Recording a mraching band

S

slimcamp

New member
ok i have been recruited to record a marching band compitition. Yes a marching band, there will be about 12 dif bands ranging from 50 people to 300. most shows consist between the 30 yard lines. The compitition isnt until october but its sorta a big thing so i figured to get prepared.

by then my mic locker will have:
(2) SP B-1
(2) ECM8000
(1) SM57
(3) SM58
(3) Shure Boundry Mics

( some of the mics are mine some are the schools) i have been recruited to do this by the schools video club (last year they did it with 2 sm58's on stands about 10 feet back from the side line of the feild and about 6 feet high...... man did it suck, but everything they do does.

the problem is... we have no idea what the stadium looks like... since it is still being built......and wont be done until a week or so before but i belive there is going to be like 15-20 foot walls on boths sides of the field

any help or advice i can get would be awesome, sorry if i forgot details
 
oh and everything needs to be at least 10 feet away from the feild in the front (rules and percussion pit) and 10 feet from the back side line. and absolutely nothign can be on the feild so i have some big issues
 
slimcamp said:
(last year they did it with 2 sm58's on stands about 10 feet back from the side line of the feild and about 6 feet high...... man did it suck, but everything they do does.
Click to expand...

Why did it suck. That's really the only option you have. 58's probably aren't the best choice but that position sounds pretty reasonable. You might have some luck with just the B1 or the PZMs. Usually for an outdoor situation with distant micing you would use some cardoid (directional) mics and all the ones you have except for the B1 and 57 are pretty much Omni mics.
 
What you need is either some shotgun mics (see AudioTechnica's website) or some parabolic reflectors (those clear, satellite dish looking things you see at football games). Sorry, I don't know of a source for parabolic reflectors.

Scott
 
ok i got like a $100 budget... i saw some cheap shotguns in the markertek catalog.....anyone know anything abotu them
 
yes i have thought about that, and if it does wat i think im going to do there will be floor directors and camera people all over the place so i think ill have garbage bags by each stand so it it starts to rain they can through a bag over it and we will forget about the recording
 
In order to make a decent sounding recording, you need skill and decent mics and pre's, fit for the job.

The skill is here, many guys are willing to share their skill if you ask, which you did!

You need a good stereo (rented) mic or a pair of SD cardioid condensers.

Put them in an ORTF placement some 10 or 12 ' high and you will get decent sound with a great stereo image.

Find out about stereo placements on the DPA site www.dpamicrophones.com (microphone university)

Good hunting!
 
There are several things to consider, if you are able to set up near the front, the band will change positions, so during one set, you might have nothing but loud-butt trumpets on the front line, and wont hear anything else. The idea usually is for the band to put the instrument of interest, (the one caring the melody) up front. This is like making a mix to the croud. The best bet is to get farther back, to kind of get the audience's perspective, but then you run into picking up too much croud noise. Do some research of the stadium, most of them have a running track around them, to me this would be a good place to set up. Not too close to the pit crew, and not to close to the roaring croud. I would go to a local school. Try out the different mics and locations during a marching band rehersal, of course asking the director first. The outcome will not be perfect, think of the elements, like wind, the source of sound is constantly moving, the musicians are young, drunken rednecks in the stand walking up to you asking "whacta doin?" It will not be perfect, but you can probably get a pretty good sound with two mics (possibly the B1's) about 30 yards apart and on tall stands. Good luck dude!:D
 
thats the thing... i cant visit the stadium... it is only half built, and i cant even get access to blue prints till late august, im not looking for the best sound, cuz i know its not psosible, maybe i should ahve mentions the main reason for doing to is so it can go with the video feed

and another thing, marching bands these days are very active and move very very fast and the thing about the melody in the front isnt necessarily true, the band mainly does there "mixing" with dynamics, not position....(for the most part)

thanks for all the help
 
See if you can find the main rehearsal room where the band practices. Usually there will be mics set up just behind the director's podium so that the band directors can record practices (I remember seeing three mics set up left to right of the band, close to the ceiling and facing downward to the band.. It sounded very clear). I would use this basic configuration and extrapolate the distances to the size of the marching band when their marching pattern is maximized horizontally.

And although it is true that the band is dynamically mixed, if the directors are any good at their job they will have the band facing the home team bleachers at the most key musical moments of the performance. For example, if the trumpets have a lead then they will face their bells at the audience regardless of where they are marching.

Cy
 
I wouldn't recommend the shotguns, they are far too directional to pick up a marching band spread around a whole field.

In general the advice to get as far back as possible but not with any crowd in front of you.

But more than anything else, get HIGH. Otherwise your sound will be dominated by the pit and whatever instruments that will be right in front of you, even worse is the fact that most bands amplify their pit sections and you have no control over where they put their pit speakers. If they happen to put their speakers right in front of your mics...

So think of how you might mount an ORTF pair thirty feet up in the air at the first row of the stands on the 50 yard line.

Another challenge will be the levels. the bands wont be able to give you a level check so you will have to make a guess based on the size and the instrumentation of the band, but have a hardware or software compressor in the chain just in case you guess wrong.

As to which microphones, I would just go with the SM58s. No point subjecting a delicate microphone to the wind, dust, and possible precipitation or dew.
 
thanks guys for all the advice, the only thing is alot of it is immposible, i guess noone have ever been to a marching band comp. the bands participating are some of the top in the country highschool and IUP is doing a exibition too... i think the balance is not an issue just mic posision, now the quesion ariases anyone know wher ei can get like 3 or 4 section tripod stands that can go preatty high
 
I not only have been to marching band competitions, I have participated in many of them. They are a blast. What part of the country are you in? As far as a stand, how high do you need to go? Taller than a standard boom mic stand?
 
i recorded a band competition once. I went to a local painter and gave him twenty bucks to rent me his scaffolding for the night. I set up two right on the track surrounding the field and put some sdc's up there.
 
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