Topic: Need help planning setup for performance in art gallery

[heathen]

I've got an opportunity to record a jazz trio this weekend at a local art gallery, and I've neither recorded there nor recorded a jazz trio "up close" previously.  I'd like to make a good first impression in the hopes of being able to record this group more in the future.  The lineup will be an electric keyboard through an amplifier, acoustic bass through an amplifier, and acoustic drums.  I don't know which specific room of the gallery it will be in, but they're all relatively standard art gallery rooms (rectangular, no carpets, some canvases on the walls).  There will likely be a handful of folding chairs set up for people, and there will also be people wandering through.

While they haven't expressly said it, I think it is assumed that I should have as little "footprint" as possible and not distract the audience, who will likely be very close to the group.

Here's the equipment I have to work with:

Manfrotto 367B stand
Manfrotto 5001B stand
Core Sound TetraMic
AT4031 cards (pair)
AKG 460/ck61 (single)
Studio Projects CS5 (single)
CA14 omnis (pair)
AT853 cards (pair, 4.7k modded)
Zoom F8
Roland R-05

It's entirely possible that the sweet spot will be in the seated area, and there probably won't be enough chairs available that I can monopolize one for the whole time.

The one time I saw a musical group perform in this gallery it was a string quartet and they were in one of the smaller rooms.  There were probably about 20-25 chairs, and that took up the bulk of the room.

Any ideas/suggestions?

[goodcooker]

I would use the TetraMic as close to the performers as I could get it. The ability to change the orientation and pickup pattern after the fact would be awesome given the need to "nail it the first time out". It's small too so less distraction.

Second choice - AT cardioids in ORTF placed where the band is mostly within the 110 degree spread.

Third choice - either of the above options with the omnis spread wide as outriggers. If you want to be less obtrusive then running split omnis is probably not a good idea - but I find that mixed with Cardioids the omnis provide a certain bottom end thump that's missing - especially kick drums and acoustic bass. Also room reflections - but if you are really close to the performers the direct sound would likely overwhelm the reverberant sound even in a small room.

If the amps are on the floor I would use the top of the kick drum hoop as my horizontal plane orientation mark. 

[Gutbucket]

All instrumental?

Get close.  Between the seating and performers, as if you are setting up on-stage even if there isn't one, especially in a reverberant art gallery space with amps.  Say 4'-5' away.  I'd stay very low to the floor to keep out of the way and avoid sightline problems.   That will also reduce the reverberation off the floor boundary somewhat, making things sound cleaner.  Be careful to not present a trip hazard for the performers.  Arrange things neatly, tape down your wires, etc.  I like to setup in basically in front of the drums if they are in the center, but off-axis to the kick drum (avoiding a direct air whump trajectory) with a direct line of sight to the snare.

TetraMic works well close-in for jazz, and it's fun tweaking the Z angle (height) to dial in the sound of the drum kit from a close in perspective - point up a bit to get more cymbals, down a bit for meatier kick and toms.  It will be fun to play with afterwards.  The close perspective will make all the TetraMIc virtual microphone angle/pattern/pointing changes more obvious and fruitful than when using it from a more distant position, IME. I'd probably run that along with a pair of omnis flanking it around out around 3' to each side, just because, just in case, because you never know, and because if nothing else they may add some good ambient air.

[aaronji]

If the drums are on one side or the other, instead of in the center, you might consider cheating a little away from the drums (they are usually pretty loud)...

[nak700s]

Although not in an art gallery, I do similar set-ups like this on a weekly basis.  In many cases, and this would definitely be one of them, I use my CA-14 omnis.  Depending on how they position their instruments, I would essentially use 1 stand, between 2.5 - 3 feet high, and place it between their monitors, aimed ever so slightly towards the bass an drums.  you will pick them up plenty, as they will be loud enough.  The added advantage of omnis in this type of situation, is that you want some ambience, but your proximity to the band will overpower most of the audience's chatter and applause.  With jazz, in general, you should probably ask the drummer if he'll be using sticks or brushes.  A jazz drummer can be very loud if using sticks.  If you have access to any of their live performances, give one a listen in advance to get a sense of what is louder than what, and set up accordingly. Keeping a small footprint is easy with this set-up...additionally, if you'd like to use your cardiods, you can still set up the CA-14's on the stand going into your R-05.

[Cheesecadet]

Who's the band?

[if_then_else]

I recently recorded a show at the local museum of contemporary art.
The old thread is here:
http://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=184179.0

If there are some chairs, I'd consider clamping to the back rest of one of the chairs
or one of the chair legs (i.e. use a Superclamp+Manfrotto 099b combo).

[heathen]

Here's how it looked.  Just decoded to B format, so now begins the post work...

[Gutbucket]

Right on.  Looks like excellent placement to me.

[heathen]

The drums ended up being a bit too prominent, so if I could do it again I'd probably cheat away from the drums a bit.  Also the drums and keys are spaced pretty wide across the stereo image...to be expected with the way they set up I guess.  I'm experimenting with somewhat of a subcard pattern in ~90 degrees but still not totally set on a decode pattern.  Any pattern with a rear lobe seems to be picking up a lot of reverberant sound because this room was not huge and was very "live."  So far it feels like my best choices are on the spectrum of cards to subcards.

If there's one thing I've learned about post-processing the TetraMic, it's that when I think I have a decode I like I need to put it aside for at least a day and then listen again.