HARMAN’s AKG Microphones And JBL Studio Monitors Drive The Lonely Island’s Star-Studded Album
“Turtleneck & Chain”
 
 
With hundreds of millions of combined YouTube views of their signature celebrity-cameo, satire-laced singles, The Lonely Island’s latest album, Turtleneck & Chain comes to life with the help of HARMAN’s AKG mics and JBL studio monitors. Whether recording demo tracks in the Saturday Night Live studio offices or performing overdubs and mixing at New York City’s Downtown Music Studios, AKG C 414’s and JBL LSR6300 series studio monitors were on hand throughout the entire process. Akiva Schaffer, Jorma Taccone and Andy Samberg, “The Dudes” of The Lonely Island, offer 19 new tracks and skits featuring Michael Bolton, Akon, Snoop Dogg, Niki Minaj, Rhianna, Beck, Santigold and Justin Timberlake on their latest album, now available.

Engaged to mix “Turtleneck & Chain”, GRAMMY® Award-winning engineer Jason Goldstein enhanced the Lonely Island’s original demos with vocal overdubs using an AKG C 414 XLS. The original vocals were recorded with Samberg’s personal C 414. Although the tracks are humorous in nature, The Lonely Island team is meticulous in ensuring their songs are assembled to deliver punch lines perfectly. Goldstein credits the AKG C414 for its clarity and contribution to a great sound recording.

“We mixed the songs as if they were truly jokes - meant to be understood the first time they were heard - so it was important each one-liner, each syllable, however quick or random, was perfectly delivered and audible the first time you listen,” said Goldstein. “You don’t want to be listening to the song while asking yourself ‘what was that joke again?’ The quality demo tracks the group recorded using their C 414, along with our recordings on the C 414 and mixing on the JBL LSR studio monitors, help us put together a great-sounding record, where the jokes are clearly and easily understood. The final mix emphasizes the superior quality of the C 414. The AKG mics provided consistency and quality needed for a high-energy record such as this.” AKG C 414’s can be seen in The Lonely Island’s latest SNL Digital Short, Jack Sparrow, featuring Michael Bolton.

Goldstein continues to rely on the JBL LSR6300 series studio monitors for his recording and mixing projects. Schaffer, Taccone and Samberg knew what Goldstein could bring to a track after listening to his previous work, so The Lonely Island, who are very emotionally attached and involved in their music, trusted the outcome of this project to be of the same quality. Accustomed to using their own headphones and a monitoring system that is short of professional, the group was pleased to hear their final work played back on the JBL’s. Goldstein’s cites the JBL monitors’ ability to serve as an accurate reference of quality, but ensure the album would also sound great when played laptops, YouTube, MP3 players, mobile phones and digital shorts on Saturday Night Live.

“The LSR’s are my go-to reference as they provide the high-quality playback we need to ensure the best quality for our clients,” continued Goldstein. “If it sounds great out of the LSR’s, it will sound great anywhere.”

For more information on The Lonely Island, visit http://www.thelonelyisland.com
and for Jason Goldstein, http://www.jasongoldsteinmixer.com

AKG 414 XLS Microphone http://www.akg.com/site/products/powerslave,id,1128,pid,1128,nodeid,2,_language,EN,cou ntry,ENUS.html

JBL LSR6300 Series Studio Monitors http://www.jblpro.com/catalog/general/ProductFamily.aspx?FId=6&MId=5

HARMAN (www.harman.com) designs, manufactures and markets a wide range of audio and infotainment solutions for the automotive, consumer and professional markets – supported by 15 leading brands including AKG®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon® and Mark Levinson®. The Company is admired by audiophiles across multiple generations and supports leading professional entertainers and the venues where they perform. More than 20 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with HARMAN audio and infotainment systems. HARMAN has a workforce of about 11,000 people across the Americas, Europe and Asia, and reported sales of $3.2 billion for the last twelve months ended March 31, 2010. The Company’s shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol NYSE:HAR.