Aw! C'mon we want 'warts and all'!
Dave.
Think about what stereo is. If you are in a church with a violin and close your eyes, what do you hear? A point source in a big room! If I want a big distant perspective I'd use a stereo pair at least four metres away, but depending on the church, this might be nice, or horrible. We did a singer in a church yesterday and used two mics a metre away from her, but back in the studio just picked the most flattering one. The stereo pair further back provided the stereo component, which was tweaked to make it sound bigger than it really was. You can record a church organ in stereo because even small ones are physically big. Recording a grand piano, stick up is a compromise for calling it a stereo instrument with width, but once you get smaller than that, the ONLY reason for using two mics is to capture the tonal aspects. Harps often need two mics if you need clarity so do things like bassoons where sound escapes all over the places. If you have percussion, you'd perhaps think times would be stereo, but while you use multiple mics, panning is very, very gentle or your time player grows ten feet long arms. I tend to mic things in a TV style, so a violin would get one condenser probably 2-3 ft away on cardioid higher than the violin aiming down at it in playing position. So much depends on what you want the recording to sound like. Choose between a sound similar to what you hear if you were there, or a studio recording designed to make the violin a focus instrument. For me, it's perspective. Do you want to really hear in your ears that the violin was not central, but to one side, thirty feet away in a space with hard walls,migh roof and lots of air in it, or do you want to hear the violin in full detail, more dry, central and focussed? Stereo techniques in close do neither. I'd use the pair in X/Y, central and maybe 2-3m above ground, with another mic close in at 2-3 ft (sorry for mixed measurements) and blend to taste back in your studio.
My first impression listening on headphones (K92) was that the violin was rather 'strident' even spiky at times and I put that down to the microphones or the acoustic or a bit of both.
However moving to my Tannoy 5A setup changed my mind completely! Yes, the violin was 'crisp' and clear but that stridency had gone. The stereo image was also excellent IMHO. I could close my eyes and picture a violin a few meters behind my speakers and of the natural, almost point source it would be in reality.
Some might find there to be too much 'church' and certainly for anything much faster or intricate the notes might get lost in the reverberation but for me it was glorious.
Better ears than mine might still find things a bit 'bright' or hard and perhaps a few curtains or duvets could be put about?
Dave.
Hi Dave and thanks for your analysis.
the NT55 is a bright mic, indeed. I would love a parif of DPA5011 but, so far, out of budget!
Here is "Adagio e Fuga" with AB setup(omni):
YouTube
Here is "Ciaccona" with XY setup(cardioid):
Ciaccona Version 3.mp4 - Google Drive
I like the AB setup much more!
The snag here is goal seeking. What, exactly, are you hoping to achieve? Are you hoping to record the sound of a space with a violin annoying it, or are you trying to record a violin with an annoying space intruding? Or somewhere between. Are you trying to record what somebody in the front row would hear, or someone at the back (or somewhere between). It's signal to noise really, but your aim is a little different to what the big classical recording companies or broadcasters would choose.
There's nothing wrong with your omni recording apart from that it's not similar to other recordings of this genre. Technically, the recording is competent. Aurally, for me the cardioid wins but the violin seems mobile and wide. Recording with two mics is very difficult, but you are persisting with your quest, and don't seem willing to try alternatives. If you listen to classical recordings, do you hear recordings like yours? They're just a bit unconventional. It's often fruitless to ask the musicians, they hear things differently to the audience, especially brass players. One tip. Press the mono button on your recordings, this might demonstrate that your distant techniques are tricky used close in.
The M/S suggestion for you would be a really good one. The ability to change perspective afterwards.
You might actually like spaced A/B as it has a huge sound, have you tried this?
As I also do video work, I've got a little violin lyre that allows me to mount a small omni on a violin, and blending this with a distant stereo array used conventionally can work brilliantly.
Your X/Y array in the video is it crossed? It looks spaced, so is really A/B with less rear? It's rather unusual. You have sort of invented a new technique?