Quote:
Originally Posted by rvla  Hello!
Next week I'm going to record a classical string quintet (2vl-vla-cl-bass) and I have some doubts about the best miking technique to use. I'm definitely using two spaced omnis as main stereo pair, that's sure, I like this array very much for this type of instrumental group and room (I already know the hall where the recording is going to be made).
The problem that IMHO this two spaced omis technique has is, that some details like attacks, presence, are lost, and I'd like to keep them, but I wouldn't like to spot mic each instrument. On other ocassions for a similar group (string quartet) I've used the main omni pair plus:
- A second ORTF pair placed very close to the quartet. It worked more or less satisfactory (Didn't sound bad, but it could sound better). |
I agree about spaced omnis - they have great ambiance and bass and weight, but can lack crispness and sparkle.
One approach is to put the omnis and a pair of cards (ORTF, NOS, DIN, depending on the situation) on the same stereo bar....Tony Faulkner has written about this type of setup using wide cardioids, and a number of Gearslutz folks (including boojum!) have used it and posted samples.
In my own limited experiments, I've been pretty happy with it; you get a better stereo image that omnis alone can provide, and more snap. Phasing doesn't seem to be an issue, and you can adjust the balance between the two pairs to suit the room, performance, taste, etc.
If you search this site for "Faulkner array" and/or "boojum/jnorman array" you'll find a number of samples.
Good luck!