My Show and Tell

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I've got a bit much here to toss it under the actual "Show and Tell" so....

Basically, I have 3 different things to show- The first is a vocal quartet session I did in this very strange chapel in the middle of nowhere in Central Calif. Think "Anonymous 4" with this ensemble... Lots of chant, etc... Setup was 3 levels of micing. Close mics (Microtech M930s and Sennheiser MKH40s) for diction, AKG 426 in Blumlein for ensemble, and far spaced back B&K 4006s for room/ambience. The majority of the sound is from the 426 and the 4006s.

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My Typical "Documentary" Rig for basic classical ensemble concerts... I use a set of the Panasonic AD-96M Digital Preamps as the front end for my O1V. I record to 8 tracks (max) and rebalance back at home on my Sequoia rig...

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I just finished a run with the Henry Mancini Institute. It is a 4 week summer music festival hosted at UCLA. This year, I wasn't making the recordings (unfortunately) but I did do a fair amount of Front of House work.

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The Big Band Show....

TLM 170s on saxes (including Sax Solo)
U87s on Bones
U47 FETs on Trumpets
414 EBs on the Piano
Demeter Tube DI + a KM84 on the bass
KM 184s on the congas
414s as OH, 451s on toms, D112 on Kick, KM 84 on High Hat.

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In the HMI shows, we also had some very strange ensembles to deal with...

This one was from the Combos concert.... The ensemble consisted of String Quintet, Harp, Woodwind Quintet and Rhythm Section.

Woodwind Quintet had 3 U-87s, Strings each had a TLM 170, Harp- a U89, Piano Microtech M930s, Bass- Demeter Tube DI and TLM 170. Overheads- 414s, Snare 57, and a D112 on Kick.

I forgot to mention, all of these shows also had a 3-point array across the front- B&K 4006s on the flanks and a 426 in the center (in X-Y). SM-81 were positioned behind the speakers up high facing backwards for audience reaction and ambience...

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Last, but not least, a couple pictures of the Recording booth... Everything here was pretty much a rental so these shows (being the lower budget ones) weren't outfitted quite as well... The Mackie is obviously far from ideal but given the space constraints in the recording rooms, there wasn't much else to use...

Nothing out of the ordinary here... Just the board, a TDM system (40 channels), some DBX 160s, the 1073s. GML EQ, and Pendulum for the 2-buss...

The big orchestra (which I don't have pictures of unfortunately) is a 70+ person group.

That was recorded with an HDTDM rig (48 channels), GML Pres, Grace Pres, etc... Same board, but in general a much better rig...

Sorry the pictures don't quite go together. Due to the small space, I couldn't get back far enough to make it work...

That's it... Hope you enjoyed my show and tell....

--Ben

[Remoteness]

Awesome show and tell...

Excellent descriptions & attachments.

Thanks for posting your thoughts & designs.

Keep up the good work!

[Rick Sutton]

Love the "show and tell". I recognize that strange chapel in the middle of nowhere. It's Chapel Hill near Shandon, Ca. Built in the early nineties by (I believe) Judge Clark, a local rancher and former Reagan era Sec. of Interior. It is used by the local Mozart festival and other civic groups. I took a look inside as it was being built, but have never heard music performed there. How was it to record in? Best regards, rick

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That is indeed the place.... It was an interesting room to record in... There are so many antiquities from the Hearst Estate up there and all the old-growth grape vines. It was almost surreal...

It was a good sounding room, but very "naked." It was so clear and so quiet that there was nowhere to hide. For this music, the reverb time was also a little bit on the short side, too... The best part, however, was the fact that it was SO quiet. At one point we had to stop the session and take a break because we heard dogs barking. When we went outside, we discovered that they were on the next hill over- probably close to a half mile away!

I forgot to mention the rest of my setup on that gig. Room mics were through Millennia pres, the AKG went through Boulder Pres and the close mics went through Beno May designed single-ended Jensen 990 pres (built by a friend of mine). Recorded through my AD96Ms as converters and into my DA78HR via a Panasonic DA-7 console.

Editing was done over the 7 tracks in Sequoia. In the final "mix" and mastering stage, I added reverb from a church program on my Lexicon 300. It helped to cloud things up a bit and give them that large room reverb sound that they were looking for.

I also dragged a couple mics outside and we recorded the church bells ringing. I recorded a couple passes, layered them in post, and used that to start the CD. I'll post if the group can ever get off their butts and finish the artwork so we can get it pressed... It is a pretty darn good sounding disc. The music is a combination of chant, contemporary (chant based) music, and a couple spirituals.

--Ben

Great reportage!