Is That A Reference Mic on Your Guitar Cab?: An Interview with Brian Moran

We here at Earthworks are always thankful to be in the company of such great partners in the audio world - and we're also thankful that we get to share some of their insights with you.

Today, we're talking with Brian Moran, monitor engineer for Breaking Benjamin, BABYMETAL, and many more artists.

First off, can you provide some background on who you are and what kind of work you do?

I’m currently a full time touring engineer with Breaking Benjamin. When not touring my home gig is the A1 in a 2,000 seat theater in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, and studio engineer at Rock Street Music in Pittston, Pennsyvania. Since 1998, I've worked with artists such as Slash, BABYMETAL, and Corey Taylor. I have the rest of this year booked and 2023 booked so far.

How did you first learn about Earthworks mics??

I’ve studied audio and the science behind it since I got my first multi-track recorder at 16 or so. I first read about Earthworks not long after I started mixing bands 1998-1999. I remember reading about the 3 mic application to drum miking in the studio and being in disbelief. Earthworks were well out of my price range at the time but I kept up with the technology over the years and by the time I was ready to purchase my first Earthworks mic they were several generations in and still cutting edge and on top of the game with some experience to boot so I made the choice between DPA, Neumann and Earthworks for some all around go to mics and I was not disappointed.?

What do you typically use Earthworks mics for, and in your view, what makes Earthworks mics different from other mics out there??

The answer is different for Live and Studio applications. I’ve been using Earthworks for drum overheads and guitar mics in the live environment, as well as my lead vocal on the Mark Morton acoustic run.

In the studio there really isn’t much I haven’t tried using an Earthworks mic on to be honest. I currently have 12 in my mic locker and have used them on everything from Drums, vocals, guitars, room mics, strings, piano, orchestra. It may not always be the mic I end up using but, I will generally have at least a couple in every mix I’ve done in the studio.?

How did?you get your start in the industry?

I started like a lot of engineers do, playing in a band. It seems the natural progression to go from playing in a band to mixing behind the scenes in one fashion or another (studio/live mixing).

And?finally, do you have any takeaways or insight from your?career that you could share with our followers?

There’s a lot I’ve learned over the years. It’s hard to put it into a couple of sentences. My best advice would be to ask questions and keep an open mind. If you see something you don’t understand, 99 out of 100 times the touring guys will answer your questions. I haven’t met very many people that mix bands for a living that don’t like to talk shop and pass on some knowledge to the next generation of engineers. I can’t tell you how many up-and-comers have asked me about the “reference mic” on the guitar cabinet and I spend a couple of minutes explaining the technical side of the Earthworks mics, and after a brief web search they have a different opinion. I guess some people hear with their eyes and you can’t change that sometimes. And, every mistake should be a learning experience. The one thing that all of the best people in the business have in common and will be happy to tell you is that they don’t know everything. Everyone starts somewhere and there were plenty of mistakes made along the way.?