Well, that's a good illustration that it's not so much about which
microphones you use, but where you put them and how the orchestra
sounds in the room. You might have liked $1,000 mics a little better,
but if you're happy with what you got, that's fine.

And if it was a lousy room or the mics were in the wrong place, simply
substituting $10,00 worth of mics wouldn't have saved the day.


Just came back from Session two (2 rehearsals for this orchestra--the big
event is Saturday night) and am previewing the recordings/video. Another
stellar performance.

I managed to get them to turn off the A/C for the first 45 minutes of the
first session. It got too hot in there and after 3/4 hour, the conductor
requested that it be turned on again, but at least I got some good noise
floor to work with on the first 4-5 numbers. Since the tracks are 1.4GB a
piece, I'll assemble the L + R pairs into a stereo WAV file later on and
listen to the first 1/2 hour to enjoy the fruits of my (sweaty) labor. :-)

When I bought the B-1s, I spent months evaluating them. I found the polar
pattern to be smoother than the Neumann TLM-103 and U-87. s/n ratio was
within 1dB of the Neumanns. Frequency response seems to be a match too.
Frankly, the U87 and the B-1 are indistinguishable to my ears, both on
headphones and on a pair of Wilson Bishops with Mark Levinson amplifiers
driving them. So I sold my Neumanns last summer and used the cash to buy six
more B-1s and a MotU 896. The B-1s are great mics with more s/n ratio than
any venue or studio I have worked in, even including my own. For real quiet,
I go outdoors in the northwest hills of CT woods and add +50dB gain
(digitally) to the 24-bit files and now I can here distant jetliners in the
air miles away, traffic from major highways over 10 miles away, and the
sounds of insects crapping on the leaves. All sounds I cannot hear with the
naked ear. Recording an orchestra is easy work for these mics. Paired with
the MotU 896, they make a perfect recording setup.
I'm using a mic bar that's configured in a "U" shape, with three mics
(L-C-R) along the bottom of the U and one additional (LR-RR) on each wing of
the U. The rig deploys quickly. All setup, including two camera video shoot
with tripods, dollies, zoom controller hookup and the audio gear, was up and
running in under 20 minutes.

Tomorrow night, I'll be recording and videotaping on the Green in Downtown
Danbury, as the Pops concert takes place. Here's hoping for great weather!


--
Best Regards,

Mark A. Weiss, P.E.
www.mwcomms.com
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