How NPR Tiny Desk records their audio

[CameronJ]

I’ve always thought the NPR Tiny Desk Concerts are superbly recorded and mixed - found these videos just now and thought I’d share with all who are interested. It’s actually relatively simple stuff and goes to show there’s not any unusual wizardry going on, just solid mic placement and good ears for mixing!

 

 

 

[brick]

I will need to give that a watch when I get a minute, always really enjoyed the mixes on tiny desk stuff

[yorks5stringer]

Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit on Tiny Desk gets a play from me most weeks

[borntohang]

They have a ridiculously good setup - I've been dying to know so will get on this when I get home. Always seem to maintain incredible separation and clarity while making sure it still has some power at the micro-volumes they must be playing at.

[SICbass]

I will definitely be checking this out at the first opportunity. Thanks for posting 👍

[chris_b]

The other factor is that they don't usually present loud bands.

[CameronJ]

19 minutes ago, chris_b said:

The other factor is that they don't usually present loud bands.

This is true. And if they do feature artists who usually play loud or are drenched in dozens of effects, the artists have to live with the fact that they’ll need to play much more quietly and with heavily stripped down rigs appropriate to the size of the Tiny Desk performance space. Those who don’t like it don’t play, simple as that!

IMO any artist worth their salt should be able to produce a stripped down version of their usual material. Doing so can be quite a creative and fun process.