Live jazz recording w/ video

[mattr]

Any comments on the sound for this?
Was mixed in a big rush - not my best effort!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fsr2wLjt2-A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkaEjgJJfmY

2 pairs of room mics, one close in and one further out.
Drum overheads and kick. Boundary mic on piano.

Unfortunately the drummer played the ride very loudly at the beginning of the Radiohead song, which bled into everything. Other than that I'm relatively happy with the mix.
The saxophonist on the second vid is only 15 and that was a fairly modest solo in his terms - he's a pretty incredible player!

Hit the HD button if your intertubes can cope with it. Much better sound

 

[Steve-0]

Youtubes is nothing without the "HD" button or tacking "&fmt=18" onto the end of the url for stereo sound.

That sounds exactly like I think a live jazz recording should sound (I tend to think all jazz should be live... or at least live in the studio.) Great sense of the space they're playing in.

The players are great too. The pianist does some stuff that I really like, drifting behind the beat in his solo and such. I'm such a sucker for jazz piano.

Great job dude.

 

[leddy]

Unfortunately the drummer played the ride very loudly at the beginning of the Radiohead song, which bled into everything.

99% of my recordings are live jazz and bleed is always an issue.

You have to plan for the bleed. I pick microphones not just based on what they sound like on the instrument they are on, but what the drums sound like bleeding into them. It took me years to find some mics I can use on the double bass without making the drums sound worse. Some mics pick up some nasty harsh frequencies off-axis. Some are better. Those little SE Reflexion filters are helpful as well - the IR ones.

Keep in mind that the typical ride cymbals you are used to hearing on classic jazz records (like vintage K's) may not be what the guy in the video is using. Good jazz drummers are more anal about cymbals than we are about mics. There can be big differences in how a ride cymbal will interact with the room and the other instruments. It's one of the things that really separates the pros from the rest, IMO.

I'd like to hear it in better fidelity than youtube provides. If I had to nitpick, I'd say I hear a little more room than I like to hear. I like some room sound, but this is too wet for my taste. Sounds like someone taping a concert from way back in the audience rather than micing it near the stage. Other than that it sounds great.

 

[mattr]

Cool, thanks guys.

I like some room sound, but this is too wet for my taste.

There were a pair of mics in front of the stage and a pair further back. At the moment I have the pair further back providing the majority of the sound and the ones at the front filling in, but I'll try swapping round which pair dominates. The room is quite reverberant anyway - they're going to get some more curtains to put down the sides to control it a bit better soon

I'd like to hear it in better fidelity than youtube provides.

There is a little HD button which lets you watch it in much better quality. Youtube have moved it from below the player box to an actual button next to the volume control, which threw me a bit! The sound on that is a *lot* better, but still not exactly like the completely uncompressed version.