On 3 Apr 2012, at 07:31, Jörn Nettingsmeier <netti...@stackingdwarves.net> wrote:
> On 04/02/2012 06:33 PM, Ronald C.F. Antony wrote: >> >> On 2 Apr 2012, at 17:57, Eero Aro<eero....@dlc.fi> wrote: >> >>> Because Nimbus Records devoted themselves strictly to one point >>> miking, they didn't record any operas, as the singers, choir and the >>> orchestra are scattered in a large area and you cannot get a good >>> balance with one point miking. >> >> Sorry, that's bogus. When I go to the Opera, I sit at ONE SPOT. >> IF there's anything as a good seat in the opera house in question, where >> people in the audience can listen to a well balanced live performance, then >> that means there is a spot for single-point recording. > <snip> >> If that's not possible, there's something wrong with the microphone, >> recording methodology, or both. > > a) putting a microphone into the audience is pretty much impossible for live > situations, unless you are more interested in the respiratory functions of > your seat neighbors than in the music. flying a soundfield high above makes > for a nice horizontal blend of the music, but gives irritating height > information. I understand that, which is why I made the snide remark about ticket sales. To place an microphone at audience level, one would have to empty enough seats around the mic position to make neighbors a non-issue. But revenues trump everything. Similarly, they could do a recording while doing final rehearsal, since there's no guarantee what ends up being the better performance anyway (and generally I could deal just fine without the disturbing applause in my living room, random coughing, and other stuff that comes with live events (like air conditioners kicking in because the collective body heat raised the temperatures too high, etc.) > b) the listening room acoustics need to be factored into the equation. which > is why the usual approach is to get the microphones way high, and to record > in really large rooms - you are shifting the early reflections into a range > where they are not perceived as coloration, but as echoes. a "best seat in > the audience" kind of recording has its own set of coloring early reflections > already, and it is very sensitive to listening room influence. (i guess the > reason is our brain can sort out one set of ERs as "natural" and work around > the coloration, but not two sets.) Personally, I have never thought that to be an issue with the recordings I did for friends. The microphone is somewhat elevated, because I usually have it on a stand, with the mic head at about the level of a tall person standing up, so not quite seat level, but certainly a realistic height, and not lift-off level. Either the problem is more imagined by people doing A-B comparisons rather than just going for a enjoyable, plausibily-realistic-sounding sound, or the amount of elevation above seat level required is much less than mainstream recording practice suggests. Ronald _______________________________________________ Sursound mailing list Sursound@music.vt.edu https://mail.music.vt.edu/mailman/listinfo/sursound
