Theorbos-Gambas-Lutes

[GES]

Yesterday I recorded an Ensemble of Theorbos-Lutes and Gambas.
What do you think of the sound and the stereo image?
(the sample is very short....but I wanted to upload wav instead of mp3...)

technical:
MS
2 se4400a
DAV BG1
ff400
48/24
-dry-

Thanks in advance!
Pablo

[GES]

It would be much appreciated if someone post some feedback... ;-)

[JoeDeF]

Originally Posted by GES

Yesterday I recorded an Ensemble of Theorbos-Lutes and Gambas.
What do you think of the sound and the stereo image?
(the sample is very short....but I wanted to upload wav instead of mp3...)

technical:
MS
2 se4400a
DAV BG1
ff400
48/24
-dry-

Thanks in advance!
Pablo

It is a pretty short sample to judge, but I enjoyed it. If I were going to change one thing, I would move the mics closer. The tempo is quite vigorous, causing the ambient reverberation to cloud up the middle and lower parts, especially the lower gambas. We lose some of the contrapuntal lines a bit.

Of course, the mics might be the perfect distance for a pavane or a tombeau; it's hard to judge with only one energetic sample.

When I doubt, I tend to mic a little closer; you can always add a touch of reverberation later if necessary, but it's hard to take away.

Joe

P.S. - what a unison on the last note! Ahh, the joys of baroque straight tone....

[GES]

Thanks Joe!
Next Time I have the chance I will get closer...you are right, the slow movements sound very nice and with the right amount of reverb, but in this case, its a little too much. The good thing is that this little example is the fastest part in all the concert, and its a movement only of 30 seconds...

Its the first time I record something live with MS, and it was fun but hard to decide where to put the microphones :-) I had to create an extra stereo trak with the MS signal decoded and monitored through a loopback, with the ff400. It was very nice to know how you can do this with the interface, I also recorded this signal to be able to show them right away...

I enjoyed so much the concert, but I noticed -in the performance- that the sopran gamba was allways too present...
Thanks for your advice :-)

Pablo

[JoeDeF]

Originally Posted by GES

technical:
MS
2 se4400a

Hey Pablo,

I didn't originally notice that you recorded in mid-side. If you wanted to fool around with the recording in an attempt to improve clarity, you could attenuate the track on which the "side" (fig. 8) is recorded, before it goes to the matrix or decoder. Or, of course, if you have headroom, you could just boost the "mid" track instead (pre-matrix).

Just something to experiment with....

[audio ergo sum]

It sounds muddy and lacks transients. Was the M mic in omni or cardiod?
Possibly that microphone has not a good transient response and is dull in the higher frequencies. Also I hear ripples/resonances in the midrange, but that could be from comb filtering as well.
The venue was very "wet"?
I would recommend spaced AB in such acoustics, opens up the boomy bottom a little toward envelopment. With MS you get a lot of unpleasant monophonic bass in the middle . Try a NOS or ORTF next time and see if the clarity improves. But I guess the problem is the microphone.

[GES]

thanks for the comments.
I had the mid mic in cardioid.

I noticed in the quiet movements that there is a constant hum or low bass noise from the heating of the church or something, I removed it. This winter is terribly cold and theres heating everywhere.

as Joe said I will play with the side levels more to reduce the reverberance and see if it improves. and the next time try to go either closer or ortf.

thanks
pablo

[GES]

Originally Posted by JoeDeF

... you could attenuate the track on which the "side" (fig. 8) is recorded...

Hi Joe,
Here is with the Sides attenuated.
Is it more clear...?

[JoeDeF]

Originally Posted by GES

Hi Joe,
Here is with the Sides attenuated.
Is it more clear...?

Hi Pablo,

I hear the second version as more clear, and I like it better. How do you hear it? It would be great if you could play the two clips for the musicians in the ensemble; you'll learn a lot by how they respond and what they notice, even if they are not trained in recording.

It's a great benefit of MS recording that you can so easily have some control over ambiance/reverberation even after you have recorded it (you can do the same with some micing techniques, and not so well with others). Of course, you do so at the cost of a less wide stereo image.

I'd also be interested to hear what audio ergo sum thinks of the second version....

Joe

[GES]

Hi Joe,
I hear the second version more focused, the stereo image is narrower though, but ok. I gave one of the players both versions, with all the tracks, so I will see what he thinks.

It is very good the flexibility of MS, being able to adjust these things after record the material. Of course, it would have been better to place the microphones closer perhaps, or use ortf instead with AB for the room...

regards,
pablo