Acoustic
Music
Example 1 : Choir and instrument
accompaniment
[Quicktime] [Windows
Media]
This
excerpt is a choral vespers service featuring organ, brass,
strings, winds, and solo and combined mass choir. This
excerpt was captured using a single spaced pair of
microphones. Here the hall offers a sufficiently "wet"
character which is balanced with the drier character of the
direct sound of the choir by moving the microphone pair to
the appropriate place in the hall. Recorded live in
concert.
Example
2 : Male Chorus
[Quicktime]
Applying
our newest additions, the primary pickup for this male
chorus is a Royer SF-12 ribbon mic with a spaced pair of
omnidirectional microphones for additional "breadth" to the
sound stage. Pay particular attention to the balance of
chorus and ambience as well tonality of these male voices.
Recorded live in concert.
Example
3 : Adult Choir and Solo Organ
[Quicktime] [Windows Media]
[Quicktime of spot on Channel 18,
Lafayette, Indiana]
These
excerpts were captured using two pairs of microphones, one
for main pickup and a second for ambience. By balancing the
two pairs, a balance is truck between the "mass" of the
chorus and the precision of individual voices. The church
has a dry character which was enhanced by the use of
impulse modeled reverberation. Notice the balance of hall
versus reverberation that was created in post production.
Recorded in session.
Example
4 : Jazz Ensemble
[Quicktime] [Windows Media]
Using
an microphone technique originally created by a team of
Decca recording engineers called the "Decca Tree", I was
able to capture both a true sense of ambience as found with
omnidirectional microphones with a vibrancy and focus
usually only found using directional microphones. An on
location mix of the three microphones in this tree yield a
spacious and present recording. The hall is a lively
acoustic venue which the three omnidirectional microphones
captured. At additional cost, the instrumental balance may
have been further focused by judicious use of spot
microphones. Recorded live in concert.
Example 5 : Organ and Brass
[Quicktime] [Windows Media]
This
excerpt represents a minimally mic'ed organ with additional
brass. The recording was captured by a single pair of
microphones in a live concert setting and recorded straight
to CD. This was provided to the performers immediately
following the concert. Make note of the natural acoustic
balance between the organ and brass. Recorded live in
concert.
Example
6 : Male Voice Ensemble
[Quicktime] [Windows
Media]
When
a performance can be captured without the limitations of a
live audience and care is paid to balance of ensemble
versus the acoustic, a natural balance is struck. This
recording was captured by two pairs of microphone and
recorded live to DAT for eventual CD archival. No editing
is present in this performance. Recorded in
session.
Example
7 : Solo piano
[Quicktime] [Windows
Media]
We
are often asked to capture recordings for archival sake.
These recordings are meant to convey the sound of the
original performance. This large stone environment is more
reverberant than most concert halls. Simply captured with
one pair of microphones live to stereo. Recorded live in
concert.
Popular
Music:
Example 1 : Pop/Rock Ensemble
[Quicktime] [Windows
Media]
This project utilized a
full 16 tracks of simultaneous recording in addition to
heavy multitracking. At times there are over 60 tracks
present and significant post processing. The goal of this
project was creation of an 70 min + project for CD release.
All recordings were captured in two studio spaces and a
performance space. Reverberation and character changes were
accomplished in post production.
Example
2 : Live Rock PA with recording
[Quicktime] [Windows
Media]
Live
PA for a rock band in a theatrical musical setting is
difficult enough. To capture a recording of this same
performance offers many challenges. This recording features
a pair of mics in the theater plus submixes of each
instrumental section, all captured live to 8-track hard
disk. This were remixed later for release to the
performers. Notice the dynamic range of the performers
captured with close microphones.
Example
3 : Pop/Rock Ensemble
[Quicktime] [Windows
Media]
Occasionally a client will
request a greater deal of control than what is possible
with a simple stereo setup. With this recording acoustic
mics were combined with close mics to capture the
instrumental bed. Later vocals were captured in an overdub
fashion. My principles of only using the minimum required
microphones and recording in a natural acoustic is present.