Topic: Brass band, anyone?

[fotoralf.be]

I'll be recording a brass band. The usual kind of marching band seen at a small-town parade. About a dozen musicians: one big drum, one snare, a few trumpets and trombones, a saxophone, a clarinet, and two tubas.

Last time I've recorded a brass ensemble was about 35 years ago and I frankly don't remember anything about it. Available equipment is a MOTU traveller, a RME quadmic, two Rode NT-2A, two NT-5, two Behringer B2 Pro, and a stereo pair of half-decent SD condensers with omni, card and hypercard capsules.

The recording will be done in a rehearsal-like situation, no marching involved. Guess I'll use the two NT-2A in M/S plus whatever the good folks here might suggest.

Any ideas or experiences?

Ralf

[SmokinJoe]

My best guess would be the Mid/Side pair, and split omnis with the SD's, where the split omnis are 25% and 75% of the way across.  And probably move back just a little so the mics don't over-emphasize the instruments right in front of them.  Maybe 3' back on the omnis, and possible a little more on the mid/side.

========================================
   ******  band members on a stage of sorts ******
========================================
         Omni                                               Omni

                                   M/S

I'm no expert, but that is what I think I would do.  Then when you get home mix the best you can with what you have.   I actually did tape a brass band once... in a big living room with a lot of people dancing, and I ran SD cards XY about 15' away (I just wanted to be out of the way of all the commotion).  That kind of music seems to fill a room no matter how you slice it.

[stevetoney]

I totally agree with smokin' joe as I've recorded several all instrumental bands very successfully using M/S as my main mics.  It's my favorite technique when there are no vocals, or when the band is unamplified.  I'd caution though that since you said this brass band has drums, make sure that your mics are far enough away from the drums, wherever they may be, to keep them from overpowering the mix.  If the drums are in back, you should have no problem.  But say the drums are at the side instead of rear of the band, you might want to move the mics back a little bit because the drums will overpower one side of your mix and you won't be able to back them out enough in post without messing up the rest of your mix.  How far back you move is a judgement call, but you'll want it to be back far enough that the ambient volume of the drums is fairly equal to the surrounding instruments.

For example, I once recorded Soulive (the 3 piece version of the band, so no vocals) from stage lip using M/S.  The drums were stage left, guitar in the center, keys stage right.  The drums are way too heavy in the recording and I couldn't back them out enough without destroying the stereo image.

[page]

Add a third to the M/S pair with outrigged omnis (I'd set the omni's behind the pair, but to each their own). I ran M/S when doing this exact scenario and was very happy to have the versatility in post to swing or expand the stereo image.

I'll echo steve's note about certain instruments, but I've found in a brass band that the trumpets throw as much at the mics as the drums did, especially when they are pointed right at the mics. Second, I've found un-amped brass bands (about the same size as you describe) who really get into what they are doing, to be as loud as a standard PA, if not louder.

Oh, and your resulting recording will look weird; lots of peaks on one side of the wave form, but not the other, symptoms of an attrocious DC offset, but that's not the problem in this case. Don't worry about it.

[Frequincy]

I don't have any advice, but I would like to hear what becomes of the recording.

[notlance]

I've recorded many a brass band and this is what has worked for me.  However, I'm just thinking off the top of my head here and since I don't really know your situation I may be totally wrong.

If you are recording in a large room without a stage, such as a band room, I'd place the group near the corner of the room with their backs to the corner.  You don't want to get them all the way back into the corner, but you do want to have most of the room behind the mics.  If you are recording in an auditorium of some sort, place the musicians near the stage lip and place the mic stand in front of the stage rather than on the stage.  You will need a tall mic stand; a 4 m (13 ft) light stand will do.  Start with the stand about 1 m behind the conductor, and move it up or down, back or forward to get the balance you want.  Brass, of course, are highly directional, woodwinds and percussion are much more omnidirectional so you can use that to help get the balance you want.  Two tubas with a group this small may be a problem as they may overpower, but this depends on the tuba players' abilities among other things.

Mid Side for the main mics is a fine idea.  With a group this small you may not need the outriggers, but they can't hurt, I guess.  Also with a small group if the room is good you could try Blumlein.  Another technique I've tried with some success is NOS with a center omni fill mic.  I'll mix in a little of the center omni to fill in the slight hole in the middle that often occurs with NOS.  The center omni also adds low end weight that some cardioids need.  Just mount the omni in the center of the stereo bar you use for the NOS setup.

Good luck and let us know how it turns out.