Mic advice for recording school music performance

[stevelindsay]

There’s a young family friend doing her school finals shortly who has asked me if I could record her music perfomance at her school to submit as part of her music assessment (the recording itself isn’t assessed) for her music composition class.

She will be playing an upright piano and singing, and there will be a small string ensemble (3 players) comprising violin, viola and cello, plus a drummer. It’s a pop ballad number. The room is a largish music room, no treatment, pretty live sounding.

I’m just after some advice as to how I could best use the mics I have rather than hiring any if possible. I have a modded Mackie Onyx 1620 (8 mic pres) with firewire I could use as my interface and record onto a Macbook Pro/Logic Pro. I also have a Great River single channel pre, and a single Avedis MA5 pre in a lunchbox I could use as well, so all up I could track 10 mics max if necessary.

The mics I have at my disposal include:

Neumann U87ai
Rode NT1a
Rode NT2a
2 x AT3035
2 x MXL v67g
2 x SM7b
SM58 and SM57
SE Electronics SE3 (SDC)
ACM1200 (multi-pattern tube LDC chinese group buy thing)

I know I’m short on SDC options here, so I’m thinking to use the U87ai on her vox and the pair of AT3035s on the piano (or just the SE3 here?), the NT1a and NT2a on the strings section, the pair of MXL v67’s as drum overheads, SM7b/SM57 on snare. Would an SM7 or SM58 be useable on kick? Possibly the At3035s as room mics?

As you can tell, I'm just after advice on how best to use what mics I have at my disposal if achievable

Thanks for any help offered.

[bishopthomas]

Here's where I would probably start. Substitutions can be made very quickly if necessary. That's what quick release adapters are for.

1. Kick - sm7
2. Snare - sm57
3. OH L - v67
4. OH R - v67
5. Piano - se3 or Rode
6. Violin - 3035
7. Viola - 3035
8. Cello - Rode
9. Vocal - sm7
10. Room - U87

[stevelindsay]

Thanks very much for your thoughts bishopthomas, appreciated.

Steve.