notesdontmatter

AArts – Wk 6 – “Recording Orchestral Strings”

Anna & the Cello:

This was a much more challenging instrument to capture than the sax or flute I felt. The main issue was that of audible noise from the performers natural movements whilst playing. The instrument itself seems prone to producing unwanted noise due to its structure. Only the slightest tap with the bow or even heavy use of the fretting hand on the fingerboard at an inopportune moment could contaminate the waveform of an otherwise beautiful sequence.

The micing was a moderately different affair to Tuesday’s efforts as we opted to use a couple of room mics (U87 and U89) and compare the difference. Another questionable innovation was the idea to put the KM84 overhead on the right hand side of the performer initially. A second overhead was also tried with the Rode NT4 stereo condenser but I opted to leave it out of all but the glissando and NT4 specific mix-downs, as it brought too much ‘honk’ into the sonic structure.

The room mics were tested independently at a considerable distance from the source, being on the other side of the room. As usual I think the U87 was the real winner on the day as the U89 is considerably less sensitive, which was a bad thing on this occasion providing duller, less lively ambience, but it’s always worth giving others a chance. The reverberation level was tested in stages by gradually opening more and more curtains to ‘open up’ the sound. We settled on the north side open, south side closed scenario.

After a take of this set up, the room mics were moved into within a metre of the performer, and the KM84 shifted to her left shoulder area, facing the upper fingerboard. The general group consensus was that this was the most successful of the days efforts at mic positioning. I myself am undecided, but it’s all subjective anyway.

Make up your own mind people; it’s still a free country for the moment.


Click here to link to online folder of MP3’s.


Reference:

Grice David. 2007. “Recording Orchestral Strings”. Tutorial held at Studio 1 and EMU space, level 5, Schultz Building, University of Adelaide. 3rd April.

Robjohns Hugh. 1999. “Strings Attached”. Sound On Sound Music Recording Magazine, Media House, Trafalgar Way, Cambridge, UK.

posted by David J Dowling @ 2:27 PM