Topic: Micing 50 durmmers

[spcyrfc]

got a recording tmw of 50 drummers at an small outdoor pavilion.  they will all be on stage.

the stage is in the bottom of a bowl of hills.  the show may or may not be amplified.

im thinking of running 414's NOS, subcard pretty close to the stage. i've only ever run this pattern with drums relatively close (10') to a samba drum ensemble - the recording came out well.  how far back could i go?  audience noise should not be an issue, tho too far back, i will get traffic noise.

other options im considering are blumlein 414's (again close to stage)

din with the 8040's.

any opinions/suggestions are appreciated.

thanks,
lb

[JiB97]

i did a recording like this once, with about 30-50 drummers.  i ran omnis with a large split, something like 20' or so, stagelip.  came out pretty nice but with kind of a hole in the middle.

i'm sure 414 subcards would sound awesome NOS or split like a foot or two.

[wbrisette]

When I do steel drum recordings with upwards to 50 players, I have to multi-track it. I run a decca tree out front, two side mics for the bass drums (they are always put in the rear), and then another set of ORTF mics out front. Usually this gives me a superb recording.

I'm doing a show on Saturday with 100 classical guitarists all at once! I'm going to use 8 mics for that (similar to what I did for a local orchestra performance last month).

When you have that many players not amplified, treat it like an orchestra. Also remember your rear drummers will probably get lost in the mix, unless you put some spot mics back there.

Wayne

[midside]

How many channels/mics will you have available?
Overhead!  Omni!  Good!

[spcyrfc]

probably just two, possibly four.

[Krispy D]

go 4!

[rhinowing]

try 88...

[midside]

Do you know how they will be set up?  (circle, arc, tiers, etc.)

[spcyrfc]

no idea, its sorta a last minute thing.

[midside]

If possible, I would run one set of omnis overhead with a spacing 1/3rd (or less) of the total spread of the musicians and a height about the same distance as the mic spread (or a little more).  If that is not possible, then I would do the same thing from the front of the stage.  In addition, a stage lip (or onstage) MS pair (M being card or subcard).  I would not use blumlein, too risky, if the acoustics aren't perfect, it will sound bad...very difficult outdoors.  Let us know how it comes out!

[midside]

Well?  How did it go?

[Gutbucket]

[midside]

Whoa!  Tell me more!

[spcyrfc]

well, i wound up renting a small crane and hoisting the mic's up over the bandstand.  recording smoked...

actually i ran probably 20' from the stage with mkh8040 in NOS >aerco>pcmd50, it came out well. i was pleasantly surprised.  2 vibraphones and two drums were sent thru the pA, the rest we unamplified.  there is clear channel seperation and imo the drums are distinct. the recording is clear.  more channels would have offered versatility, but then again i only had about 10 minutes to set up due to a prior recording obligation. 

a bit of wind came thru the big ass shure windscreens, not sure if they are right for these mics.

thanks for all the suggestions, i'll try to get samples up next weeek.

[midside]

It looks like you have a huge Jecklin setup of some sort.  What was that all about?  It seems like you could have just flown high with a little less stuff without the crane.  But....the crane must have been fun!