Topic: X-Y from off center? (rough taping scenario question)

[acidjack]

Recording a show tomorrow in a nasty sounding room with a loud but cheap PA and a crappy board.

Band's engineer vetoed the idea of onstage as there will likely be people jumping around near and on it.  I've got a feed but it won't have guitars.  Band config is drums, keys, guitar, bass, vox I believe. 

In the past, Dan and I have both done the best we could and clamped to a large post right near the right stack, aiming our mics toward the stage.  This is probably what I'll do.

For options, I am considering either the 4021s X/Y or A/B, or the wider-patterned MK22s either A/B or some other config.  I was also considering using my articulated arm off the post to at least move the mics a bit more toward center. 

Is there any benefit to the X/Y or would it be better to just go A/B and be done with it?  And practically, would the wide cards be much help? 

Could also do hypers, but I really don't like the idea of hypers up close.

[F.O.Bean]

 

Could also do hypers, but I really don't like the idea of hypers up close.

Now is your time to let  them shine

[One Cylinder]

.....I'd go with cardiods in x/y as it's your best bet in minimzing the effects of the shitty sounding room.

[scb]

what room?

[danlynch]

Its a DIY room called "285 Kent", which is actually the address of the location.

[acidjack]

I think I have a plan, which is only a minor modification of what Dan and I usually do.  I'm going to run X/Y 4021s from the post on the right, but try to get closer to center by running my Manfrotto 099B toward the stage.  Assuming I can get high enough above the crowd, that should give me a bit better image and more of the onstage sound I need, and the XY will reduce the impact of it being off center. 

[ScoobieKW]

Walk the room, find the sweet spot, look up, can you hang nearby?  Can you add an eyebolt to clamp on? I've been hanging my cards a lot lately. Clamp and pole and a long set of cables.



The only downside of hanging is that people don't see the Mics and talk a bit more.

[danlynch]

The venue is an old warehouse.  There is no place to hang from the sweet spot.  Its a very high ceiling, probably 20 feet up.  We are lucky that there is this huge beam about 10 feet from the stage, with a clamping pipe in the middle of the beam. 
The use of the clamp+arm is going to center the upfront mics, which is probably the only solution here.

[acidjack]

The venue is an old warehouse.  There is no place to hang from the sweet spot.  Its a very high ceiling, probably 20 feet up.  We are lucky that there is this huge beam about 10 feet from the stage, with a clamping pipe in the middle of the beam. 
The use of the clamp+arm is going to center the upfront mics, which is probably the only solution here.

..if it works   I'll just have to be sure the whole apparatus is high enough to avoid someone being able to jump up and hit it or something....

[F.O.Bean]

Your method sounds perfect, Jack

[twatts (pants are so over-rated...)]

Go early, bring a ladder...

Terry

[Fried Chicken Boy]

The only downside of hanging is that people don't see the Mics and talk a bit more.

In my experience, the chatty cathys at shows usually couldn't care less if there are mics near them or not.  I might even be inclined to say that the loudest a-holes are attracted to mics like moths to a flame.  If they're gonna talk, they're gonna talk.

[acidjack]

BTW if you're ever in this situation, I recommend NOT doing this. 

To give more detail -

The post you can clamp to is only like 5 ft from the right stack.  The ceilings are 100ft or so high - the only posts you could hang from are almost at the top of the ceiling.   There is no hanging to be done.   

X/Y is the wrong config for this because you inevitably get one channel pointing straight at the stack.  If the goal is avoiding the stack sound (since I already had an SBD feed), A-B with cards (or, yes, I think hypers) would have been better. 

While my scheme for using an extension pole or articulated arm would definitely work, that would not have worked last night, because the entire show was a mess... crowd surfing, etc. etc.

FWIW, "professional" (i.e., paid) audio people were there, and they had a short stand back at the SBD with a Zoom and some Oktava MC12s mounted in a screwed-up semi-XY pattern.  The SBD is also all the way to the right side. I suspect their recording is a badly imaged recording of people talking.

It's a hard room.