonically nimble. I used the V1 on Kane’s snare and percussion. I was able to gain up the shaker parts with no noticeable noise floor increase, while the drums sounded open and sat in the mix like the kit was in the room. Guitarist Liv Slingerland (Post Malone, Olivia Rodrigo) is the perfect combination of limitless chops and pocket. We mic’d a supremely overdriven Takt three-watt amp with the V1, and the result was stunning and provided the “tiny amp on the meter bridge” vibe. Dani Bell plays bass in this group, and with Kane's sublime Meters-meets-Bonham halftime vibes on the kit, Dani is the engine. Her playing is both melodic and propulsive. She played a Fender Musicmaster with flatwound strings into a pushed Ampeg B-15. Yet again, the character of this classic rig was captured by the V1 and presented in a way that needed nothing at mix. Zoe Manville handles lead and backing vocals and percussion in the band. Her vocals range from angelic atmospherics to gainy high-energy screams and back again. She’s joined by Liv and Dani on backing vocal duties. All these folks are great singers, but the program material can be challenging to capture. The V1 did great on all three of them and handled proximity and diverse SPLs with no issues.
From the jump, the tone of this mic brings to mind the AKG D224. This is kind of a deep cut, but I got one after reading Phill Brown's [Tape Op #12] excellent Are We Still Rolling? column here 15 years ago. It sounds at once flat and pleasing, flattering without notice. There’s an openness and infallibility to the V1 that reminds me of the 224. The advantage here is the V1 can take much higher SPL. I took it out on some Bad Bad Not Good shows for Juan Carlos Medrano Magallanes’s percussion rig. After the set, the stagehands pulled the riser without unplugging the multicore from the stage box, effectively throwing the V1 at the deck with significant force. Not even a scratch, and it still works great. This mic slays on congas! It's also an absolutely superb vocal mic, like a Shure SM7 with better gain meets a Sennheiser MD 441 with less bleed. Not only did I not find a source I didn’t like this mic on – it often saved me extra work. The V1 allows the engineer to move as fast as the mind can dictate. This alone is worth the price, but the top-shelf sonics and classy looks make it a no-brainer.