Topic: Taping folk sets in bar/noisy environments?

[612]

This might belong in Ask the Tapers. I'm sure it varies on the room but I was curious how people like to handle 2, maybe 3 people on stage with a dynamic female vocal, acoustic guitar and violin in a restaurant or bar setting? I've been searching out acoustic related threads. I know experience is the best teacher and Matt has already given me the good tip below, I'm just trying to pool as much knowledge together as I can because I plan to start taping more folk influenced music which I haven't done before.

Roma di Luna are a good example: www.myspace.com/romadiluna

I usually like my cards but when would ominis come into play? Any insights on mic configurations are appreciated!

Thanks,

John

Don't try to tape from the lip unless they are amplified or the bar is empty.  Just find the sweetspot in the room is the best way for 2 mics.

Matt

[Chanher]

I usually like my cards but when would ominis come into play? Any insights on mic configurations are appreciated!

IMO omni's do not come in to play in your situation, MAYBE if you're outdoors. If you're not convinced definitely try them yourself.   

I see you have a ua-5. You can run a sbd + aud matrix, although you will be required to mix on-the-spot. This is risky, as I've ruined more than one recording because the sbd was too hot in the mix and it sounded like crap. If the band is quiet to begin with, you can get good at this technique with practice and noise-cancelling headphones. The bands I tried to tape were typically loud and it was difficult to hear the mix in the headphones.

Don't try to tape from the lip unless they are amplified or the bar is empty.  Just find the sweetspot in the room is the best way for 2 mics.

Matt

Matt is correct, 2 mics in the sweet spot will be very consistent, predictable, and can sound good. However, some of my best matrices were with stage lip + sbd. If you're not running the sbd feed then skip the stage lip like Matt said, it will be hard to get the vocal even if amplified.

[612]

+T Chanher, thanks.