Check my prep work please!

[c.gymer]

Hi folks.

I've got a three night stint this week and I'm just finishing off my prep work and thought I'd get some opinions if possible? The artist is doing a mix of things, mainly jazz with some eastern European folk stuff thrown in for good measure.

I'm doing the live sound and multi-tracking the show. First night is a set up and check for problems night, then hopefully the second night will be the keeper, and the third night is the back-up night.

It's a 100 capacity basement jazz club with low ceilings (I do live sound there fairly regularly so I know the club), but a pretty good acoustic on stage. I use the P.A. for reinforcement only, so normally no drums, a little bit of piano, a little bass and vocals being the big users of the P.A. The stage is a little cramped as there is a 6' grand piano on it, so positioning the players is a little interesting, and means careful placement of the mics.


This is how I plan on micing the instruments:

Drums: Glynn Johns style with PG81s for OH L & R, PG52 kick

Upright Bass: DI (possibly AT4040 on the body?)

Steel String Accoustic Guitar: DI

Nylon String Accoustic Guitar: DI

Piano: x/y stereo mics (I have this weird LSD2 style mic with fixed cardioid patterns that sounds pretty good for this)

Accordion: this has some kind of mic pick up built in already

Brass: Beta 57

Vocals: Beta 58 (there are a host of different vocalists, though no more than 2 at a time so they will be sharing the mics)

These will all go into the club's Allen & Heath GL3800 for summing to the P.A. The vocals will be sent to a sub-group pair for compression. I'll be taking the pre-fader/pre-EQ direct outputs from the desk into my Motu 828mkII/Alesis AI3 converters, then recording to Reaper @24bit/48khz on a laptop (external HDD naturally). This will then go home with me for editing and mixing in Samplitude 9 Classic.

So what are everybody's thoughts? What would you do differently? I have 4 spare inputs to the Motu available by the way.

Available mics in addition to the above are 2 x Shure KSM 27, 2 x Audix F 15, 1 x Octava MK012a, 1 x AT 4040, 1 x AT 3035, 1 x RE20 and a couple of odd 57's beyer 201, senn 609 etc. I also have a couple of compressors and gates floating about, but I don't tend to record using these.

[alex!]

I'd use the oktavas as a main pair just for the recording.

[alex!]

Oops didn't realize you only have one. I do however still sugest a main pair. I don't know the ksm or the audix so I don't know if they are suitable. A pair of card condensers or spaced omni condensers will do the trick

[c.gymer]

Yeah, I wish I had a pair of the 012s! I'll most likely use the KSM27s for that and go to the Motu pres.

I'm going to stick the 012 on the acoustic guitars I think, as there is only the one guitarist.

Anyone else care to chime in?

[NorseHorse]

Definitely add a mic on the bass. Using just the DI is asking for trouble. Having both signals will give you much more flexibility in the mixing.

[c.gymer]

Yeah, that sounds sensible! Not sure what I'll use yet. The client may be bringing a Beyer m88 though so I may use that...

[talbe1019]

I think I would choose the KSM 27's as OH's. I would put the Beyer 201 or a 57 on the snare top if you need it and use the RE20 on the kick.

[c.gymer]

Only thing with the RE20 is finding a clip! I bought it ages ago from a lovely chap in Germany, but it didn't come with a clip. I've got a spare suspension mount though...

I do like the KSM27s on drums. I was going to use the PG81s as they don't get in the way quite so much. I'll probably end up using the KSMs. I just needed someone to tell me to do it.

By the way I'll be sure to take lots of pics and share the gig with everyone if people are interested?

[RobAnderson]

A couple of things you might consider:

I would definitely have some sort of overall pickup in addition to your spot mic's - maybe some sort of ORTF array or AB if for no other reason than to provide some "glue" and to capture audience reaction. But in small jazz clubs, you may be surprised at how good of a recording you can get with this.

I am not sure how you are planning to deploy your XY mic on the piano, but if the stage is small, bleed into the piano mic's can often be a problem. You may wish to consider some sort of tape-bridge approach with two mic's inside the piano instead of just one XY. This would allow you to use half-stick or even closed lid if isolation becomes an issue.

I definitely agree with using a mic on the bass (or the bass amp if the player uses one). I have found that using this in your mix will tend to "mesh" better than a DI might (though you should take the DI as well).

Just my $.02 YMMV Good Luck!

[c.gymer]

What are people's thoughts on an ORFT pair when the P.A. is pumping out? If this was an entirely acoustic performance then I would stick up a pair without a second thought, but it's not something I've done in a P.A. environment. Assuming that the P.A. balance is good, there shouldn't be in issue I assume, but I would appreciate people's thoughts on the matter.

[LX3]

I would use something other than the 4040 on bass. The 4040 is great in the studio, but its pickup pattern is almost omni. You get so much spill with it, you'll probably find that turning up that channel will just make the drums louder .

Never used one before on acoustic bass, but yes, the M88 could be great. Great sounding mic and the opposite of the 4040 in terms of spill pickup.

An SDC might also work well... where did you say you were using the Oktava?

[c.gymer]

Probably on the accoustic guitars, but there is another SDC in the mic locker I've been meaning to try so I could throw the 012 on the bass... hmmm.