Topic: Crowd noise question

[StarkRavingCalm]

I recorded a band the other night at a festival. I was able to record from FOB which, was about 100 feet from stage and on a raised platform about 20 feet high.
I used Core Sound Cardioids into a DR-2D. I was concerned about the distance from the stage but I knew it would be really loud so I figured it would be OK and there was really no other choice with ground level being absolutely packed.
I also figured being up so high that I wouldn't here any crowd noise or at least very little.
What I ended up with was a lot of crowd noise, way more than if I was taping FOB at crowd-level. Not individual people talking etc, but it's as if they are all cheering the entire time. (The din of the crowd I guess you could say).
So my questions are:

Was this strictly due to the distance back from the stage and the sound bleeding out over that distance?
Would the CS Binaurals have been a better choice in this situation?
Could this have been in part to the Mic sensitivity setting on the DR-2D? (It is still set to the default of Mid)
Could this be reduced in post without introducing a lot of digi-noise?

[runonce]

100 feet sounds very far back...even if you were truly FOB.
Sounds like you just didn't get enough SPL to compete with the crowd din.

[SmokinJoe]

Do the math....
Humumgus PA system... 10,000 watts of audio power
20,000 wookies all chatting with each other, paying no attention to the music... 20,000 watts of audio power.

You don't stand a chance.

[page]

Yeah, I'll go with distance. If it's an 80k festival and the non-fill speakers are spaced really far apart, then I could see how being 100' back would still put you near the top of the triangle, but you've got a lot of people around at that point.

[SmokinJoe]

By the way, you did everything right.  You tried to get as far from the crowd noise as you could (20' up).  Using directional mics generally helps reduce crowd noise, at least they will reduce the chatter behind you significantly, so going to omnis wouldn't be a step in the right direction.

Spending big bucks on a rig won't help you if ambient sound quality is terrible.  Running hypers or shotguns might help sometimes, but not always.  Some people will remember the Nak shotguns were "the standard" in the old GD OTS, and that's why... those tapers were always stuck in that situation.

[StarkRavingCalm]

Thanks.

I'm gonna try to at least reduce it as best as I can with Audacity. If I only had a XLR patch that night I would have been all set.
(It was a different company doing the sound on this night and they had an all digital board with no RCA output like the usual sound guy has.)
Looks like a monoprice purchase is in order... I wonder if I should scope out a shotgun style mic as well.

[StarkRavingCalm]

Anyone willing to give me some advise (offline, so as not to clog the thread) on trying to clean up my current file?

[Gutbucket]

Not much you can do to the file at this point.  Maybe EQ it to sound better to you, but that won't change the ratio of crowd din to music.

If you can get a SBD feed next year (as you mentioned in the shotgun thread), I'd run the omnis from the same location instead of the cards- not because they will pickup less crowd, but because they will record the difuse ambient sounds far more naturally and make a more useful contribution to the matrix.  In that case I'd suggest you space the omnis at least 3' to 6' apart, or even more without fear if you know you will be matrixing them.  Consider placing them at the two front corners of the platform if possible, even if it's 30' wide.

That way you leverage the best of both worlds in your matrix: Clear, direct sound from the SBD (presumably well mixed with all instruments represented if its a large music event), and big broad diffuse crowd and ambience from the wide spaced omnis 20' up.