Fun recording a massive ensemble (a gig report)

[fifthcircle]

So the question is- how does one go about recording 500 musicians that are performing at one time?

That is what I just got home (and I'm having fun with the jet lag right now ) from doing. I went to Sydney, Australia to record a concert at the Sydney Opera House where 400 singers in a choir and a 100 piece orchestra performed the Berlioz Requiem. For those who don't know it, it is a massive work- Large orchestral forces (including 16 tympani, 26 brass players, etc...) plus orchestra and soloists.

I was called for the gig a couple months back and thanks to the internet, I hooked up with an engineer out there that was awesome. A great person, engineer and a total life-saver to have on the gig. I rented my rig from him (and a number of his colleagues) and we went to work.

I ended up using 11 channels for this recording. In front of the orchestra, I had my usual stereo pair and flanks. In this case, I used a Royer SF-24 active stereo ribbon mic as my blumlein center and 414 TL-II mics on the flanks. The choir was mic'd with 4 mics- 2 DPA 4015 wide cardiods suspended from the house rig system (to be explained later) and 2 DPA 4003 High Voltage Omnis on stands for the lower part of the choir. The lower seats contained the children's choir and they needed a bit of extra help being heard in the mix. Woodwinds got a spaced pair of DPA 4011 cardiod mics and the soloist (a tenor) was mic'd with a DPA 4041 large diaphragm omni mic (with the tube body- I now have serious gear lust for this mic, what a beauty)

The console was a Soundcraft Spirit 328XD digital console and we went digital out to a Mackie SDR multitrack and a Nagra V for the stereo backup. Monitoring was with headphones using my Benchmark DAC-1....

The Sydney Opera House has one of the coolest microphone hanging systems I've ever seen. 3 cables that are controlled by a computerized motorized whinch are dropped from the ceiling. Each also has a mic cable attached. The cables can be pulled up or down to allow for front to back, left to right and vertical adjustment with ease. When we needed to move mics, it was as simple as hitting a couple buttons on the computer and it was accomplished in seconds. Each point had 3 mic lines on it so you could hang a decca tree if you wished with ease from any place on stage or any stereo pair if you wished.

The recording came out beautifully. Now we need to decide on edit lists, etc... and then we'll have our finished product. It was a great project and going to that venue is certainly one of the high-points of my professional life.

Here are a bunch of photos from the gig with mic positions, etc... in them.

[fifthcircle]

Front of the Orchestra Mics:

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Choir Mics:

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The Rig:

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Last but certainly not least was my amazing crew. I'm in the brown shirt on the left and Greg Simmons (my contact out there) is to my right in the back row. He put everything together for me and without his help, I would have not had anywhere near as good of a time.

Now, it is time to edit, mix and master....

[andrewh]

Wow, looks like you had quite a good time!

I'm jealous!

[Kent]

Looks like a lot of work and a lot of fun.

[Jules]

What a great report!

Thanks!

[hollywood_steve]

Hey Ben,

Sounds like a lot of fun. Did you use the board's preamps for all of the mics?

That mic rigging system should be installed at EVERY concert hall!

[Bixby]

How did the orchestra handle the brass parts that are meant to be antiphonal? Just off to the side?

I'd love to hear a good surround recording of this piece with the small brass choirs in the back, how they should be.

[Ruphus]

Hey Ben, one can see the fun on the pics. Wow!

Say, as the mic positioning was so flexible and the mic cables long enough for any case, how long were the cables?

Ruphus

[fifthcircle]

It was a really fun gig... It was a bit tough to get up and running (thank goodness for the 6 people helping) as I had basically only an hour before rehearsal to set up. We didn't quite make it, but I'd say, we were listening and moving mics within about the first 15-20 min of the start of playing.

The antiphonal brass ended up being set up on the 4 corners of the stage. The original plan was to have them up in the audience boxes on the sides of the hall, but there wasn't enough space for the performers- especially the trombones. Add to that the fact that the concert was a sell out, and there weren't seats available to take out entire rows of seating. The sound in the headphones was really cool, though when the different brass groups were playing off of each other on either side of the stage.

I used the boards preamps for all the standard microphones. The high voltage DPA's (lower choir mics and the soloist) used the DPA high voltage supply/preamp. I was quite surprised at how good the board sounded, though. The new XD version of the Spirit 328 is a huge improvement over the original.

I don't know how long the cables ended up being (besides really long). The ceiling of the Sydney Opera House concert hall is probably about 70 feet up (at least). Each whinch had 3 cables that came to a patch pannel at the side of the stage. From there, we ran a multicore that terminated in XLR-M connectors out to the console. Thank goodness for multi-track, too... We had some imaging issues and eventually we figured out that 2 pairs of mics were cross-patched. I'll fix it in post, but the 2-track from the rehearsal is of limited use because of it... The concert was fine, though. It is amazing how a directional mic over the choir that is panned incorrectly can screw up even the violin sound.

--Ben

[Bixby]

Just curious - how do you mixdown? What software for editing? Mix in the box or hardware?

[fifthcircle]

I use Sequoia for all of my mixing, editing and mastering here... Mix will likely be totally in the box unless I want to use my Lexicon 300 for reverb... I'll make that decision, though, when I finally get all of my tracks in the mail and have a chance to work with it. If I don't use that, I'll likely use the room simulator that comes with Sequoia. There will be minimal EQ in the mix (if any) and little or no dynamic processing and EQ in mastering.


-Ben

[Matt Pneumatic]

Wow ben, sounds like a blast! I can't wait hear what it sounds like.

Did you use any room mics??

-matt
brooklyn, ny

[fifthcircle]

No extra room mics... We didn't think about that until later. The Sydney Opera House actually has a stereo microphone in the ceiling for ambience, but we all forgot about it in the rush to get the rig up. Because we had to be able to edit between rehearsal and performance (already enough of a challenge because of the acoustic change of an audience), we couldn't add that microphone at the last minute. Sort of a bummer as it would have sounded good. I still got a pretty good recording, though without it. Just means I'll have to use a little digital verb in the final product.

--Ben

[recordista]

Glad the trip worked out well, looks like a lot of fun. I was in that room in '87 but just for TV audio, no real music recording.

Do you have any closer pix of the mic hanging system?

[fifthcircle]

Unfortunately, I don't... When I was trying to get the rig up and running, taking a picture was about the last thing I had on mind. I wish I did, though. I literally saw the stage for the first time about 75 minutes before downbeat of the rehearsal so we were scrambling to get the rig up and running with the microphones in the correct place. My first guess (standard position for a recording like this) was off by several feet on the front mics at the beginning and my other mics were off by smaller amounts.

Basically, there were 3 wire ropes with mic cables running along side them. They terminated in a big "ball" (for lack of a better term) with a multi-pin output. They have stereo bars with the connector on them that terminate in XLR connectors to plug into mics. There was also the ability to break any one of the cables right before the "ball" as to avoid the whole stereo bar system for single microphones. The computer control was just an LCD touch pannel at the side of the stage.

--Ben

[tdc]

Hello Folks, this is my very first post on the infamous GS forum, I have lurked and searched many times in the past but was emailed by a friend who said there was a post regarding the opera house.

I work at the opera house as an audio engineer and thought i would pop in an say hello and offer any answers about the mic system. It was great to see it being discussed outside the house.

fifthcircle, you certainly chose a great audio ambassador for australia in Greg Simmons, he is a lovely guy and very well respected.

cheers,

tdc

[djui5]

Does anyone else think it's funny to browse through all the pictures of the huge choir...and that big beautiful room..with that monsterous organ.......and then see that tiny recording rig?



The beauty of modern technology....


Nice pictures......incredible thread...thanks for sharing.

[fifthcircle]

Funny Randy, never thought of it that way...

It was a classical gig- technology or not, we didn't really need much. Heck, the multitrack was as much as a safety blanket for me as anything- new room, very short setup time, etc... I do a lot of my work like the directly to stereo. This particular conductor also likes to tweak a lot- something that can't be done without the multitrack.

Got my copy back from press- sounds pretty good. Wishing I had the good pres that I use here (Vac Racs) there with me, but then I would have had to carry them.

TDC- I gotta give you guys at the SOH serious props. The crew there was one of the best and most helpful that I think I've ever worked with. Greg was also a lifesaver for me. For those in Sydney- he's a great guy to work with.

--Ben

[tdc]

Heya Ben,

:-) I will find out who it was working with you and pass it on. I wish I had known there were some Slutz in the house as I would have poked my nose up there and said hello.

[fifthcircle]

Concert date was July 4 if that helps... While there I told them my compliments, but please pass them on againl.

--Ben

[Don S]

Ben,

Looks like a great gig! You used the Royer as the main, is this the new phantom powered SF-24 or the 12?

Don

[fifthcircle]

SF-24 as my main in Blumlein. Since then, I've use the SF-24 in several other gigs as a main mic- each time being quite happy with the results. Some times were in Blumlein and others were using it as a Mid Side pickup.

In the initial post, I described the setup in detail with all mics listed...

--Ben