Klarinet Archive - Posting 000538.txt from 2003/01

From: "pwharris" <pwharris@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] recording
Date: Wed, 29 Jan 2003 12:36:15 -0500

Janis:

I have done quite a bit of recording using several different techniques of
various chamber group in the area. I find that the "stereo microphone
system" is the easiest to balance, but using a microphone for each
instrument gives the most presence to the recording. The ideal way would be
to use the stereo mica for ambiance in a room of adequate size and then a
microphone for each instrument for presence. This would of course be a 4 or
5 microphone layout (stereo mica is really two microphones in one housing.).
I personally do not like to microphone the piano with two microphones as it
is really hard to balance the two correctly for the ends of the sound board
you have them set at. I would rather back one microphone up a little and
microphone the piano at a distance that includes the whole range of the
instrument. This is easy to do by opening the lid of the instrument and
pointing the microphones at the instrument from 3 or 4 feet away at above
the level of the top of the instrument. With good microphones you will
still get the presence of sound without the annoying mechanical bits and
pieces that happen when you microphone to close.
There are several schools of thought about recording methods. You can run
your microphones through a mixer and then record the track's as a balanced
stereo mix on the fly. This is the method I use when there is not enough HD
space for the time of the total recording session to record each track
separately, or if you have enough HD space, then record each track
separately and mix to a final balance later in the "studio". There are many
good HD recorders that you can do this with and you won't even need a mixing
board. I really recommend that you use this later method as it give you the
final control of your mixed sound and is really the only way to get a good
recording of something you are part of.
If you don't have access to a multitrack HD recorder, you can probably rent
one. It really is the way to go unless you have lots of experience in
recording and can listen to a group in a room and predict what each
microphone will do. Even the very experienced get fooled when they try to
do this.
One other thing, it goes almost without saying that you must use the very
best microphones you can get. Capacitor microphones for instrumental
recording are a must. The basic range should be 30 - 20,000 hertz. minimum.
Remember even if you can't hear all of these frequencies, they still affect
the perception of those you can hear. You also want a microphone that will
record all of yours, but add very little of its own color to the sound. The
state of the recording art is such that of all of the components involved,
for most recordings using semipro or pro equipment, the choice of
microphones is what will influence the recording in an audible way.
Recorders if you use dat or HD, mixers if you use front line recent (last
10 - 15 years) and other electronics are generally good enough now that
there is no audible difference from brand to brand and bottom to top of the
line. This is still not true of microphones. Microphones still very much
have their own color and what each ads to the sound is perceptible.

Paul Harris

----- Original Message -----
From: "Janis Cadieux" <klargrrl@-----.ca>
Subject: [kl] recording

> I'm sure this has probably been discussed on the list before but I'm going
> to be doing a recording on Sunday for an audition CD (Brahms, Poulenc) A
> friend is going to help me record and has been asking sound recordists she
> knows and they all say to mike the piano with two mics and the clarinet
with
> one. We're using a mini disc recorder so we would also need a mixer. Is
> this a good way? I personally wanted to use just a single stereo mike.
>
> Thanks
> Janis
>
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
>

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