Microphone Stand Height recommendations

[celticrogues]

Hello,
I am currently a student in a music recording program at a college in New York. Since this is at a music school, there are always students giving recitals. Most are on campus in the music school facilities, however some are off campus at local churches. This semester, I am going to start doing remote recordings of these recitals. I was wondering, therefore, if any of you could give me a recommendation about how high of a microphone stand I would need.
The performers will be primarily soloists, voice with piano accompaniment, or small ensembles with no more than 5 or 6 people. I am planning to use one stereo pair of microphones to capture this; this is what we use in the music school facilities and it works quite well for our purposes.
I have been deciding between two mic stands, one goes up to 9 feet; the other up to 12. So far I have been thinking that the 12 foot stand would just be overkill for this situation, but I would love to have your input/advice on this.
Thank you very much in advance for your help!
-Mike

[Remoteness]

If you have to decide between a 9' or a 12' stand, I would use the taller stand.

[T.RayBullard]

Originally Posted by Remoteness

If you have to decide between a 9' or a 12' stand, I would use the taller stand.

Ive been meaning to ask you about this....I do only classical recording(sometimes acoustic singer songwriter, but mainly classical and jazz)...what is a good baseline in terms of height??? Minimum/maximums??rules of thumb??/???I will be starting my own business recording locaiton when i get out of the army and I want to pick some pro brains. thumbsup

[tnjazz]

The recital recordings I've done for the local university here in Nashville have NOT had any kind of sound reinforcement - not sure if your situation will be the same or not though. Their requirements were probably the same as yours though - a stereo pair (KM140) to a portable pre (USBpre) to a tablet PC - all supplied by the school.

Church recitals I ran the stand at about 10 feet, but for recitals in smaller rooms (living room ambience in some cases - I did one show in the foyer of Belmont Mansion!) the mics never got above head height (seated) but I did push them front and center as discreetly as possible.

It all depends on the situation, but I would always go with the taller stand as well. After all, you can always make it shorter!

Dirk

[fifthcircle]

Really depends on the microphones you're using.... When I use MKH80's, my mics are in a substantially different place than schoeps which are in a different place from my Royers.

If you are recording around schools, you should probably have the 12 foot stand and not raise it all the way for all gigs. Some gigs, you'll only be up 6 or 7 feet, but then you'll have a gig where you are not able to put microphones on the stage and you'll place the mics on the ground which will mean that you need an extra 2-3 feet of hight.

--Ben

[Legacy]

Another vote for the 12 foot. Consider that with some chamber music the performers will be standing and others will be sitting (Violin recital versus string qtet for example).

Ben made a very good point about often having to put the stands on the floor in front of a 3 foot high stage or in a church with a raised altar - happens all the time.

Many of us modify Bogen lighting stands
(http://www.bogenimaging.us/product/i...&sectionid=210 )to use for mic stands which with a boom can reach 15 feet and are reasonably light and small when collapsed. You can get a thread adapter to go from camera / light thread diameter to mic thread.

Best,
Silas

[celticrogues]

Hello,
Thank you all very much for your advice. Unanimous votes for the 12 footer... I guess that makes my choice pretty easy.
By the way, would anyone happen to have any general guidelines about how high to place the mics for this type of work? I have heard 2-3 feet above the performer's heads; is there any truth to this? Thanks again for all of your help!
-Mike

[Legacy]

Hi again Mike,

There is no right answer given that every space / ensemble requires different approaches. 2-3 feet above the musicians heads is a good very general starting point. This is only one part of the equation as distance from the "front line" of the players combined with height is a key relationship. Also angle of the mics relative to the floor.

There is a good primer on this in Bob Katz's Mastering book - chapter 17. Or you can google "Critical Distance " .

The short of it is that the height and distance from the players change relative to the size of the ensemble and the size of the room. With experience you will get an innate sense of this.

Best,
Silas

[celticrogues]

Thanks Legacy that helps a lot!
-Mike