Reslo Beebs in Recording Magazine

Producer Marc Urselli has written a nice article about his love of ribbon microphones in the October 2022 edition of Recording Magazine. 

He discusses several vintage models in his collection, including RCA KU3, Coles, Melodium 42Bs and a nice mention of our upgraded Reslo Beeb ribbon microphones. Here are Marc’s words about the Reslos.

Speaking of Xaudia and vintage European ribbons, I also have two pairs of Reslo RBT/H 30-50 ohms Hi-Z miniature ribbon mics. Unlike the huge and super heavy Melodium, the Reslo is smaller than most dynamic mics. The Beatles (and many other bands from that era) used them as vocal mics live, giving them a bit of a cult following. Rather than on vocals, I have found that they work beautifully on string quartets—explains why I have 4 of them.

I had them equipped with the Xaudia Beeb Upgrade, which brings them back to 1961 BBC specs. The mod consists of swapping the transformer, converting the output from 50Ω to 300Ω, and reversing the motor assembly so the ribbon is closer to the front. This upgrade yields an extra 10dB of clean gain and reduces the noise of the mic, which is why these work great on strings!

Besides many lush and beautiful string quartets, I’ve also used them to re- cord the Dither Quartet—four electric guitar players who are very particular about their amp sound—and they loved these mics!

Reslo Beeb drum recordings by Joe Montague

It’s always great to see and hear how our customers use the microphones we send out.

Joe Montague was kind enough to share these recordings and video of our Reslo Beebs in action. The microphones were set up as a stereo pair in front of the kit.

The recording in the video/sound clips is just the Beebs, no other mics at all, and just a touch of EQ and compression. It is an impressive result from just two microphones. Of course, you need a good kit as well as good microphones, and being a great drummer helps too!

Here are some further sound clips from Joe.

Drum groove 1
Drum groove 2 
Drum groove 3 
Drum groove 4
Drum groove 5

Joe can be found at joemontague.co.uk

Reslo Beebs in action with Layla Lane

Pop duo Layla Lane kindly shared their video of their cover of ‘In My Life’ by the Beatles, which which extensively used a Reslo RB microphone with Xaudia’s ‘Beeb’ upgrades. 

The guitar, piano and all the vocals were recorded with the Beeb connected into an Ampex 350 preamp and Urei 1176 compressor. You can read more details about the recording at their youtube page.

Layla Lane are Heday Ikumo and Valerie Stern, who together have written music for Coca-Cola and Mello Yello commercials, recorded a song for the Ashton Kutcher film Killers, toured Japan, and produced/wrote songs for big Japanese artists such as Sunplaza Nakano-kun and Yoko Oginome.

Beebs in action: Aria ca Spira by Cordasicula

Thanks to Saro Tribastone for sharing his band Cordasicula‘s new album Aria ca Spira.

Cordasicula come from south-east Sicily and are inspired by the traditional music of their own island, as well as the southern Italian regions of  Calabria, Campania and Puglia.

Saro explained to me that “all these styles, mainly defined by their rhythm, are coming from those areas where 2500 years ago we had Greek people living there, globally known as Magna Grecia (Big Greece).” Their songs are a mixture of original compositions with some traditional tunes, and collectively they have a beautiful, haunting and slightly melancholic quality.

Many of the instruments were recorded with one of our customised Reslo ‘Beeb’ ribbon microphones. The Beeb was used to record the Greek Tzouras, violin, cello, double bass and Battente guitar for the album. For those who like technical details, they were tracked through a DAV BG1 preamp and Mytek Stereo 192 ADC converter.  It is nice to hear the Beeb working so well with these traditional acoustic instruments. Here is a photo of the  Pier Paolo Alberghini playing double bass, with the Beeb microphone up close to the sound hole.

Marilena Fede’s voice was recorded with an AKG C414B, again using a DAV BG1 preamplifier.

Saro has kindly allowed us to share the Spotify playlist for the album, which should appear below.

 

Beebs in Action: Majetone calfskin drum heads

I have said many times before that we have fantastic, creative customers, and it is always nice when someone takes the time to share what they are doing. Sometimes their stories are amazing!

James Yates makes custom hand-made calfskin and vellum drum heads, under the guise of Majetone Industries.

Here’s a video clip of James playing his drums and skins, recorded using two of our Reslo ‘Beeb’ microphones as top & side mics in a Glyn Johns arrangement, along with a CAD M179 in cardioid in front of the kick drum.

I think these really do sound fantastic, with a classic yet contemporary tone. I could imagine these sliding very easily into a mix without need for much processing.

You can find out more at the Majetone Industries website.

Reslo Beeb Commando!

Here is a custom edition of our popular ‘Beeb’ modified Reslo ribbon mic. This is the first, and so far the only one we have made in these colours.

Like all of our ‘Beeb’ mics,  this features an upgraded 300 ohm output transformer, new ribbon and XLR socket. This special edition as well as a switchable high pass filter inductor to balance the proximity effect when used close to sources.

The custom camouflage colours makes it suitable for undercover operations, and even better for guitars and drums!