Opera, director, scenographer, the pit, flying etc...

[7rojo7]

I am about to start recordng a season of opera (September). I will be working in various small opera theaters. I haven't built myself a flying system yet.
I've just edited and mastered a 3&1/2 hr opera recorded by someone else, after hearing my mastering work they offered me the recording also.
This opera was recorded with 2 mic.s, my guess? cardioids placed in the booths on either side of the stage, too wide of an image and a phase mess, the winds were covered by the pit and the voices changed too much when the singers moved across the stage.
To record this music I would normally setup an xy over an omni 3 to 4 ft behind the conductor about 8 to 10 ft high and get an omni or an ortf over the singers behind the orchestra.
The public won't like what I put up, neither will the director or the scenographer.
So, I thought maybe 3 Schoeps CCM21 half omnis in front of the conductor for the orchestra (too close for scratchy strings?) and flying an ortf overhead behind the orchestra for the voices.
Any ideas?
I would have to fly the ortf above the level of the harlequin.
I have 3 CCm21s, 3 CCM5s, 3 Brauner Phantom Vs, 2 Brauner Valvets, 2 Brauner VM1s to choose from
I'm leaning towards the 3 CCM21s for the orchestra and 2 CCM5s over the stage and getting 2 Phantoms up in the crows nest.
My favorite setup is cardioiods in xy over an omni all on the same axis, next is 3 half omnis at 300° 0° 60° for closer work.
I'm looking for ideas on a flexible, adaptable flying system and mic holder genius.
There's no making holes in or scratching the nice old opera theater!
thanks

[fifthcircle]

Unfortunately, I don't have any of my opera sound samples anymore, but I've had a couple successful setups. The pit being covered by 4 omnis across the front (either side of the conductor and flanks) and then woodwind spots under the lip of the stage.

For the voices, I've had a couple successful mic techniques... Hanging small omnis (DPA 4061's) three across the front of the stage. Has a pretty natural sound and doesn't usually get in the way of sets and lights due to their size. OR.... A series of 3-5 cardiods (depending on width of the stage) on small desk stands across the lip of the stage. Also, a good boundary mic like the Sanken CUB-01 can work well in this situation with minimal visual impact.

In general, keeping things simple will get a better recording...

--Ben

[Gerax]

I've been involved in recording a live opera for a DVD shoot for Italian National Broadcasting TV (RAI...) which commissioned the recording to a collegue of mine (in Rome) under the control of 2 supervisors.
The gear list they requested was just massive, as the opera was Falstaff (if you know it you know what I'm talking about) like 48 tracks wide (they asked for DA78), 24 for the orchestra and 24 for singers, stage mics, room mics and specials...needless to say every singer was miced with a lavalier (DPA) and that I couldn't go with my usual approach for recording an orchestra, as I couldn't put anything up over the lip of the orchestra pit for video shoot reasons (they came over with 2 video trucks for, I guess, an 8 camera shoot...). I had to closemic each section and recreate the room sound with reverb ( ), but that's just how the are used to work (let alone all the timecode and sync stuff to be sorted out...).
It's not the most "sound friendly" way to work, but it gave me some usefull tips for my following classical and opera recording.
In your situation I'd try to pack a compact 24 track recorder (you never know how many mics you may need, which may not coincide with how many you'd "want" to use...) and hang a stereo pair just at the sides of the conductor's podium. A few well placed spot section mics will help, as the sound of the orchestra in the pit isn't that much pleasing. For the voices I'd try to use some lavalliers...which even though not the best sounding solution are the safest if you need to get every single word (as I needed in that situation, which BTW had a live radio on air broadcats at the same time of the recording...). A pair of well placed condensers hung over the stage in a stereo ORTF should be enough if you aim for a more natural sound (of record type), and could cover your back if one of the radios (if used) has some dropouts. Try not to pu them low on the stage as they'd be more prone to pick up lots of feet stomping and rumble noise from the singers.

If you happen to come by somewhere here in Tuscany just drop me a line, I'd be glad to come over and say hello (or, dare I say it, lend a hand ).

Hope this helps

L.G.

[tenor39]

Originally Posted by fifthcircle

Unfortunately, I don't have any of my opera sound samples anymore, but I've had a couple successful setups. The pit being covered by 4 omnis across the front (either side of the conductor and flanks) and then woodwind spots under the lip of the stage.

For the voices, I've had a couple successful mic techniques... Hanging small omnis (DPA 4061's) three across the front of the stage. Has a pretty natural sound and doesn't usually get in the way of sets and lights due to their size. OR.... A series of 3-5 cardiods (depending on width of the stage) on small desk stands across the lip of the stage. Also, a good boundary mic like the Sanken CUB-01 can work well in this situation with minimal visual impact.

In general, keeping things simple will get a better recording...

--Ben

Agreed. You can put the DPA 4061's in a pressure zone disc (a DPA accessory) on the lip of the stage. This picks up voices remarkably well. I also fly a pair of omni's over the pit for the orchestra.

[7rojo7]

Thanks for the responses. I'll be doing this recording straight to PT: mic Millennia Prism 8 tracks I can bring another prism for 24 in but I dont think I'll need it, these are chamber orchestra sized ensembles.
I'm really looking for advice on flying in an old theater. Although I have some ideas I would like to hear some others before I get to work on getting it together. I see some iron tubes and clamps thick carpet to protect the structure cable and cable clamps. I'm think of using 2 cabes in parallel to provide stability. I can put my array with the schoeps on a normal stereo bar. How can I mount the bar on the cables? Do I need to go to the machine shop or is there some who already makes stuff like this?
These are operas from 1700, In this formation of orchestra the woodwinds are out in the open but the brass is covered by the stage, I hope I won't need spots for them or I'll lose my ambience tracks. I should have enough ambience between the 2 arrays though.
Gerax, For these productions the lavalier would be overkill. I'm interested though about how much of that signal was used in the end and do you hear phasing when the singers move, what's the delay like, do you slip them in post? not for the radio, did they delay the lavalier mic.s?
Thanks to all for the advice.

[kstrauss]

In my experience it is necessary to keep the microphones out of sightlines and lights, LDs can be very sensitive to shadows caused by a flown array. Also, many theaters project supertitles, so any flown array will get in the way of the projection. I generally record opera productions with a combination of foot mics, cardiods on the floor of the lip of the stage; pit mics, usually 4 PZMs taped to the front of the pit wall; and a pair of ambience mics, usually cardiods flown as low as possible without being in the lights or projections pointed at the stage.

It is tempting to put the foot mics on stands and angle them up, this can work, however comb filtering caused by reflections from the floor can be problematic, I get the best results taping the pics directly to the floor. Depending on your theater, you may get considerable leakage into the foot mics from the orchestra, if this is the case, make sure you use mics with uncolored off-axis response. Since the mics are so far apart, sometimes 50 or 60 feet between the ambience and foot mics, using a digital console to time align them really helps. The foot mics can phase pretty badly as the singers walk across the stage, so use as few as possible, I generally like to use three, or 4 with an X/Y pair in the center. For wider stages you may need to use 5. If there is a lot of action upstage a couple of shotguns aimed from the top of the proscenium or lighting bridge can be brought into the mix when necessary.

It is tempting to use lavs on the singers and for well produced video productions this is usually SOP, however most singers are reticent to use lavs, especially on short notice and it is usually necessary to work with costumes and wigs to make the lavs invisible. Sweet spot tends to be the center of the forehead at the hairline, however sweat and makeup can clog the mic, so you will need to have an assistant backstage to clear out the mics with compressed air during breaks. You will also need to keep track of the singers and mute their mics when they are offstage, something that is nearly impossible to pull off when mixing live.

Recording opera can be an incredibly frustrating experience - visuals trump sound in every respect

[structuredloud]

+1 on the pzm's! The floor is okay if there's no heavy stomping near there or you're willing to dilligently automate it out. I like the sidewalls of the stage, you can give them nice gaffer's tape straps to keep it flush. Definitely mix with pit mics, and a main pair as well.