recording operatic soprano and grand piano in a recital hall

[osus]

hello,

i'm trying to do a rough demo recording of my girlfriend singing with a pianist for some auditions.

i realize these challenges have been dealt with in abstract in great detail and in practice in various forms in this forum, but i figured i'd post my gear and see what you guys would recommend me doing with it. i'm not sure of some of what i'm working with--i'll post updates after i take a look at the place.

the instruments:

soprano with an interesting dark mezzo-like coloration
a 9' (?) grand piano

the room:

about 50' by 30' (i'm guessing)
hard walls but curtains can be closed on three of the four walls
the piano is centered on the long wall about four-six feet away

my so-called gear:

an ev pl77b
a shure sm57
a sennheiser e865
mic stands & cables

i'm currently either running into a dilapidated tascam 424 cassette four-track, but i could use it as a mixer through my laptop's line in and track stereo to adobe audition. i'm looking into getting a laptop-friendly pre/phantom/a/d/input device (this is of course discussion for another forum...)

any recommendations on mic choice & placement given these conditions?

thanks!

[krs]

you need a pair of nice SDC for this gig....

[jkokura]

For good less expensive SDC's I like the Oktava MK012's...and it seems like I say that a lot. Do a search and you'll find that a lot of people around here like em too. Get the Russian one's, not the Chinese Ripoffs.

Other options might be the MXL 603's, or the Studio Projects C4's. If you're willing to spend more dough than 300, look at AKG 451's...

AFor Vocals you might wanna look at a decent Large Diaphram mic...that's where budget create huge variation in your choices. First, you're miking female (soprano) voice, second this is a demo and you probably don't want to spend a lot, and third how oftem will you use the mic...

What I suggest is pool a little money and buy quality used mics, and if you don't want to leave that money in the mics, sell them when you're done your demo. That way it's kinda like an investment...you spend a little to make your recording higher in quality, and then you sell and maybe lose a few bucks at most. This gives you a waaaaay better piano/soprano recording than your 57 is gonna give you....

Last but not least...your recording is only going to be as good as your weakest link...so don't use a 500 dollar mic and a 5 dollar mic cord...

jacob

[mshilarious]

Rent. Get a nice pair of condensers, and a nice two-channel preamp, and record that into your laptop or 424.

I'd add that you'll want to set up the mics in a coincident or near-coincident pair (see the DPA microphone site's "Microphone University"), start about 10 feet away and move around until you get a good sound.

If you're determined to use your gear, put the Senn about 3 feet away from the singer, and the 57 on the piano, either a few feet away from the open lid, about lid level, or you can try underneath too. That won't get you a true stereo image though.

[bigtoe]

you could stick a 57 on a stand and go mono. i'd set it up about 10 feet in the air and aim it down at the players.

i did a ton of this for my first job...the meat of the gig is getting the balance between the singer and the piano...and controlling the verb in the room.

the balance is somewhat easy - stick the singer front and center and move the piano to taste...or the otherway around...i always had a tsange to deal with.

the lid on the piano is a big factor - i always started half stick if possible.

i'd start with the curtains closed and see how much room you want to hear and adjust them accordingly.

when i did this i always had a stage so the sound stage was pretty well mapped out already... i'd approach it the same way in a room - in fact - i have on church gigs.

good luck - sorry for the random blab...tired...

Mike

PS- sounds like yer working a hall that may have some mics tucked away somewhere...like a school or a another hall. ask the av guy...

actually if you got a pair of anything you could do a decent xy recording.