Stereo Mic Suggestions

Chris Chapman

Active Member
(Sigh) I'm constantly looking for a better recording solution in my venue. Currently I have 2 SM81's set in an XY pattern at mid house, approximately 50' in the air. When I record Band/Orchestra it sounds fine. When I record accapella choir or choir with live piano support it sounds ok. Choirs are supported with Shure MX202's hanging from our orchestra shell. As soon as I go to soloists with prerecorded track, or choir with a track, I'm fighting monitor bleed onstage. Boundary mics are out due to foot noise.

Is a better solution a higher end stereo mics or moving to shotguns that are closer? I've tried many different variations with little satisfaction.

The main issue is I have up to three mixes to deal with. Live reinforcement, audio recording, and video recording. The subtle difference between a board send and a dedicated recording feed is where my battle lies. Part of the issue is also educating some of my co-workers that there simply isn't one solution for a venue that does band, orchestra, choir, theatre and dance. Or is there?
 
SM81s are fine mics, but 50 feet in the air is no place for them. At that kind of distance, it is likely to be too reverberant, lacking in focus, and have quite a bit of ambient noise. For concert recording, they should more like 15 feet above the stage floor, and roughly 10 feet behind the conductor. Fix that first. I would put them on a tall stand and experiment with placement during a rehearsal. I think this change will surprise you.

Beyond that, I don't think there is a magic solution for the amplified portions. Monitor levels of tracks and soloists have to be kept as low as practical. You'll have to explain why to the conductor and musicians, and enlist their assistance in achieving that. Try the properly placed XY pair, but you may find that mics will have to be kept relatively close, such as with your hanging mics. For amplifying soloists without tracks, take them out of the monitors entirely.

Doing multiple mixes isn't easy, so don't expect perfection. Audio recording and video should be the same mix. An Aphex Compellor 320A would help ride gain on the recording level, and eliminate one distraction. Maybe a digital console would help so you can set some cues during rehearsals for recording. Another method would be to record multi-track and mix it down later. Option C is two consoles, with one person mixing house and another person in an isolated room, mixing the recording.
 
I have never figured out why people like to mount an X/Y on the ceiling way up high. The room was never designed to sound good there because the audience isn't there. Every taper knows this. Get that mic where @FMEng suggested... behind the conductor and just out of siteline.

As for the soloist with a track... put a mic in front of them and send that direct. Get more wedges so you can run them at a lower level. How many inputs are you looking at here? Best bet is to do a split and go direct to a multitrack recorder. What console are you on? That might be pretty cheap to do.

Finally, for Choirs I have never had good luck with hanging mics. My go to for that is 451's or 81's on stands in front of the choir riser. One mic about ever 6 feet is usually what you want. That should help you get over the tracks a bit too.
 
I have never figured out why people like to mount an X/Y on the ceiling way up high. The room was never designed to sound good there because the audience isn't there. Every taper knows this. Get that mic where @FMEng suggested... behind the conductor and just out of siteline.

As for the soloist with a track... put a mic in front of them and send that direct. Get more wedges so you can run them at a lower level. How many inputs are you looking at here? Best bet is to do a split and go direct to a multitrack recorder. What console are you on? That might be pretty cheap to do.

Finally, for Choirs I have never had good luck with hanging mics. My go to for that is 451's or 81's on stands in front of the choir riser. One mic about ever 6 feet is usually what you want. That should help you get over the tracks a bit too.

My problem is architecture. If I go for the optimal mic position, I'm getting sound from our cluster, and not from the stage. At that point I'm basically in my first row, right in the middle of sightlines. It becomes a show about mics on stands. My FOH placement is good for lighting, but not for sound.

The drop mics work well for amplification, just not so great for recording.

Splitting the xy pair further apart using shotguns would gain me what? ANything or a bigger headache?
 
I have never gotten shotguns to work and actually sound good. PCC's are more effective if that says anything.

Truly, spend the money on more mics and get them onstage.
 

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