AudioBanter.com - View Single Post - archival location recording

wrote:

in addition to doing my small studio, i have been a historian during my
career. i have been asked to do some archival quality location
recording of older, retired musicians while another fellow videotapes
them playing. the work will be done on location at each paticipants
house, so i willl be faced with working in small living rooms or even
outdoors on porches, or wherever. the music will mostly be just the
individual performing solo, and ranges from bluegrass mandolin,
acoustic guitar, 30s-40s jazz piano, to bagpipes and native american
flute.

so, i need to be ready for almost anything in the worst possible
circumstances, and still be able to provide good quality recordings. i
would like your advice on what kind of setup would be the best choice
for this work.

Marantz PMD670 with AT825 stereo mic.

1. what kind of recorder? edirol R-1? DAT? other?

The R1 is a nice starting point for an all in one device,
but once you consider hooking up external mics the
availability of the XLR connectors helps out.
Marantz has variations on these units:
650/660/670/671/680/690 with choices of media -
CF, microdrive, PC card memory, and minidisc.
I think the 671 and the 660 are 24 bit capable.

2. what kind of mic/mics? should i just track in mono with a single
senn 421 or 441 dynamic? should i do stereo with a spaced pair of omni
condensers or ORTF cards?

For this type of use there's nothing wrong with mono.
Stereo is a nice touch. The AT stereo mic is decent
but if you're thinking of having mic choices available
just carry an assortment and choose based on the room
and the instrument.
Spaced omnis won't really get you much in this context,
but I might want to have a pair of better cards for
an ORTF setup (AKG C480, AT4051, etc)

3. close mic at 2-3 feet out? or put the mic/mics out in the roomo a
bit (6-8') to get a feel for the space where they are playing?

If the recording will always be associated with the video
you can get away with micing a bit further out.
If the recording is expected to stand on it's own
as audio only you'll want to move in closer.

4. trying to keep the kit minimal for portability - should i use an
outboard preamp like the sonosax, or select a recorder that has decent
pres built-in?

I wouldn't mess with external pres.
If you can afford an outboard you should
just get a better machine to start with.

5. anything else i should consider?

Use an audio track on the camera as a safety track.

rd