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FOH Engineer Ricky Ashford Packs Telefunken for the Road

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FOH Engineer Ricky Ashford

SOUTH WINDSOR, CT – Telefunken noted that FOH mix engineer Ricky Ashford has been touring with the company’s microphones for more than five years. Ashford has mixed shows fro artists including Ashanti, Bow Wow, Kiana Lede’, SchoolBoy Q, Jay Rock, Soulja boy, Lloyd, SZA, and Pretty Ricky, among others.

More details from Telefunken (www.telefunken-elektroakustik.com):

“They have never failed me,” he says. “I came up using standard drum mic packages with typical top of the line mics, but the day I switched over to Telefunken I never wanted to go back.”

Ashford is well known for the flawless sound of his tours with artists such as Ashanti, Bow Wow, Kiana Lede’, SchoolBoy Q, Jay Rock, Soulja boy, Lloyd, SZA, and Pretty Ricky, among many others.

“The Tfunk M80’s and M81s are God sent,” Ashford explains. “They deliver an exceptional clarity and the artists have noticed a significant difference in my drums with those mics. I am now cutting and adding less EQ into channels because of the exceptional clarity. And they add this thing I like to call “fairy dust,” meaning that there is just something magical about thes mics.”

Ashford elaborates on his TELEFUNKEN microphones, “I just adore the M60s, my favorite pencil condenser. They give me a very pure and sparkly high frequency on rides, high hats and overheads. Sometimes I feel like other pencil mics compensate way too much in the high end making a very piercing and shrill sound.”

When it comes to the microphone that gives his work such a distinctive bass kick, Ashford says. “I love the M82. It delivers superb low energy in the 40-60 Hz range that I can’t get out of other kick mics. It’s been my go to ‘kick out’ mic for years now.”

Ashford’s TELEFUNKEN M-82 kick drum mic is seen in action onstage.

Ashford reflects on the company. “Telefunken spends a lot of time developing great transformers and circuits that create accurate and unique sounds within their mics. They also have a team at their headquarters in Connecticut that are very passionate about creating microphones and delivering solid products. These microphones have delivered tons of success for me in my career as a FOH engineer, and I would recommend them to anyone who is looking for a distinctive and consistent sound they can depend on.”