I thought received wisdom was that you should run something very directional (hypers, or even shotguns) for outdoor festival setups?
No need to run shotguns, or even really hypers IMO - unless you're far from the sound source or the SPLs are insufficient.
Omnis sound great outdoors because you aren't capturing all the nasty reflections that take place within a closed environment. 'Course, if the surrounding crowd is a bunch of drunkard, blathering boneheads, running more directional mics will help minimize their impact on the recording.
Sorry for the thread hijack... but this is all good info and I have some more questions... +T's all round, your input is appreciated.
Just to give a little more background on my experiences outdoor festival taping last year. At the time I was running dpa4060 > mic2496, I've ranted several times on here about the mic2496, the deal is that even on the lowest gain setting it still brickwalls like crazy with even moderate SPL. My solution? Move further back. Which obviously worked, but... well... it *sounds* like it was recorded from way back
(and, this being the UK, I had problems with wind causing some serious phasing throughout many of my recordings).
Now I've ditched the mic2496, I can go much higher SPL. So obviously one option would be to run omnis up front. Although I was also toying with the idea of getting a stand, and running that towards the rear (the idea being, away from the crowd, set it up, no need to be a human mic stand, kick back and chill). This being the UK, I'm not sure I'd be able to get away with running a stand way FOB
Outdoors = omnis. Best scenario for them! Especially in amplified music.
Might I suggest a look into the Spaced Omnis vs. Jecklin type disc thread, here in our mic section. Another classic favorite is spaced omnis. You place the mics about 4'->10' apart for really huge sound. I prefer the baffle, as it keeps things together, which makes a huge difference in an environment where you don't have total control, with lots of people moving about, etc.
Interesting stuff, +t!
Lots of food for thought there, thanks guys! I'm seriously tempted to try running a stand up front... provided I can get all the gear together in time (and there isn't *too* much gear to schlep around) it would be a VERY interesting exercise... hmmm... I'll have to give this more thought
best regards,
stephen