recording horns in a auditorium

[seedee701]

hi there

i'm overdubbing/recording a horn-section for a record that i produce and engineer.

flugelhorn
french horn
t-bone
t-sax

they are going to play mostly pad-sounds and be responsible for delivering a nice, warm background mood in rather slow and quite acoustic pop-songs.

the room will be an auditorium but unfortunately rather on the dry side for it's size.

i'll be mixing them in the back of the tracks, they should define the soundstage of the songs making them deep and wide in contrast to a rather dry male voice.
i'd like to start with the idea of not using additional reverbs and use as little(or none) of the spots if possible.

i'm a little concerned with the ballance of the french-horn, i think a little help from a backing wall could support the player. also i'm not sure where to put the spot on that. overhead or on the players right side? this would mean that he needs to be placed on the side. thinking of the mix i'd rather have t-bone and fl-horn on the sides and french & sax in the middle...hmm

this is what i got:

3x coles 4038
1x royer 121
2x re-20
2x at4050
u87ai
2x km184
2xksm32

api 3124+ or millennia hv-3d pres
ad16x to DAW

i do appreciate your thoughts!

[fifthcircle]

A pair of spaced omnis would probably work very well for what you are looking at. A good brass group should be able to play without spots internally.

The horn, of course, can always be an issue due to the fact that it faces the "wrong" way. One thing I often do is place a "wall" behind the player to reflect the sound. In most halls, it is a simple thing- usually a riser placed on its side about 4 feet back to help reflect sound, but not be overbearing.

You also may want to try a stereo pair with flanks. With all those ribbons you have, you have lots of good choices. Perhaps a blumlein pair of coles with 4050s as omni flanks? Put the coles through your Millennia and your 4050's through the API.

Just a thought..

--Ben

[seedee701]

Originally Posted by fifthcircle

A pair of spaced omnis would probably work very well for what you are looking at. A good brass group should be able to play without spots internally.

The horn, of course, can always be an issue due to the fact that it faces the "wrong" way. One thing I often do is place a "wall" behind the player to reflect the sound. In most halls, it is a simple thing- usually a riser placed on its side about 4 feet back to help reflect sound, but not be overbearing.

You also may want to try a stereo pair with flanks. With all those ribbons you have, you have lots of good choices. Perhaps a blumlein pair of coles with 4050s as omni flanks? Put the coles through your Millennia and your 4050's through the API.


--Ben

hi ben

always a pleasure/honor when you chime in!

very interesting idea with the flanks! i can imaging the sound opening up even more. i will definitly try this!

blumlein with the coles was my first thought; sometimes with increasing distance and soft playing hiss becomes a factor when i try to rely on this as my primary sound...

[fifthcircle]

If you're recording brass, I doubt that will be an issue. The instruments will create enough level to avoid those kinds of problems. As I said before, I'd use the Millennia and noise shouldn't be a problem.

--Ben