Question #1 ... Final Setup

I

ianda

New member
Hi again. I thought I'd run this by y'all and get your reactions. I've done a lot of research ... both in these forums and elsewhere. I'm thinking I've got a winning combination.

To record school bands, orchestras, and choirs, in both concert and session situations, I'm looking at the following combination:

AKG C2000B
Hard left of ensemble, elevated to pick up majority of non-centered sounds, panned hard to the left

AKG C2000B
Slight left of ensemble, elevated to pick up majority of left-of-center sounds, panned slightly to the left

AKG C2000B
Slight right of ensemble, elevated to pick up majority of left-of-center sounds, panned slightly to the right

AKG C2000B
Hard right of ensemble, elevated to pick up majority of non-centered sounds, panned hard to the right

AKG C1000S
In front of and above percussion on left side of ensemble, cardioid pattern for wide spectrum of sounds, panned slightly to the left

AKG C1000S
In front of and above percussion on right side of ensemble, cardioid pattern for wide spectrum of sounds, panned slightly to the right

I'm thinking that the setup listed above will give me an overall balance of the ensemble ... be it an orchestra, band, or choir. (Obviously, a choir may not need the C1000S's setup.)

Just curious if I could get some reactions and feedback.

Thanks,
ianda
 
How big is the stage? Unless it's really wide, you may get a lot of phase cancellations with that many mics. I think rule of thumb to prevent phase problems is, any two mics' distance between each other should be twice the distance from the source. To be more clear, let's call the distance of one mic from the source (the band or choir) the letter A. Let's call the distance from one mic to the nearest mic next to it that's recording the same source the letter B. So that you don't get phase cancellations, A < Bx2.

I'm no expert so take it FWIW.
 
Here's my revised list:

Oktava mc012 with omni-directional capsule

Hard left of ensemble, elevated to pick up majority of non-centered sounds (embience), panned hard to the left.

Oktava mc012 with omni-directional capsule

Hard Right of ensemble, elevated to pick up majority of non-centered sounds (and embience), panned hard right.

2 Oktava mc012s with cardiod capsule, in an XY configuration at the front of the stage and center.


Marshall mxl 603

In front of and above percussion on right side of ensemble, panned hard to the right

Marshall mxl 603

In front of and above percussion on the left side of ensemble, panned hard to the left.

AKG c1000

Dog fart. Slightly in front of dog's ass to the right to capture off-center canine flatulance. Cardiod pattern for greater isolation. Pan hard right.

AKG c1000

Slightly in front of dog's ass to the left, to capture any off-center doggie-doo-doo splatterings that may emit as result of wind thrust.

AKG c200B

Position above any loose papers and/or session notes. Straight on top, so as to weigh them down in case of sudden gust of wind from dog's ass while flatulating.
 
A Simple Reply

Thanks, all, for the quick responses! The setup I listed is for larger stages. If it's a smaller stage, I'd run one AKG C2000B on the left side of the stage (panned a little to the left) and another AKG C2000B on the right side of the stage (panned a little to the right). I'd still use two AKG C1000S's for the percussion, but only because most percussion sections are very spread out (i.e. timpani, snares, bass, mallets, auxilary, etc.).

Thanks again!

-ianda
 
You could also use a modified Decca Tree. Because of there unique capsule design (a 12 mm capsule mounted on a 40 mm sphere), this is normally done with Neumann M50s, M150s, or TLM50s, but any omnidirectional mic will work to a certain degree. I am normally prone to long winded descriptions, I have to work at 6:00 A.M. tomorrow, so I'll just give you the link to the DPA website.

http://www.dpamicrophones.com/eng_pub/MicUni/131.html

If you were using small diaphragm mics, you could even fashion your own spheres (or buy them from DPA or Schoeps, if they fit your mics) to make your setup into a real Decca tree. The DPA site doesn?t mention this (because they do not make Neumann mics), but Decca always used M50s. The sphere causes the mic to become extremely directional at high frequencies, while maintaining its non-directional pattern at low frequencies. This tends to provide a very pleasant ambiance for classical music.
If the orchestra is large enough, you can add two more mics at 12-15 feet outside of the center cluster. I read a great article on the Decca tree lately, but I do not remember where. I will try to find it.
I skipped half of the description I was contemplating, and I still managed to be longwinded. Sorry. At any rate, give the Decca Tree a try, if you can. It sounds wonderful.

Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
Chessrock- I have to say I agree with you on C1000s, but it won't capture the dogfart (or anything else) accurately, so give it up. I agree with you on the 012, it's a workhorse mic. However, we have to part company on C2000B. While not a wicked mic collecter, I've got a few, and C2000B has survived the test of time as an overhead, an over-the-shoulder acoustic guitar mic, and for vocals. It has a bit of reach, though, and I find it sucks in many cases unless it's backed off quite a bit. In blind listening tests (alright, somewhat unscientific), up against NTK,012,C3,SM57,D112,Solid Tube,MK319, and others, it has consistently come in in the top 3 for acoustic guitar and vocals. The little $100 wonder is still competing for a place as the over-shoulder acoustic guit mic up against C3. (the 012 goes in front).
I bought mine new for $99, and it's turned out to be about the best bang for buck in the studio. I'm wondering if quality control is an issue, because you've obviously used one that sucks. I'm here to tell you that mine *absolutely* does not.-Richie
 
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