wildplum wrote on Fri, 15 April 2005 13:08 |
I will be recording a voice recital. The recital will be of three configurations: solo voice, voice with piano accompaniment, voice with harpsichord and violins (two) accompaniment. The room is a ?ballroom? in a 150 year old mansion, 66x30 feet with a ceiling of 25 to 30 feet. The program is classical (no pop or jazz). The artistic director is very strict about sight lines, so I have chosen to use a single stereo microphone hung from the ceiling. I will be using a Neumann SM2 in an M/S configuration.
My question concerns placement. I will not have a lot of time for experimentation and very little for repositioning the mic. My plan is to hang the mic so that it is 18-24 inches above the singer and 24 to 26 inches in front of her. (centered on the singer with the accompanists behind her). Any comments on my plan?
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Option 1: This is a recipe for either disaster or very non-optimum results. You have no opportunity for experimentation? If you really can't experiment, then why not conduct some balance tests in the hall beforehand with similar musicians before the concert. And mark the floor, making sure the real musicians stand where you tell them, having consulted with them first that they are comfortable with those positions, of course.
Option 2: If you can't pre-experiment, then I think you need to cover your ass, literally, with a few other "spot" microphones because harpsichord and piano have entirely different levels/dynamics and the musicians are unlikely to position the instruments optimally for a single point balance.
You can hang all your mikes quite invisibly, cover your options, and mix later. It is certainly conceivable that a single M/S microphone in the right spot with the musicians placed in the right spot can produce a wonderful recording, with great balance, depth, ambience, and focus----provided that the musicians are located in the right place. The chances of this without a rehearsal are slim and none. That's why you need to experiment.
Option 3: If none of the above is an option... If I knew the room and the acoustics, I might suggest some rough distances and positions to place the musicians. But you are looking for a rough guidance to place an M/S mike in an unknown room. Your proposal seems a bit close, as a guess I think it will favor the soloist much too much. So, as for the distance from the singer, it seems too close to me.
If I had absolutely no idea, then I would place the microphone at a distance that creates an angle with the entire width of the group at approximately 90 degrees, mark a floor with that triangle, make sure the musicians perform within that triangle, and you'll get a pretty nice recording. The M/S is an excellent idea as you can at least spread or narrow the result in post production.