Gearslutz.com - View Single Post - Fun recording a massive ensemble (a gig report)

fifthcircle · 10th July 2004

It was a really fun gig... It was a bit tough to get up and running (thank goodness for the 6 people helping) as I had basically only an hour before rehearsal to set up. We didn't quite make it, but I'd say, we were listening and moving mics within about the first 15-20 min of the start of playing.

The antiphonal brass ended up being set up on the 4 corners of the stage. The original plan was to have them up in the audience boxes on the sides of the hall, but there wasn't enough space for the performers- especially the trombones. Add to that the fact that the concert was a sell out, and there weren't seats available to take out entire rows of seating. The sound in the headphones was really cool, though when the different brass groups were playing off of each other on either side of the stage.

I used the boards preamps for all the standard microphones. The high voltage DPA's (lower choir mics and the soloist) used the DPA high voltage supply/preamp. I was quite surprised at how good the board sounded, though. The new XD version of the Spirit 328 is a huge improvement over the original.

I don't know how long the cables ended up being (besides really long). The ceiling of the Sydney Opera House concert hall is probably about 70 feet up (at least). Each whinch had 3 cables that came to a patch pannel at the side of the stage. From there, we ran a multicore that terminated in XLR-M connectors out to the console. Thank goodness for multi-track, too... We had some imaging issues and eventually we figured out that 2 pairs of mics were cross-patched. I'll fix it in post, but the 2-track from the rehearsal is of limited use because of it... The concert was fine, though. It is amazing how a directional mic over the choir that is panned incorrectly can screw up even the violin sound.

--Ben

10th July 2004	#12
fifthcircle Lives for gear Joined: Apr 2003 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 3,322 Thread Starter	It was a really fun gig... It was a bit tough to get up and running (thank goodness for the 6 people helping) as I had basically only an hour before rehearsal to set up. We didn't quite make it, but I'd say, we were listening and moving mics within about the first 15-20 min of the start of playing. The antiphonal brass ended up being set up on the 4 corners of the stage. The original plan was to have them up in the audience boxes on the sides of the hall, but there wasn't enough space for the performers- especially the trombones. Add to that the fact that the concert was a sell out, and there weren't seats available to take out entire rows of seating. The sound in the headphones was really cool, though when the different brass groups were playing off of each other on either side of the stage. I used the boards preamps for all the standard microphones. The high voltage DPA's (lower choir mics and the soloist) used the DPA high voltage supply/preamp. I was quite surprised at how good the board sounded, though. The new XD version of the Spirit 328 is a huge improvement over the original. I don't know how long the cables ended up being (besides really long). The ceiling of the Sydney Opera House concert hall is probably about 70 feet up (at least). Each whinch had 3 cables that came to a patch pannel at the side of the stage. From there, we ran a multicore that terminated in XLR-M connectors out to the console. Thank goodness for multi-track, too... We had some imaging issues and eventually we figured out that 2 pairs of mics were cross-patched. I'll fix it in post, but the 2-track from the rehearsal is of limited use because of it... The concert was fine, though. It is amazing how a directional mic over the choir that is panned incorrectly can screw up even the violin sound. --Ben __________________ Benjamin Maas Fifth Circle Audio Long Beach, CA http://www.fifthcircle.com