In November 2011 I recorded a concert with
Amateur Symphony Orchestra. Special guest and soloist in this concert was a
Gissur Páll Gissurarson tenor and
Dean Ferrell bass player. This concert was different from many others I‘ve seen and heard. Most of the time during the concert, Dean, Gissur and the director
Oliver Kentish, were acting in a comedy. Part of this concert is now
visible at YouTube.
I have noticed that omnidirectional mics give the best result in sound quality. That is one of the reasons I use very often omnidirectional mics as Mid-side mic in
MS setup.
In this concert I decided to use
AB setup located over the orchestra.
For many reasons it gives a fabulous result. Compare using same multi polar pattern mics in MS setup it gives better result in the lower frequency resolution. The only negative thing was a bit too long reverb on the orchestra and too short on soloists. Six pieces of mics could also make a phase error.
At concert like this, I can´t act as a king. I need to make me as compact as I can. For many reasons I like that. It is a challenge to make a nice recording without be necessarily in the best place, or have a trailer of recording equipment.
During the concert I tried to beware the phase problem. But the soloist was “acting” almost everywhere. Most of the time they were far away from the best place for the mics so I got some phase failure.
Following two songs are made by Arlo Guthry (
The Pause of Mr. Claus) and Franz Anton Hoffmeister (Menuett). In this recording Dean Ferrell bass player is singing and playing on his fabulous Bass. Violist, Celloist and Bass player in the orchestra are playing with Dean in the Menuett song.
Recorder: Sound Devices 744 w. 552 preamp
Mics: SE4400 in AB setup. 60cm apart in 2.5 meters over the orchestra. For bass soloist, SE 4400 in MS setup (mid mic omni). For tenor, SE1a in XY setup (not used in this web session).
Pix: Canon 30D. (
more pictures)
See more and listen at: www.fieldrecording.net
Download mp3 file (224kbps / 12.8Mb)
