[Dixielandjazz] Re: Live Recording - Sony mikes

[LARRY'S Signs and Large Format Printing]

Thanks Paul.  I've been getting a lot of room noise at times which is OK but
since I can't be out front and play too sometimes it's difficult to get
everything balanced.  What sounds fine on the stand sometimes doesn't 10 ft
out.  I almost never play where I can string wires and often the audience is
only 5 ft away, almost in the band.  I really don't want to set up separate
recording sessions and that really isn't what I want all this for anyway.
Having said all that I would like to get a little better balance.  I find my
soprano cuts through even more than the trumpet so I have to hold back a
little which is also something I don't like to do.

Oh well I'll eventually get it right.

I have both of the Sony mikes.  One will record 120 and 90 degrees and the
other is fixed.  I haven't noticed any "hole" effect with them.  That is a
space in the middle that doesn't record as well.

Maybe someone uses the dual selectable mike and has a preference and might
let me know.
Thanks
Larry
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Edgerton, Paul A" <paul.edgerton at eds.com>
To: "LARRY'S Signs and Large Format Printing" <sign.guy at charter.net>
Sent: Friday, June 03, 2005 3:57 PM
Subject: RE: [Dixielandjazz] Re: Live Recording - Technology


> My biggest issue is balance and that is difficult using a simple mike
> setup unless you have the mike  at least as far away as the band is
wide.

Larry,

If you want a lifelike sense of the performance, there is no better way
to capture it than by using a single stereo mic.  Some of the all-time
finest orchestral recordings were made this way.  This method captures
the sound of the band and the sound of the room quite literally.  Jim
Cullum comes to mind here.  If your dixieland band plays in balance
naturally, that's all you need.

But that isn't always what you want.  First of all, the room itself may
not sound very good.  A listener seated in the room can filter that out
to some extent and focus on the performers, but a microphone lacks this
ability.  Perhaps there are some weakness in the ensemble: the brass
might overwhelm the reeds, or the banjo sounds awful through the PA.
Changing the physical setup and careful mic placement can help with some
of these problems.

Most of the cheap one-point stereo mics are designed with a very wide
stereo image.  That is, they are usually the equivalent of two cardioid
mics placed back-to-back and therefore just as sensitive to the sides as
straight ahead.  This type of mic can be used much closer to ensemble
without risk of losing the sides. One caveat: single microphones will
always favor the nearest instruments over the furthest ones because of
the inverse-square law.  You can, of course, use that fact to your
advantage by placing the softer instruments nearer to the mic and the
louder ones further away -- just like they did in the old days of
acoustical recording.

-- Paul