lady smith black mambazo surround mix

[jwh1192]

hi guys and gals,

i thought i would post this for fun ....

i am doing (finally .. after more than a year since being recorded) the surround mix of Lady Smith Black Mambazo for DVD .... i recorded them (with the help of mike harrison) at California Plaza in downtown los angeles in july of last year ...

we uesd 2 ATI 8MX2 as the front end .... straight to pro tools with DA78 24bit backup ...

nine singers (one lead, 8 backups ... but all amazing in there own right) ...

my reason for the post is to say that i am doing something different with the audience position ... (6 mics ... 2 shure long shotguns that i borrowed from house of blues shooting center / 2 octavas shooting out and up to the balcony / and 2 KM184's in the back of the house facing the stage up about 6 or 7 feet in the air ... thw singers were hardwire sennheisers with the lead being wireless senn. ... )

i am putting you (the listener) in the front few rows of the audience as opposed to center or back of the hall ... so most of the audience is behind you ... the venue is the stage with a waterfall behind it then about 25' of a pool of water around the stage and then the seats are just people sitting around this pool on chairs, blankets, or standing downstairs or up on the balcony ... you can bring your own wine and food .. really cool summer hang .. crowd was near 3000 for this ... nice and phat and surrounding ...

and i just received another atomic squeeze Box from Innertube audio ... so i am rerecording the lead and bvox through focusrite 215 / squeeze box and then returning into ATI line inputs to get back into pro tools ...

i hope the DVD picture looks as good as this sounds IMHO

will eventually put the whole show (around 2 hours) through TC6000 for sweetening and mastering (my version of mastering) .... some sheen and limiting ... but trying to keep it dynamic and true ...

they are truly some of the most amazing performers i have been involved with ... this show / DVD will be good 98% because of Lady Smith's talent and 2% us ... and the 2% includes the audience that was into the show ... so mike and i will take 1% and be very happy ... i can not say how much it is a pleasure to hear this talent outside on a perfect summer night ...

cross your finger for me .. i am trying to get a live record from this also ...


just thought i would share this for Steve ....

[Remoteness]

John,

All the best on this project. thumbsup

It sounds like a great plan of attack.

...And, a lot of fun to boot!

Please keep us updated via this thread. stike

Are there any pictures from the gig or your mix setup?

[pahji@yahoo.com]

wow!! Lucky you. http://gearslutz.com/board/images/sm...ood/bouncy.gif
They are an amazing band with great voices. Have heard a bit of their recorded material.

Curious as to how much does the waterfall sound and pool effect the mix??

Would also be interedted in your TC 6000 sweetening and mastering process, if you up to it.

Looking forward to the DVD when it is released, with your names right there.

All da best guys. Enjoy

[Berolzheimer]

I look forward to that, too! I love Ladysmith, and the Watercourt. I'm also curious about the waterfall sound, one friend of mine who mixed a quiet acoustic group there(string quartet + harmonica + vocals + tabla) hated dealing with the constant rush of water noise.

[jwh1192]

the singers weee mostly on mic but a few times they stepped back and they would turn on the waterfall for effect ... but it was not an issue as they were on mostly ...

i have not been paid by the company that hired me to do the 5.1 yet ... they are being scumbags and only contacting me when they need something ..

so we may not see this in the near future but do look for me in small claims court ...

cross your fingers for me that my clients do the right thing ..

would be a shane to have this shelved ... it is something special for sure ...

peace john

[Remoteness]

Damn, I'm so sorry to hear this...

I know you must have done an excellent job.

I wish you the best and hope this all pans out right!

Originally Posted by jwh1192

the singers weee mostly on mic but a few times they stepped back and they would turn on the waterfall for effect ... but it was not an issue as they were on mostly ...

i have not been paid by the company that hired me to do the 5.1 yet ... they are being scumbags and only contacting me when they need something ..

so we may not see this in the near future but do look for me in small claims court ...

cross your fingers for me that my clients do the right thing ..

would be a shane to have this shelved ... it is something special for sure ...

peace john