Cossie
May 24th 04, 04:40 PM
Yesterday there was an organ concert at my church. Stay with me! Although
we recently installed a beautiful new instrument, I wasn't planning on
attending for various reasons, one of which was the fact that I don't really
have ideal equipment with which to record the organ. But at the last minute
behest of several people including the director of music, I agreed to come
and record. I'm very glad I did, because not only was the concert
excellent, but I amazed myself at what a wonderful recording I was able to
achieve (I'm listening to it as I write this) with less than perfect
equipment and conditions.
Here are the particulars:
The organist is a "child prodigy" of 15. That's a term I don't like to
throw around, and I was dubious when I kept hearing it (one reason I wasn't
thrilled aobut going). He was wonderful.
The instrument is less than 1 year old, and is a Rodgers/Ruffati combination
pipe/digital with 32 ranks of real pipes as well as full midi capability
etc. The space for the installation was limited, which was part of the
reason for the decision to get a combination instrument. Also because of
space limitations, the great division is on one side of the loft in the rear
of the church, and the swell is on the other side. Both are open to the
center of the loft. In other words, they face each other and the choir gets
sa little more deaf every Sunday. There is a Ruk Positif cantilevered from
the front of the loft, and an antiphonal in the front of the church, 75 feet
away. The room is about 90' x 50' with a 40' peaked, timber frame ceiling.
Permanently installed in the room are a stereo pair of Neumann KM184s
suspended in the front of the room, placed for recording orchestra and
choir, which I used for the antiphonal. Suspended over the loft there are a
pair of AT mikes which are not appropriate for organ, and placed for
recording choir.
I do not own a pair of SD omnis, which would have been my first choice IF I
could get them high enough, which brings up my second problem--I also don't
have access to any sturdy mic stands that will go higher than about 8 feet.
So here's what I did: I used those 8' tall boom stands to mount a pair of
AT4041s in the center aisle about halfway back in the room, facing the rear
and aimed at the two main divisions on either side of the loft. Then I
placed an AT4050, set to omni, in the center of the loft, behind the organ
console, halfway between the great and swell divisions.
I was told by both the organist and his teacher that I shouldn't put a mic
in the loft. I was very diplomatic, explained what I was doing, and gave
them the final decision about removing it, but apparently I was persuasive
because they acceeded. I think that in at least one case they thought it
was the only mic being used, in which case they would have been 100% correct
in asking for it to be moved.
My reasoning for the above setup was that I wanted the omni to ensure good
coverage of the full frequency range of the instrument--especially down low.
I felt that if I located it on the main floor it would pick up too much
audience noise. The 4041s were aimed so as to reject as much audience noise
as possible and pick up the room ambience as well as capture the Ruk
Positif. As mentioned before the Neumanns would cover the antiphonal.
This was mixed on the fly through a Midas Venice, with the 4050 in mono and
the other two pairs panned l/r, then fed directly into a Tascam CD recorder.
Another difficulty was that, since this was a last minute thing, I had no
opportunity to test, reposition, or even set levels before the concert
began.
Now, the reason I wrote all this down is this--I have never been so proud of
the final result of any live recording I have done. Played on a decent
system, it sounds very good, but makes you think, "Boy, I wish I had a
better system". Played on a very good system it sounds fabulous--like being
there. My sub is working hard to keep up with the 32' stops, but DAMN it
sounds good!
This is what it's all about.
Bill Balmer
we recently installed a beautiful new instrument, I wasn't planning on
attending for various reasons, one of which was the fact that I don't really
have ideal equipment with which to record the organ. But at the last minute
behest of several people including the director of music, I agreed to come
and record. I'm very glad I did, because not only was the concert
excellent, but I amazed myself at what a wonderful recording I was able to
achieve (I'm listening to it as I write this) with less than perfect
equipment and conditions.
Here are the particulars:
The organist is a "child prodigy" of 15. That's a term I don't like to
throw around, and I was dubious when I kept hearing it (one reason I wasn't
thrilled aobut going). He was wonderful.
The instrument is less than 1 year old, and is a Rodgers/Ruffati combination
pipe/digital with 32 ranks of real pipes as well as full midi capability
etc. The space for the installation was limited, which was part of the
reason for the decision to get a combination instrument. Also because of
space limitations, the great division is on one side of the loft in the rear
of the church, and the swell is on the other side. Both are open to the
center of the loft. In other words, they face each other and the choir gets
sa little more deaf every Sunday. There is a Ruk Positif cantilevered from
the front of the loft, and an antiphonal in the front of the church, 75 feet
away. The room is about 90' x 50' with a 40' peaked, timber frame ceiling.
Permanently installed in the room are a stereo pair of Neumann KM184s
suspended in the front of the room, placed for recording orchestra and
choir, which I used for the antiphonal. Suspended over the loft there are a
pair of AT mikes which are not appropriate for organ, and placed for
recording choir.
I do not own a pair of SD omnis, which would have been my first choice IF I
could get them high enough, which brings up my second problem--I also don't
have access to any sturdy mic stands that will go higher than about 8 feet.
So here's what I did: I used those 8' tall boom stands to mount a pair of
AT4041s in the center aisle about halfway back in the room, facing the rear
and aimed at the two main divisions on either side of the loft. Then I
placed an AT4050, set to omni, in the center of the loft, behind the organ
console, halfway between the great and swell divisions.
I was told by both the organist and his teacher that I shouldn't put a mic
in the loft. I was very diplomatic, explained what I was doing, and gave
them the final decision about removing it, but apparently I was persuasive
because they acceeded. I think that in at least one case they thought it
was the only mic being used, in which case they would have been 100% correct
in asking for it to be moved.
My reasoning for the above setup was that I wanted the omni to ensure good
coverage of the full frequency range of the instrument--especially down low.
I felt that if I located it on the main floor it would pick up too much
audience noise. The 4041s were aimed so as to reject as much audience noise
as possible and pick up the room ambience as well as capture the Ruk
Positif. As mentioned before the Neumanns would cover the antiphonal.
This was mixed on the fly through a Midas Venice, with the 4050 in mono and
the other two pairs panned l/r, then fed directly into a Tascam CD recorder.
Another difficulty was that, since this was a last minute thing, I had no
opportunity to test, reposition, or even set levels before the concert
began.
Now, the reason I wrote all this down is this--I have never been so proud of
the final result of any live recording I have done. Played on a decent
system, it sounds very good, but makes you think, "Boy, I wish I had a
better system". Played on a very good system it sounds fabulous--like being
there. My sub is working hard to keep up with the 32' stops, but DAMN it
sounds good!
This is what it's all about.
Bill Balmer