If you’re a fan of pop ballads, you’ll love this behind-the-scenes look at how musician Steve Maggiora produced and mixed his cover of “Mars” by YUNGBLUD. Not only will you get to hear the final product, but you’ll also learn about the recording process and the equipment used to create this beautiful rendition.
Steve Maggiora, a talented musician and producer based in the San Francisco Bay Area, collaborated with Kim Melville to create a duet version of “Mars. by YUNGBLUD”
o capture the best sound possible, they used a variety of professional-grade microphones and guitars from Prodipe Audio.
One of the highlights of this recording is the use of Prodipe A1 small diaphragm condenser mics on the piano. Steve chose to tighten up the arrangement and position the right mic just about in the middle of where the highest note would be played. This created a more focused sound and allowed for a wider spread between the two mics. The left-hand mic was positioned closer to the edge of the piano to capture the heavy low end.
For the vocals, Steve used the Prodipe STC 3D MK2 mic as the room mic for the piano, positioned about seven feet away from the piano at chin height. This created a sense of ambiance and added to the overall feeling of being in the room while the music was being performed.
Steve also praised the Audient Evo 16, which he used for the first time on this recording. The auto-gain function made his life much easier and allowed for seamless recording of the piano without having to constantly adjust the gain structure.
Overall, this cover of “Mars” is a beautiful example of the power of collaboration, professional equipment, and attention to detail in recording and mixing. Aspiring producers and musicians can learn a lot from Steve Maggiora’s process and techniques.
If you’re interested in hearing the final product and getting a closer look at the recording process, check out Steve’s YouTube video where he shares the multitracks for free.
Who knows? You might even be inspired to create your own pop ballad masterpiece!
From Steve
“This is a duet version cover of “Mars” by YUNGBLUD. My girlfriend Kim and I were driving through Southern California back in December and listened through YUNGBLUD’s albums, and this song really stood out to me and we decided to do it as a duet! Kim has recently partnered with Prodipe Audio & Guitars out of France, and was able to have them send me some mics to try out, and I’m seriously impressed!
We tracked piano at my house in the SF Bay are on my 1928 Steinway Model M using a stereo pair of the Prodipe A1 condenser microphones, and the vocals at Kim’s home in Paris, France using the Prodipe STC-3D MKII large diaphragm condenser mic. The piano was run through the Audient EVO 16 and the vocals were run through the Audient iD4. I was impressed with the clarity at which the large diaphragm condenser picked up the voice and the environment, and I’m really excited about how this mix came out! All of the vocals were recorded using the STC-3D MKII including the hefty background vocals!
Hope you have a great time mixing, and let me know what you think in the comments on this post!”
