Hello-
I'm actually a videographer, but a recent job has got me scrambling for audio info. The audio i use is pretty simple, a shotgun directly to the camera, and a good ole' Sm57 run through a very simple Midi to USB interface, into garageband on a Powermac, for voiceovers and narration mainly.
Now, the job I have is to record about a thirty person orchestra, and then put the music onto the video later. It is important that the audio sounds decent and is in stereo. I have done some research and found that recording each seperate person individually is out of the question(especially with thirty people), and recording the entire orchestra simultaneously is much more practical. There is something called a "deca tree" mic formation, which is, as far as i can tell...two paired microphones spaced equally one quarter from the center of the soundstage, and a third mic on the centerline, pushed up a few feet, to cover any "sound holes". From what i've read, this configuration, although cumbersome and time consuming to setup, yields amazing results with a fantasticly realistic "stereo dimension". I think I can get away with getting something like the AKG c1000 stereo pair as i minimum, and then maybe use the Sm57 for the center Mic if needed.
It actually sounds rather simple, at it's roots, but my question is, how can i record 2 or 3 different tracks simultaneously. That is, each Mic to it's own track so i can manipulate the sound afterwards, and most importantly, keep the stereo image?
Can i just buy a more professional USB interface, one with two XLR inputs and a third one through a line-matching transformer, and run it into Garageband? Or do I need something completely different?
(-We will be recording in a church with high cielings when there are no people present)
thanks for any help
-alex
I'm actually a videographer, but a recent job has got me scrambling for audio info. The audio i use is pretty simple, a shotgun directly to the camera, and a good ole' Sm57 run through a very simple Midi to USB interface, into garageband on a Powermac, for voiceovers and narration mainly.
Now, the job I have is to record about a thirty person orchestra, and then put the music onto the video later. It is important that the audio sounds decent and is in stereo. I have done some research and found that recording each seperate person individually is out of the question(especially with thirty people), and recording the entire orchestra simultaneously is much more practical. There is something called a "deca tree" mic formation, which is, as far as i can tell...two paired microphones spaced equally one quarter from the center of the soundstage, and a third mic on the centerline, pushed up a few feet, to cover any "sound holes". From what i've read, this configuration, although cumbersome and time consuming to setup, yields amazing results with a fantasticly realistic "stereo dimension". I think I can get away with getting something like the AKG c1000 stereo pair as i minimum, and then maybe use the Sm57 for the center Mic if needed.
It actually sounds rather simple, at it's roots, but my question is, how can i record 2 or 3 different tracks simultaneously. That is, each Mic to it's own track so i can manipulate the sound afterwards, and most importantly, keep the stereo image?
Can i just buy a more professional USB interface, one with two XLR inputs and a third one through a line-matching transformer, and run it into Garageband? Or do I need something completely different?
(-We will be recording in a church with high cielings when there are no people present)
thanks for any help
-alex
