Recording classical guitar on location...words & pics inside

[Recording David]

I've just finished 3 full days of recording classical guitar at Clare College, Cambridge. It was a very beautiful and inspirational setting and I was working with Canadian/Portuguese guitarist Jeff Rodrigues. I thought you guys might be interested in seeing some of the shots of the sessions and a rundown of what we did.

I've made a little 'iWeb' website detailing the sessions (cheezy theme but very fast to set up) - check it out here if you're interested:

http://web.mac.com/dshoukry

There isn't any audio on it yet as there's about 18 hours of 24/88.2 on my HD recorder to edit. I'll throw up some of the pieces soon.

Anyway, enjoy.

[kriSh]

that looks enviable.. so you did not put up some mics further away to capture a more reverberant signal to possibly mix in? anyways, i can imagine it to sound great as is

[Recording David]

Hi - thanks for looking. The building was resonant and the fig 8 mic captured the reverb tails very well, so there wasn't any need for other mics - it was all straight to stereo.

Still haven't done any of the edits but I will post up some audio for you guys to listen to soon.

[kriSh]

great - looking forward to hear it!

[Recording David]

Well, this project's now finished. Thought you guys might like to hear one of the tracks.

It's one for all you MS haters!

[Spettitt3]

Hi David,

Loved the recording! I'm just down the road in Newmarket, and spend loads of time in Cambridge. If you are doing any more recordings in Cambridge I'd love to come and help out. I'm planning to do some recordings myself at the West Road concert hall in the coming year or two.

Cheers,

Simon

[boojum]

Nice recording; good feeling of the room you are in. What mic(s) did you use?? Actually, what is the recording chain??

Cheers

[Recording David]

Hey thanks for the positive comments guys!

Boojum, the chain was Schoeps CMC6/MK8/MK5 MS pair - DAV BG2 - Mytek AD @ 88.2.

Thanks again.

[hughesmr]

Lovely!

I presume the MK5 was in cardioid. Was the venue pretty quiet? These stone structures can amplify LF from outside in my experience....

[MattJazz]

I thought you controlled the bottom end great.
I love the MS

Fantastic presentation on .mac, you made it very enjoyable to check out your work.
mp

[Recording David]

Originally Posted by hughesmr

Lovely!

I presume the MK5 was in cardioid. Was the venue pretty quiet? These stone structures can amplify LF from outside in my experience....

Thank you! Yes the MK5 was in cardioid. The place was pretty quiet but the recording also has a little Waves Z-Noise to make it just a bit quieter.

Originally Posted by MattJazz

I thought you controlled the bottom end great.
I love the MS

Fantastic presentation on .mac, you made it very enjoyable to check out your work.
mp

Thanks for the kind words, Matt. thumbsup

[d_fu]

I'll play spoilsport by saying that I don't like the sound all that much, I find it a bit overambient. I guess it's a combination of the room, the mic setup and placement. I'd probably have done all three differently...

Daniel

[mrsteaks]

Rather liked it, myself. From what I heard, Jeff is quite the artist. I liked the ambience, didn't think it was too much at all. Nice stereo spread, too.

Very nice job.

[Ronnie Dixon]

A very pleasurable recording.
I did enjoy that.

Thankyou.

[Plush]

I liked it very much and it is totally appropriate for the repertoire.

It sounds ancient which, for this repertoire, is the ultimate compliment.

I also enjoyed your .Mac presentation.

The only suggestion I have for you is next time don't set up your recording/listening position in the room where the recording is being made. For a multi-track capture any closet will do.
Broadhurst Gardens doubters eat your heart out!

Nice job.

[Recording David]

Plush, to have that compliment from you is a real honour - thank you.

For the record, though, it was just the pres and ADC in the recording room, close to the mics to keep cable runs short. The control room was basically a tiny closet where the priest's vestments were kept!!

Thanks again!

[Plush]

I have just listened again and it's a first class job.
Congratulations, David

(sorry I mistook the table with the gear as the reocording position--my mistake)

[Omicron_9]

Nice work!

A slightly O/T comment, but the "70-ft. up" shot would make an interesting album cover.

Thanks for sharing this.

Regards,
-0.9