lewdslewrate writes:
Many snips...
Big sports hall at a school in Gloucestershire....only recently
opened...not completely finished. =A0rectangle shoe box with a arched
roof.
Could be worse. Could be a cube!!
Floor: Wooden sprung surface; (covered in thin carpet for performance=
Also could be worse.
Mozarts requiem.
Lovely piece; have not heard it for a quite a while.
In the Mozart requiem, the soprano and bass each sing once and the
quartet all sing together once. =A0Favor the soprano and bass in your s=
olo
microphone placement.
Probably a good idea; but it's good you have two solo mics.
Make absolutely sure the PA is on during your rehearsal. =A0Those flyin=
g
speakers can severely impact the mix hitting your flying mics.
Yes, very good point.
Knowing that you will record the hall, as Scott said, warn the
recipients of the recording that it will sound like it was recorded in =
a
a sports arena.
You might get lucky and fool everybody.
Most arenas have HVAC systems to awaken the dead. =A0Who cares when the
ambient noise level never falls below a dull roar? =A0You probably can'=
t
do anything about it--can't turn it off for a performance that long. =
=A0
But look for vents and blowers and keep your mics away.
The MC930s are spec'd with an LF number to 40 hz, which probably means they start
rolling off around 100, and are down -10 or so at 40. This could be a good thing.
In post, you might sneak in a narrow bass boost that doesn't pump up HVAC, but helps
give an illusion of low-end -- of course, only do this if you feel things are a bit
bottom shy.
And, while we're there, you'll also be well-served in post to apply a very steep
high-pass up to 25-30 hz. This will help mitigate the mix nasties caused by HVAC
and room subsonics.
after all the gear has been analysed and pro's and conned....and of
course it matters.....i need to take responsibility after the
homeworks been done.
a big thank you for all who contributed and i will take heed and
indeed..."paddle my own canoe...."
Seems like you're doing the best you can, given the box of parts you have to work
with. That's called engineering.
With the main pair pretty tight, three choral spots and two solo spots, you can
probably pull off something that will sound okay, possibly good, and if the
performers are really spot on, it might sound spectacular. (When the music is really
good, a few sonic dents and dings can be overlooked.)
Assuming the soloists have well-trained voices -- good enough to stay properly
placed with an orchestra and choir in an unamplified setting -- let the solo mics
"breathe" a bit; keep them 3-4 feet back from the soloists. With the SPL of trained
voices at that relatively close distance, you'll have reasonable isolation.
Getting "almost" close with solo spots to the main pair can cause some quirks,
particularly if the soloists are physically expressive and move back and forth, side
to side. The optimal time-alignment will shift. You can either push their delays out
of that completely, or use the DAW automation to ride the delay for you. Tedious,
though.
Give the soloists plenty of headroom, too; it's amazing how quickly a focused
soprano voice can demand 26 bits from a 24 bit system.
You do have those 24
bits, give it a good amount of room. And don't let the rehearsal fool you; they
might kick out another 6+ dB during the performance.
Hopefully, your capture will be relatively dry to avoid room and PA issues.
Even though you're in a cavern, don't be afraid to try some reverb in post. Take
some time to craft that reverb so that it feels integrated and real, and not like
someone just turned up the echo knob.
Am i right in thinking (for argument if i used x2 spots on orchestra)
they become less of an issue ( confused stereo image - delaying x2
stereo pairs) as they are used at a lower dB level in mix and
placement gets more local and direct sound from an area and hence has
less in way of multiple paths of sound to the capsule..?
Not sure I follow -- do you have three choral, two solos, two ORTF, plus two more
mics?
To answer the question as I read it, yes, with qualifications. Mostly, listen.
Sorry, i meant (for argument if i used x2 spots on choir.....)
Oh - so you mean going from three choral mics to two? I'd probably want to stick
with three, maybe even four if the spread is as wide as you'd originally indicated
AND you're fighting that PA mess.
It's always easy (relatively speaking) to fake a lush choral sound from good spots
that are well-placed; but damn near impossible to do that if the spots are
"polluted" with another junk.
Good luck with it; let us know how it goes.
Frank
Mobile Audio
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