I have a stinker of a gig I record "for fun." It is a bluegrass jam with the guys mostly around a square table which is close to a wall, alongside a pool table and surrounded by a loud and gabby crowd mostly ignoring the players except to occasionally applaud. I have tried the spaced arrays (AB omni) which was not good because of all the chatter. The non-coincident arrays (ORTF/NOS/DIN) are OK but do not get the whole crowd into the picture. I even tried the Williams three card array but found it not much different than MS in this application: OK but not the solution.
I have a borrowed Busman Blumlein ribbon, a Chinese mic modded by the US vendor. I tried it on the group's edge as one would for Blumlien and it was awful. Not knowing any better I just dropped the mic into the center of the group, right above the square table and it sounded the best of any array/technique I have yet used. So, what's wrong with this approach? I am no wizard so I know it has been tried before. Has anyone here done this? What were your results; impressions?
I'll take my answer off the air.
