Freddy G
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Started a new project today...a recording session for a stage production of Alice in Wonderland. My job is chief recording engineer. I just thought some of you might be interested in seeing what a session like this is like.
I started at 8 am today. This will be a live off the floor session with the composer conducting as well. Instrumentation is cello, viola, violin, trumpet, various woodwinds, keyboards and various percussion. I really wanted to do the strings as overdubs or at least in an isolation room to mitigate bleed issues from some of the loud instruments but it was not in the budget logistically. We are cutting 80 tracks in two 8 hour days starting tomorrow morning at 9.
So I decided to use rehearsal hall 3 for the live room which is down the hall about 100 feet from the studio control room. I spent the day setting up makeshift gobos, wiring mics, doing line checks...all that seemingly boring stuff....but it is so critical that everything goes smoothly on the recording dates. I found one Neumann KM84 that sounded a bit weird and swapped it out for another....things like that.
Some pics:
The strings arrangement. I have a pair of KM84s in XY on a large mic stand. The cello will also have a close Neumann U87 up close and the violin and viola will have Sennheiser MKE platinum mics clips clipped to the bridges. The KM84s and the close mics will be time aligned in the DAW. I generally don't like close miked strings but I'm making this option available because of the anticipated bleed problems.
Next pic is the keys/percussion section. Stereo DI off the keys, SM57s on the top and bottom of the snare drum, AT4050 on the glock, AT 4050 on the woodblocks, Sennheiser 421s on the floor tom and bass drum.
Oh yeah....I thought the original cymbal the musician brought did not sound that good so he called up a friend who happens to live locally to borrow one...15 minutes later it was here....there's a lot of great musicians in this little town believe it of not! I got a pic of the underside of the borrowed cymbal
On the other side is the woodwinds and trumpet. The woodwinds will be clarinet and saxes. I'm going to try a vintage AKG 414 here...I love the sound of this mic but it's pretty dark, so we'll see!
The trumpet will be mic'ed with my homemade ribbon mic. See the cloth bag over the ribbon mic? I used such a thin ribbon that I always keep the mic protected until it's actually in service.
Preamps will be Apogees, Avalons, Focusrites, and Manleys.
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5GXBmBQl7s[/ame]
I started at 8 am today. This will be a live off the floor session with the composer conducting as well. Instrumentation is cello, viola, violin, trumpet, various woodwinds, keyboards and various percussion. I really wanted to do the strings as overdubs or at least in an isolation room to mitigate bleed issues from some of the loud instruments but it was not in the budget logistically. We are cutting 80 tracks in two 8 hour days starting tomorrow morning at 9.
So I decided to use rehearsal hall 3 for the live room which is down the hall about 100 feet from the studio control room. I spent the day setting up makeshift gobos, wiring mics, doing line checks...all that seemingly boring stuff....but it is so critical that everything goes smoothly on the recording dates. I found one Neumann KM84 that sounded a bit weird and swapped it out for another....things like that.
Some pics:
The strings arrangement. I have a pair of KM84s in XY on a large mic stand. The cello will also have a close Neumann U87 up close and the violin and viola will have Sennheiser MKE platinum mics clips clipped to the bridges. The KM84s and the close mics will be time aligned in the DAW. I generally don't like close miked strings but I'm making this option available because of the anticipated bleed problems.
Next pic is the keys/percussion section. Stereo DI off the keys, SM57s on the top and bottom of the snare drum, AT4050 on the glock, AT 4050 on the woodblocks, Sennheiser 421s on the floor tom and bass drum.
Oh yeah....I thought the original cymbal the musician brought did not sound that good so he called up a friend who happens to live locally to borrow one...15 minutes later it was here....there's a lot of great musicians in this little town believe it of not! I got a pic of the underside of the borrowed cymbal
On the other side is the woodwinds and trumpet. The woodwinds will be clarinet and saxes. I'm going to try a vintage AKG 414 here...I love the sound of this mic but it's pretty dark, so we'll see!
The trumpet will be mic'ed with my homemade ribbon mic. See the cloth bag over the ribbon mic? I used such a thin ribbon that I always keep the mic protected until it's actually in service.
Preamps will be Apogees, Avalons, Focusrites, and Manleys.
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5GXBmBQl7s[/ame]
