Topic: Team classical recording

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One of the regulars at the Classical Revolution gigs who provides piano accompaniment also runs a video camera so I've been contemplating getting with him to start combining video and audio.

He snagged me at the recital last week and chatted about that. It's just a point of scheduling time and doing the work and I've got his contact info. From my conversation, I gather the onerous will fall on us to do it though. If he leaves it running between performances (unlikely) it will be significantly easier to resync and do speed correction just once per set instead of on each song... 

The harp performance and recording turned out great that night btw. I might put that one up next.

that harp was lush. I'm be tempted to move back about a foot next time to get a little more room reverb, but it did sound awesome.

[jnorman]

ultfris - i only ran the ORTF pair of KM184s>focusrite scarlett 18i6>thinkpad T410 i7 running Reaper.  video (panasonic ZS10) and audio were done separately, and then sync'ed during post with adobe premiere, output as 720p mp4.

[Ultfris101]

ultfris - i only ran the ORTF pair of KM184s>focusrite scarlett 18i6>thinkpad T410 i7 running Reaper.  video (panasonic ZS10) and audio were done separately, and then sync'ed during post with adobe premiere, output as 720p mp4.

The Lumix ZS10? I think I have a ZS15. haven't paid much attention to it lately using my phone for snapshots and a new-to-me Canon EOS Rebel. Duh. Never occurred to me to try doing video with that. I might try some video while audio taping this weekend to see how it goes. I could easily mount that on my stand next to the mics.

Could it really be that I might add some equipment to my rig and gear bag without spending more $$?

[Edit: Nope. I remember now talking to the guy at Best Buy "No, I don't really need high quality video..." I have a ZS5]

[Gutbucket]

Thanks for posting links to the samples.  I got a chance to listen to a few last night.

Enjoyed the sappho pieces in your third link most, John.  Interesting combination of sounds with the flute, vocal and piano. I always like how flute illuminates a good room room differently than the other instruments. The vocal sounded very nicely recorded with an interesting contrast between the sounds of all three musicians and excellent imaging on your recording.

Chris, I just listened to the first half of your February date and really dug the Je te veiux piece in track 10. I think the violin pieces would benefit from mic'ing from a bit farther away or from a lower angle to put some more room around the instrument and give it more of a rounded sound with and less screech and forward presence.  Hope you don't mind that bit of critique.

Looking forward to giving the rest a listen.

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Chris, I just listened to the first half of your February date and really dug the Je te veiux piece in track 10. I think the violin pieces would benefit from mic'ing from a bit farther away or from a lower angle to put some more room around the instrument and give it more of a rounded sound with and less screech and forward presence.  Hope you don't mind that bit of critique.

ah, that was mine. there are a couple problems, those dpas are subcards, but regardless, the kitchen for the restaurant is directly to the left (and largely open) of the stage, so short of spot micing, there isn't much you can do to get rid of the sizzle of fryers, the clanking of dishes being washed and (more aptly at the last performance) the cooks shouting foul language back and forth. The cards work better for a further back sound, but that runs into the next problem; they have the PA (which is hideously tuned) sitting behind the stage, so get too far away and you start to pick up the stage and whatever the PA picks up.

It's an attractive room, with great food, but it has a bunch of sonic deficiencies...

[Gutbucket]

Cooks!

If you are moving the mics between musicians anyway, you might try mic'ing one of the violin pieces from down low, like in front and underneath the player, 2-3' off the ground and pointing up at the underside of the fiddle- which keeps the mics in close, positions them in the warmer timbre radiation zone of the violin, and may also be low enough that other persons, stands, chairs and whatever else to either side may help screen out a little of the kitchen mahem.

[jnorman]

gut - good point.  i have used that technique on vocalists also when i needed to keep a low profie for the micing.

[voltronic]

First I want to thank everyone here at TS for giving me quite an education on live recording, especially the information on SRA.  Yesterday I finally got to apply what I've learned here and I'm very pleased with the results.  I would love to hear feedback and criticism on my recording.  This is my also my first time using the Church CA-14s that came last week (thanks Chris). 

I can only share the two public domain works in their entirety - Rheinberger Abendlied and Viadana Exultate Justi.  The other tracks are excerpts of 30 seconds or less which I'm including only for public critique on the recording.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ibbl92kc882t7fn/cwuwLi6SKg

Venue:
St. Peter's Episcopal Church - Lewes, DE
http://www.stpeterslewes.org/
July 14, 2013

Ensemble:
Chester County (PA) Choral Society Chamber Ensemble (14 singers out of the normal 20 for this performance: 4 Soprano, 4 Alto, 3 Tenor, 3 Bass). 
My wife and I are both performing with the ensemble (so please excuse the shameless promotion here).
http://www.chestercountychoralsociety.org/
Singers arranged in mixed voice formation; single arc with center of formation standing in front of communion rail; edges curving around to just past first stained-glass window on side walls.

Here is a picture from the rear of the church (my setup is on the tall stand):


Church Audio CA-14 Cardiods, DIN-A
Clipped to DIY mount made from cut aluminum ruler in shockmount.  Mics angled about 15 degrees down toward center singers.
10' stand, center aisle at first pew directly behind conductor.

Church Audio CA-14(c) > Darktrain 10' mini star quad extension > Church UBB > Sony PCM-M10 MIC IN, level 6 (24/48) > PC

Audacity (limiting applause and normalization) > Reaper (splits / fades / tracking) > TLH (FLAC24 level 8 )

(edited to add better picture taken during performance)

[Gutbucket]

Glad to hear.  Looking forward to giving a listen, but heading out of town so it will have to be in a couple weeks when I get back if they're still in your dropbox.

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Audacity (limiting applause and normalization) > Reaper (splits / fades / tracking)

Neat looking room. 

You're the first person I've ever seen do audacity > reaper. I do it the other way around is what makes it seem odd is all (reaper for all of my edits, audacity just to track it).

[voltronic]

Yeah, I loved singing (and recording) there.  Really suprisingly good acoustics for such a tiny church - that picture was taken from the very last pew with no zoom!  Also, it was by far the most polite audience I've ever experienced.  They were completely quiet during the music - just some brief camera shutter noise in two pieces - and they were enthusiastic and appreciative in between.  I recorded the dress rehearsal also in case we needed to do comps for some selections, and the noise floor was nearly identical - obviously there's just a difference in the hall ambiance with the pews empty / full.  Maybe I'll have to start a counter-thread to the "Latest annoying concertgoer behavior" discussion...

I suppose it is strange to use Audacity first, but I find it easier to tame applause peaks and normalize the level there before popping into Reaper for more serious editing.  Also, for the types of things I record I'm throwing away all of the in-between talking, etc. and fading in/out at track boundaries as the last thing I do before exporting to new files, and those things are so much easier to do in Reaper.  I could just use Reaper for everything I suppose, but old habits die hard.

[F.O.Bean]

Looks like a cool church/venue. I would LOVE to record in a place like that. 4 channel Schoeps in a nice church would be killer. Got any samples I can stream on soundcloud or the like? Im DYING to hear your recording

[voltronic]

I uploaded at least a portion of each piece to my dropbox - check my post above.  They're the original resolution 24/48 FLACs so kind of big files, but I figured if I'm asking folks to critique my recording I'm not going to post mp3s.

[bombdiggity]

Beautiful setting. 

Having recorded in a lot of churches I will say most sound... well... cavernous.  You have to get close (as you did).  Since they are not often designed with the acoustics of music in mind (though sometimes with the thought of naturally amplifying spoken word) they tend to be extremely "live" and reverberant.  Good settings for choir or classical perhaps but most are extraordinarily challenging with any amplification in the room... 

Will try to listen later. 

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Finally got around to posting it: http://archive.org/details/classicalrevrva2013-06-12.dpa4015c.flac16