I need to get some recommendations on recording equipment, specifically
mics and sound maximizers. For purposes of this topic, money is no
object. Let me discuss the space where the equipment will be used:

1500 seat proscenium.
We use either mono or a simple stereo mix.
Most of the recording we do involves choirs, orchestras, or brass/wind
bands.
We don't need anything that will turn the world on its ear, but the
recordings need to be clean.

If anyone has any suggestions on what to use or what NOT to use, please
send them my way; I'll appreciate it.

Oliverwren wrote:
I need to get some recommendations on recording equipment, specifically
mics and sound maximizers. For purposes of this topic, money is no
object. Let me discuss the space where the equipment will be used:

1500 seat proscenium.
We use either mono or a simple stereo mix.
Most of the recording we do involves choirs, orchestras, or brass/wind
bands.
We don't need anything that will turn the world on its ear, but the
recordings need to be clean.

What's your budget? What does the room sound like? Is it very live
or very dead? Are there slap echo problems? Are you stuck having to
mount the mikes on the proscenium or can you pull them back? Are you
looking to place the mikes each time for each group or do you want a
permanent set-and-forget install that a semi-skilled operator can use?
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

Oliverwren wrote:

I need to get some recommendations on recording equipment, specifically
mics and sound maximizers. For purposes of this topic, money is no
object. Let me discuss the space where the equipment will be used:

1500 seat proscenium.
We use either mono or a simple stereo mix.
Most of the recording we do involves choirs, orchestras, or brass/wind
bands.
We don't need anything that will turn the world on its ear, but the
recordings need to be clean.

If anyone has any suggestions on what to use or what NOT to use, please
send them my way; I'll appreciate it.

Addressing one thing Mr. Dorsey skipped...

Do not use "sound maximizers"; they are incompatible with the concept of
clean recording. They are bandaids that can be helpful when a track is
so screwed up nothing else seems to help, but short of that they're a
great way to damage perfectly good audio.

--
ha

Addressing one thing Mr. Dorsey skipped...

Do not use "sound maximizers"; they are incompatible with the concept of
clean recording. They are bandaids that can be helpful when a track is
so screwed up nothing else seems to help, but short of that they're a
great way to damage perfectly good audio.

--

I would agree. The first thing you want to do is get clean, dry audio.
Good mics and a clean mixer, probably into an MBox2 or something of
the like. But I wouldn't try to doctor the sound coming in, especially
for this kind of music. Plenty of processing can be done in a remix.

Craig

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In my mind this brings up a picture of what I have seen in so many
performance halls. They all tend to have a hanging stereo pair in the
front end of the scene, maybe 5 meters up. Some allow the positioning
to be modified using wires and pullies, sometimes it is in a fixed
position.

The output from the mics is then routed to a "machine room" and
available on a patch panel so that you could use different equipment.
In the better halls they have a good mic preamp and a DAT or CD
recorder or similar mounted in the rack, all ready for recording.

It depends on the room which mics you want to place there, but
personally I tend to love spaced omnis. A foot or two apart (you need
to experiment) mounted on stereo bar. Some ideas on mics:
- Schoeps CMC 62 (mic body CMC6 and capsule MK2). You need some help
in choosing exact version of MK2 as there are several to choose from
depending more suited to different applications
- Sennheiser MKH20
- MicroTech Gefell M200 or perhaps the very special M960 (tailor made
for hanging use in large halls)
- Neumann KM143

Of course there are a lot of other choices. Ideally you could try to
find a local consultant or expert knowing this coming to your place and
testing different setups before you commit. It will be a bit of
investment but it will be worth it getting the right equipment.

Gunnar
-

Oliverwren wrote:
I need to get some recommendations on recording equipment, specifically
mics and sound maximizers.

Best advice is to forget the "sound maximizer" and just maximize the
sound you're recording. Put a good mic in the right place and you'll be
good to go.