Moon Recordings’ Andrew Morgan was introduced to the world of vintage gear by the late, great Elliott Smith at his Van Nuys, CA recording studio in August 2002:
“...I joined the others in the control room where Elliott was showing everyone the studio’s crown jewel – a Trident A-Range console. The monstrous hub of faders, sliders, and VU meters was the same model that was used to record The Beatles’ “Hey Jude,” he informed us, revealing a slight smile for the first time. We were in Elliott’s world now – the permanent night of the studio, no windows for the sun to peak through, no cell reception, and no clocks to measure the passage of time. Behind and to the left of the Trident were an MCI tape machine and two other highly sought-after pieces of gear: a Fairchild compressor and Sony reverb plate. And in a locked case in the main room: a Neumann U 47. “The Neumann” (as we all referred to it) is the microphone – the one famously featured on Frank Sinatra’s album covers, the one used by Frank on songs like “I’ve Got You Under My Skin,” and the one identified by Beatles’ producer George Martin as his personal favorite. Sheer treasure – the kind of rare gear that engineers and audiophiles lust after. Not bad for a guy who recorded his debut in an unfinished Portland basement with a decrepit thrift store guitar and a Radio Shack microphone.” Moon Recordings’ Peluso 22 47 LE tube microphone is styled after the Neumann U 47, right down to its German vintage steel tube from the mid-twentieth century recording era. In choosing the 22 47 LE along with Peluso’s P-67 vacuum tube mic, a Neumann TLM 67, Neve summing mixer, and a chain of tube-based compression and equalization, Andrew built Moon Recordings with the vocalist, speaker, and acoustic instrumentalist in mind. An admirer of artists like Miles Davis, Debussy, Björk, Nick Drake, Marvin Gaye, Air, David Axelrod, and Antônio Carlos Jobim, Andrew enjoys recording music abundant in soul and beauty. |