Grand Piano and Opera Singer In Recital Hall...Suggestions?

[BB3]

I have a location gig recording a female opera singer with a pianist in a small/medium recital hall. Found tons of suggestions for Piano Mic stuff on GS, but nothing for a duo on the same stage.

My concern is that the singer is EFFING LOUD and her voice will be everywhere.

Mics available:
pair 414's
pair 184's
pair 4033's
C84
M147
451
441
RE20

Piano is a Steinway B.

Thanks for suggestions.

[fifthcircle]

ORTF pair out front, probably KM184 would work best. Piano on full stick. Move the mics around until you get a balanced sound between the two. Done.



Spotting the piano if you need to will be difficult as most singers demand that the cuve of the piano be free of mic stands. In the end, though, you probably won't need to do that.

I do probably 40 concerts a year of vocalists like this and it works great.

--Ben

[BB3]

Thanks Ben.
I am a big fan of simple solutions.
Peace
B

[Ozpeter]

Mic Placment to record opera singer and pianist?

[MaTr1x2051]

Chances are that one pair of mikes won't capture the piano and voice evenly. The piano will most likely dominate, and the voice will not sound as natural or full as it should. Distant miking is necessary for classical piano as the instrument needs plenty of space for the sound to develop. However, you should be pretty close to the vocalist for a really accurate miking. I love using a ribbon around 3 to 5 feet from the singer. Of course, at that distance, the piano will definitely bleed, so isolation to some extent is a must. I've found that if you point the null of a ribbon mike toward the piano and have a good 10 feet or so of separation, its usually enough to get a great result. Combine that with an AB pair on the piano and some kind of pair in the room, and you'll have a great mix. I posted a clip of this exact setup on a fairly recent thread.

Just an ORTF pair can work and sound fine, but I've never heard truely professional results from one. The voice usually ends up sounding thin compared to the piano.

[matthewd]

Easy piano in the hall and singer in the lobby

[Remoteness]

Some good suggestions.

BB3, what happened when you clicked on the "duo" tag?

Originally Posted by BB3

I have a location gig recording a female opera singer with a pianist in a small/medium recital hall. Found tons of suggestions for Piano Mic stuff on GS, but nothing for a duo on the same stage.

My concern is that the singer is EFFING LOUD and her voice will be everywhere.

Mics available:
pair 414's
pair 184's
pair 4033's
C84
M147
451
441
RE20

Piano is a Steinway B.

Thanks for suggestions.

[MBBCFP]

Originally Posted by fifthcircle

ORTF pair out front, probably KM184 would work best. Piano on full stick. Move the mics around until you get a balanced sound between the two. Done.



Spotting the piano if you need to will be difficult as most singers demand that the cuve of the piano be free of mic stands. In the end, though, you probably won't need to do that.

I do probably 40 concerts a year of vocalists like this and it works great.

--Ben

I do quite a bit of demo recordings for singers seeking Young Artist Programs. These are the opera singers who have completed their Masters in Vocal Performance at very respectable music schools/conservatories and are now seeking to be used up by mid-level opera companies. (Sorry for the cynicism, but I've seen it happen too often.)

I use ORTF almost exclusivly for these demo recordings. It captures the real sound of both the singer and the piano and adds just enough of the (good) room so I don't have to add any ambience.

When I record pop or jazz, it's a whole different story, but for opera/classical, the simpler the better IMHO.

[digitalolive]

I've been doing a bit of this recording lately and have found good results by placing the singer behind the piano facing the pianist. This way she has eye contact and is singing away from the piano and is shielded by the lid. Then I've been using my 183's just inside the lip of a Steinway D and it seems to be working.

Steve