Royer ribbons, as they are commonly referred to, and the MA-1000 from Royer Labs’ sister company, Mojave Audio, are well known throughout high-end studio communities the world over. The audible results of these microphones’ prowess was heard in the recently released Disney film “The Lion King.” Grammy Award winning engineer/mixer/producer Alan Meyerson, who has recorded and/or mixed close to 300 films in addition to roughly 150 records prior to his film career, captured much of the film’s audio. And at the heart of Meyerson’s involvement with “The Lion King” was a substantial number of Royer R-122Vs and Mojave MA-1000s.
To help bring the sonic aspects of the film to life, Meyerson employed seven Royer 122Vs and four Mojave MA1000s. He discussed his experience with the microphones.
“The Royer 122Vs captured the sound of my woodwinds,” Meyerson explained. “There is a motif in the movie involving eight low woodwinds. four bass clarinets, and four contra bassoons. I wanted a unique sound for them and chose to mic them with the R-122Vs. These mics did a spectacular job of helping me dig out the grit on the low woods, which were used for the sound of the film’s bad guy, Scar.”
On the Mojave side of the equation,” he continued, “the MA-1000s were my overall choice for capturing the orchestral brass. These mics have a very clear and natural manner that results in the brass having a wonderfully articulate sound. The combination of the Royer and Mojave microphones made it easy to capture the depth and musicality of the performances.”
With his involvement in the film now in the rear-view mirror, Meyerson summarized his experience with his Royer microphones, “Royer mics have changed the way I record. They’ve changed what I listen for and they’ve expanded the size of my sonic palette. I honestly can’t imagine doing this type of work without them. Royer ribbons not only enable me to capture performances or sounds with exacting detail, they open an entire world of recording possibilities that simply did not exist previously. You just can’t go wrong with Royer mics.”
