Topic: Live Music Set Up...Suggestions?

[ethno]

Hello,

I am an ethnomusicologist and I will be doing field work in the Arabian Gulf for about a year.  I will be recording traditional ensembles that consist of:

vocals (soloists and chorus)
drums
other percussion (all acoustic instruments)

I hoping to usually be running a video camera (the Panasonic Gs-400)
and am going to buy either the marantz 660, or m-audio microtrack

I already have an i-river 320, but figure that the recording is not high enough to be used as anything but a back-up.

The groups I am working with are a bit traditional and so I am looking for an unobtrusive set up as possible.  The way I figure it I have 4 chanels (2 from the camera, 2 from the recorder).

My current idea was to put a stereo mic for the recorder at about 5 feet up, about 15 feet back.  Then a shotgun, or unidirectional mic on the camera.  That way whatever I am focusing on in the video can be brought out (i.e. a particular drum part, or a vocal solist).  Does this make sense?

Any suggestions as to mic configurations? 

[Brian]

what's your budget?  so many options for this type of thing.

[ethno]

I guess I should clarify...

I am more intrested in finding out form you guys (who have much more experience than me) about configurations and set up.

I figure I can blow a good $200-300 on the stereo mic (for the recorder) and about another $100-150 for the shotgun/uni-directional for the camera (or another type of mic?)

Do you think my ideas for the placement of the mics makes sense?

Thanks for your help!!!

[Brian]

well it all depends upon how the musicians are setup.

but since there are vocalists, i'd get a decent set of cardioid condensers and go ORTF right in front of them(like around where you'd think a conductor would be if they had one).

but if you are looking at a stereo microphone that will limit your option to XY.

personally, i'd try to run that stereo pair or stereo microphone into the camera instead of using an additional shotgun when recording the music.  i'm not sure how much work you are doing in post or what exactly the camera mike is for, but if you are going to be roaming around with the camera, the shotgun microphone will creat all kinds of phase issues once you mix it with the stereo pair.

now if you are going to be doing this documentary style with interviews and such go for the shotgun mike and use that for those things.  use just the stereo pair for the music.

make sense? 

[Brian]

oh and welcome to TS.com.  glad to have you here! +T

[bagtagsell]

how did you become an ethnomusicologist?  where did you go to school?  I thought about that once.

[ethno]

Thanks for your suggestions and your welcome.

The groups tend to be about 20 people in semi circle.  I guess I have some follow up questions:

What is most affected by adjusting the height of the microphone?  is it bass response, or just the mix, like moving it left to right?

Do you guys think that when i am recording video I should just concentrate on 2 chanels of audio and not try and mix the 4 (do to phase issues and such)?

I am still in school for ethnomusicology.  There are several good programs in the US (and abroad) and ethnomusicologists tend to be fairly nice people so don't be shy about contacting your local university.  There is a big lack of technical knowledge (generally) too, and making field recordings is an important part of what we do.

thanks again for your help!

[wbrisette]

I figure I can blow a good $200-300 on the stereo mic (for the recorder) and about another $100-150 for the shotgun/uni-directional for the camera (or another type of mic?)

hmmm. I've been asked to work on some video/film projects recently and looked into buying a shotgun for it. Maybe I'm looking too high end, but most of the guns that are worth a damn start in the $700 range (Sanken CS-1) and the two which are preferred are right around the $2,000 price point (Sanken CS-3e/CS-5e, Schoeps CMIT-5U). The other issue I'll point out about most of the guns is they suck for music. They are great for voice, but they all have some pretty strange curves in the audio spectrum which limits their usefulness in music. Make sure you examine the charts for the mics and ensure they will capture what you think they should.

Wayne