Butch Vig Brandishes Bock 507 Mic

03.10.2010

Las Vegas, NV (March 10, 2010)—Following his work on Green Day’s Grammy-winning 21st Century Breakdown, producer Butch Vig recently recorded Against Me’s new album, using a Bock 507 for the first time.

Vig has been a part of many notable records, from Nirvana's Nevermind and Smashing Pumpkins' Siamese Dream, to work with his own band, Garbage, which has sold 14 million albums to date. Recently, Vig recently worked with Against Me! and Garbage vocalist Shirley Manson, using a newly-acquired Bock 507 large, elliptical capsule microphone to record vocals, as well as electric and acoustic guitars and drums.

"I'm spoiled," laughed Vig. "I have a vintage ELAM 250 and my engineer, Billy Bush, has a Brauner VM1 Klaus Heyne Edition. Both of those mics are absolutely amazing on vocals. I was looking for something equally amazing, but different, and I knew David Bock had a reputation for building sweet sounding mics." At that time, Vig was beginning work with Against Me! for their April 2010 release White Crosses.

Vig used the Bock 507, which employs a patent-pending elliptical capsule to mitigate mechanical resonances, on Against Me! lead singer Tom Gabel, together with a Chandler LTD-1 preamp and a Summit LTA-100A compressor. "Gabel is tremendously dynamic," said Vig. "The Bock 507 captured his performance with a transparency that made me feel like I was still standing in the room with him. It has a lush bottom and nice definition on top." Many of the acoustic and electric guitar and drum room sounds on White Crosses were also recorded with the Bock 507.

Since Vig and Shirley Manson are both recent transplants to Los Angeles, they've been working on new songs for a possible future Garbage release. "Although Shirley's vocal range and style is completely different from Tom's, the Bock 507 does a wonderful job with her as well," said Vig. "It really captures her persona. I can hear all of the breathiness in her voice. I've found that I really like mics that work well with vocalists singing in a high register or a low register, or whether they're singing softly or loudly. The 507 is that kind of mic."

"The Bock 507 easily rivals the ELAM and Brauner," concluded Vig. "Of course, you choose a mic to create a certain vibe within the larger context of a recording, and the ELAM and Brauner are certainly going to remain on the front line. But the Bock has given me another option for a go-to vocal mic. David Bock has made an incredible sounding microphone. The only question now is...should I buy a second one? It did so well on individual instruments that I'd love to hear a piano with a pair of 507s...or a stereo pair for room mics on drums. That would be amazing!"

TransAudio Group
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