Singer and songwriter Ruby Friedman of Portland, OR-based Ruby Friedman Orchestra told us about her love for her Neumann TLM 103...
Ruby Friedman: My favorite piece of gear is my microphone, a Neumann TLM 103. I don’t record in a vocal booth at home, or set up in any conventional way, since I’m a moody weirdo and have to feel like singing to sing. The Neumann seems to not give a.f. about the rakish preference.
I move it around my apartment depending upon the view I want to look at while singing for the specific vibe of the songs. For the Peaky Blinders season six trailer song for Netflix India and Europe, I set it up in front of a wall and looked at nothing. For most of my last album, I set it up based on where my snoring bulldog Clovis was sleeping, so Steve Baughman wouldn’t yell at me for all the extra noise. Steve mixed and mastered the last album Chimes After Midnight, and normally only receives tracks recorded fastidiously in multimillion dollar studios (Wminem/ 50 Cent/ Jason Isbell etc). He never knows what he’s going to get with me, and I’m sure is nervous when the tracks roll in.
But the most important thing for me is a vibe, so I need a mic that works with my eccentricities. For example, on “Friday Night Depression,” I did set it up in front of the window facing the bar in which I reference in the song. You can hear a fire truck’s siren going by in real time. Steve kept it in the mix and it’s so perfect.
For the new single about to be released, “Whistleblower,” which I recorded in 2021, I set the Neuman up in the same window and no street noise or bulldog or houseless person screaming leaked into the track for a change. I probably would have left it in if it had, but my co-writers/co-producers would have fought me. The song would eventually be used in Apple TV’s Silo season three, episode nine in 2026, the day it was released. I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t have used it if any Clovis or street noise had gotten in the track, so that was a lucky break. The Neuman is very sensitive but handles my power, my whistles, my screams, and my whispers like a champ, which is good cuz I like to do one take vocals and “get er dun.”
The Ruby Friedman Orchestra's "Whistleblower," featuring in the Apple TV show Silo, is out now.
