How Ryuichi Sakamoto made async

I researched how Ryuichi Sakamoto made async (2017), which was his first album in eight years.

The iPhone microphone which Ryuichi Sakamoto used for his production of async

When I was watching the documentary of Ryuichi Sakamoto on YouTube, the following scene caught my eye.

NHK

‘Ryuichi Sakamoto, the person who cares about the audio quality of his works, does field recording with the microphone for iPhone…!’

This was the biggest surprise for me throughout the documentary. I tried a microphone for iPhone several years ago, but at that time the audio quality of such a microphone was very poor. My conclusion then was ‘If I care about the audio quality of recordings, I need something like ZOOM H1 at least’.¹

‘The microphone used to record the sounds in Ryuichi Sakamoto’s latest album should be improved in audio quality and usability. It should have sufficient quality for practical use.’

That was how I started to research. I remembered that the May and June 2017 issues of Sound & Recording Magazine (Japanese magazine) featured interviews with Ryuichi Sakamoto (I subscribe to its iPad edition). I found what I was looking for in the June 2017 issue.

サウンド＆レコーディング・マガジン 2017年6月号

Sound & Recording Magazine June 2017 issue

The microphone for iPhone Sakamoto uses is SHURE MV88.

https://amzn.to/2tDJdrK

I compared its specifications with other iPhone microphones’ ones. http://www.micreviews.com/guides/top-10-best-ios-microphones
I found that except for the big sized Apogee MiC 96k, MV88 can record audio files in the best quality format as a compact type. In addition to that, MV88 offers the dedicated iOS application which ‘enables recording and editing at 24 bit / 48 kHz, alongside manual adjustments to limiter, compressor, five band EQ, stereo width, and polar pattern’ (SHURE).

The handy recorder king ZOOM offers two microphones for iPhone, but they can record files up to 48kHz/16bit. SHURE MV88 can record files up to 48kHz/24bit. With my recent interest in using field recorded materials for music works, I have been carrying ZOOM H1 in my backpack these months, but I have to admit that connecting H1 to my computer and transferring files is a bit troublesome. In contrast, as Sakamoto says in the magazine interview, ‘[With MV88] I can start recording three seconds after connecting it to my iPhone’, and ‘I can instantly save the recording to my Dropbox’.

For your information, Sakamoto also carries around KORG MR-2, which features DSD recording. KORG MR-2 is for who does not care about usability at all, but who wants to record audio files at the very best quality.

Korg MR2 Handheld Portable DSD Recorder with AudioGate Software - Black

I myself bought SHURE MV88 after this research.

Ryuichi Sakamoto’s workflow of multi-channel mixing

Another interesting stuff regarding his production environment was his workflow of multi-channel mixing. He completed stereo mixing at his home studio first, and then he works with an engineer at an external studio for multi-channel mixing. He uses GRM’s plugin called Spaces for multi-channel mixing. The speaker setup at his home studio is the pair of MUSIKELECRONIC GEITHAIN RL904, and does not have the 5.1ch facility.

The plugin effects Ryuichi Sakamoto used for audio processing

The Reaktor-based plugin effect called Native Instruments Molekular was used for ‘complex processing’.

Sakamoto loves Reaktor-based reverb plugin too.

async’s true form is multi-channel

Ryuichi Sakamoto: I want async listened to as a CD or on streaming services, but its stereo representation is pseudo. Its true experience is the multi-channel version. (Sound & Recording Magazine June 2017 issue)

‘Ryuichi Sakamoto: CODA’ documentary (2017)

Stephen Nomura Schible spent five years capturing Sakamoto’s life since 2012 and made the documentary film. In this Ryuichi Sakamoto: CODA, Sakamoto uses SHURE MV88 for field recording in a forest.

My impressions of SHURE MV88

I list my findings after using SHURE MV88 for a while.

Positive points

1. As long as you secure your iPhone’s battery in whatever way, you don’t need to carry around any other batteries. SHURE MV88 works on your iPhone’s battery.
2. You can use SHURE MV88 as a video microphone. The audio of the video improves significantly.
3. Unlike handy recorders with which you need to switch them on to use, iPhone is usually turned on already. Thus the process is as simple as unlocking and launching the dedicated App.
4. You can switch between stereo and mono and adjust the width of stereo with the dedicated App. If you want to do this with handy recorders such as ZOOM H5, you need to swap the microphone with another physically.
5. It is small enough to shove into your pocket casually.
6. The official Rycote Windjammer Windscreen’s quality is good. It’s useful when the default foam windscreen cannot eliminate wind noises sufficiently. You put the wind jammer onto the foam windscreen.

Amazon

Negative points

1. During recording, you need to turn your iPhone into ‘Flight mode’. If you forget to do so, the noises from mobile signals will be on your recordings. This downside might spoil the positive point 3.
2. The default foam windscreen comes off relatively easily. If you put your iPhone into the pocket of your coat and the windscreen part sticks out of your pocket, you will lose the foam windscreen sooner or later. In the case of losing it, you can buy only the windscreen separately.

Footnotes

1. In late November 2017, H1’s successor called H1n was released. With the improved details, it turned out to be even more convenient to use than H1, which was almost perfect already as a handy compact recorder. I can confidently recommend H1n as an independent compact handy recorder over any other similar products.

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