Organ concerto recording

[mathieujm]

Hi Daniel,

Your first mix is really nice and when we hear the AB only, we see that the mix was not easy !

Except that there was an organ and an orchestra, here is a sample of a recent concert around Bach and Heandel, but with nothing else in common with your recording.

What do you think about it ?

JMM

[d_fu]

Very pleasant overall sound. Have you got pictures of the setup?
Maybe I would have given the organ a touch of extra presence somehow. And what's that low-freq. rumble, the heating or the organ motor?

[mathieujm]

Originally Posted by d_fu

Very pleasant overall sound. Have you got pictures of the setup?
Maybe I would have given the organ a touch of extra presence somehow. And what's that low-freq. rumble, the heating or the organ motor?

No pictures. Here is a presentation of the organ.
You are right about the rumble. The motor is not very silent...
It was recorded with my usual pair of Beyer MC930 on a 4m Manfrotto stand. Just one quarter to setup everything and 5mn before the beginning, I was searching a power socket with some juice in it
So I am happy with the result

JMM

[sonare]

Judging the acoustics I think spotting the organ would be essential in the Poulenc. Are you speaking of the Faure Requiem? If so then you would need choral spots much more than organ.

And as for certain registers getting swallowed by the room-- not everything on an organ is meant to be heard or projected equally well. Best to leave Klais' voicing alone!

Rich

[d_fu]

Originally Posted by sonare

Are you speaking of the Faure Requiem? If so then you would need choral spots much more than organ.

Excuse me if I disagree, but you weren't there, and without the organ spot, the soft ostinato pattern of the "In Paradisum" (Fauré Requiem, indeed) becomes almost inaudible as soon as the choir starts, and the recorded piece would thus have lost a lot of its magic, IMHO. The spot is mixed in with almost 20 dB of attenuation, so it's just there without overpowering things. Listen and tell me what you think... Two versions of a mix (not quite sure if it's the very final version), one with the organ spot muted.

And as for certain registers getting swallowed by the room-- not everything on an organ is meant to be heard or projected equally well. Best to leave Klais' voicing alone!

In this particular case, I'm very happy I didn't follow rules and made my own decision - I would not have liked the result otherwise.

[sonare]

Wasn't sure if choral spots were there regardless-- if yes I agree with you. If no, then it IS a choral work, and I have rarely heard a recording of orch and choir that didn't need choral spots.

One exception is a recording I did of the Bach B-minor with Ensemble Corunde where the "choir" (fewer than 8 voices) stood in front of the original instrument band, which in turn was also standing. An unusual setup!

As for organ voicing-- a good builder like Klais has a reason to do everything. If it doesn't sound right then you likely don't have the mics in the best spot-- and that spot will never be closer than 15 feet. When the organ is playing with other instruments all bets are off.

Rich

[d_fu]

There were some choral spots indeed - you'll see them in the picture if you look closely. Beyer 713, IIRC.

Originally Posted by sonare

As for organ voicing-- a good builder like Klais has a reason to do everything. If it doesn't sound right then you likely don't have the mics in the best spot-- and that spot will never be closer than 15 feet. When the organ is playing with other instruments all bets are off.

The impression of the room around and behind the organ trapping certain sounds was something my ears told me, not my mics. Wouldn't want to doubt Klais' expertise, but then again, there wasn't really any time to discuss this with the organ builders (even though some were there for the event)

Daniel