Pine and his five-piece band are currently touring to promote the new Devotion album, but this world tour has been going since 1981, according to Pine, who is as much road warrior as jazz warrior.
"Jazz musicians are even more critical than classical musicians about which microphones we use," explains Pine. "We may be capturing a live moment but we've got ears like bats!" Reece agrees, admitting that he had one or two nervous moments when he first put a whole new set of mics on stage.
Most critical of all is the new RE920TX condenser mic, used by Pine in conjunction with EV's RE-1 wireless microphone system. Somewhat unconventionally, his RE1 transmitter beltpack is strapped onto the bell of the saxophone, which gives Pine complete physical freedom coupled with optimum sound quality.
"Now I'm like a conductor with a baton, this arrangement has enhanced my live performance 100%. I play two or three instruments, so I tie a beltpack round each instrument; our set is a constant flow so it's important that the mic is attached, I can just put down one instrument and pick up another. I don't have to stand in front of a mic, so I can go to different places when I feel like it. It justifies what I'm trying to do - the horns are black, I'm wearing black, and I have the idea that all of the physical stuff will disappear and all that will remain is the notes, the music."
Pine's first introduction to Electro-Voice products was by way of the RE20, which was originally introduced as a broadcast mic but quickly became a favourite with horn players. The RE20's high SPL handling is matched by the new RE920TX, says Pine, whose first trials of the new mic were not in the controlled environment of a studio, but on the battlefield of an actual gig. "I like to play loud, and this mic took it all in. But I found I could hear more of the sax, not just volume but the whole sound. I'm using in-ear monitoring, so if something's not right, my brain will start to rattle. That doesn't happen with this RE920TX, everything is so even, I felt it took a lot of pressure off me."
With his star performer clearly happy with his new EV microphone, Reece runs through the rest of his mic plot. On drums, the large-diaphragm N/D868 specially designed for kick drums, positioned inside the bass drum: Cobalt 11 on the two snares, the N/D468 supercardioid for toms, and RE200 condenser mics on hi-hat and cymbals. For percussion, a pair of 468s on congas and an RE200 on his 'toys', piano has two RE200s, there's an RE20 dynamic cardioid on double bass and the versatile Cobalt 11 condenser on the guitar amp. N/D967 vocal microphones, Courtney on the RE-1 Series wireless microphone system, guitar and bass on the MAC-G2 guitar wireless pack.
"What stands out about EV microphones is their smoothness," says Reece. "My musicians are all of a very high standard, and they need mics that are true to what they are doing."
(Sarah Rushton-Read)
