Jump to content

1 mic and a well-balanced group


pverrando

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 72
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

The first video would have to be a lip sync recording. The AKG 414 would have been eaten alive by the breeze blowing.

Great sounding mix none the less.

I think the first recording (video linked) is live --- the AKG does have a fat foam windscreen on (looking like there is additional material under stock foam windscreen) and the breeze was pretty gentle. If it was done to playback they took the time to add in several car bys (the first, quite noticeable, at about 3:20). Also, if playback, the track would have to have been re-mixed to picture to account for level differences and head turns, quite apparent as the bass player's vocals trailed off as she was farther from the mic. Finally, the lip sync, if that's what it was, was perfect! I vote for live performance right there on the street.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think the first recording (video linked) is live --- the AKG does have a fat foam windscreen on (looking like there is additional material under stock foam windscreen) and the breeze was pretty gentle. If it was done to playback they took the time to add in several car bys (the first, quite noticeable, at about 3:20). Also, if playback, the track would have to have been re-mixed to picture to account for level differences and head turns, quite apparent as the bass player's vocals trailed off as she was farther from the mic. Finally, the lip sync, if that's what it was, was perfect! I vote for live performance right there on the street.

Good to hear Amy again...

Doesn't the audio seem too studio for the scene? Is there some traditional, Post technique(s) that present live, outdoor, "studio" recordings, as we hear it, in this instance? The room/street tone seems more akin to a studio tone than anything else, vehickulars aside. In fact, without the latter, how many sound professionals (see above) would call the site location the former?

Thank you very much

Fury

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The first video would have to be a lip sync recording. The AKG 414 would have been eaten alive by the breeze blowing.

Great sounding mix none the less.

I don't know enough about that mic to judge, but the vocals and instruments all seem very much on mic, given their distances. I don't think it sounds studio recorded, and I'm convinced it's live, but perhaps there were other mics around that we don't see and the piece was remixed. The single mic in frame may have been one of the mics, but there for a visual too.

Robert

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't know enough about that mic to judge, but the vocals and instruments all seem very much on mic, given their distances. I don't think it sounds studio recorded, and I'm convinced it's live, but perhaps there were other mics around that we don't see and the piece was remixed. The single mic in frame may have been one of the mics, but there for a visual too.

Robert

For this type of recording the mic will have been set to an omnidirectional pattern so everyone within 360 degrees facing the mic is "on mic". To do this style of recording the musicians must balance themselves with each other. In essence they are creating the mix as they perform. It's they way records were made originally. Some of the clues that this is a live recording:

1) it's in mono

2) there's no reverb or delays used on anything

2) listen to how the trumpet player restrains himself to keep in balance with the others

3) notice that you don't hear much of the cymbal or it's top end (playing lightly and a distance from the mic)

4) the vocal sound is what I hear when doing production sound outdoors, not indoors

5) the bg ambience sounds they way it should for an outdoor, live recording

6) all the things that Jeff mentioned.

I spent the first nine years of my audio career in music recording studios and can't see why anyone would pay for studio time to record a song with multiple mics and great gear in order to mix it in mono, with no effects, in order to make it sound like it was recorded with one mic on a sidewalk. Sometimes the simplest answer is the right answer. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

+1 Everything that Jeff and Joe said.

That was definitely recorded live as we saw it.

The presence differed with proximity just as it should. That's not to be confused with Proximity-effect, which is not an issue with an omni pattern.

The timing was right on with all the instruments (including voices, which are, after all, instruments) and they all had sonic clues that verified the reality.

A singing voice is much louder than a spoken voice, so that means that any wind noise is diminished by that difference from what you might expect if it were with dialog. Also, with the mic set to omni, wind noise wouldn't be as big an issue as it would be with a cardioid pattern.

Nice (LIVE) job all the way around.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wow. That was really fantastic. Oddly, the video is needed to put you in the space to have the audio be so brilliant.

I think it is very possible that this is a mix of the mic you see (or one rigged in the darkness overhead) and a wireless lav on the lead singer. Note how more present his voice and guitar are compared to the other folks.....

phil p

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think the first recording (video linked) is live --- the AKG does have a fat foam windscreen on (looking like there is additional material under stock foam windscreen) and the breeze was pretty gentle. If it was done to playback they took the time to add in several car bys (the first, quite noticeable, at about 3:20). Also, if playback, the track would have to have been re-mixed to picture to account for level differences and head turns, quite apparent as the bass player's vocals trailed off as she was farther from the mic. Finally, the lip sync, if that's what it was, was perfect! I vote for live performance right there on the street.

Yeah--all that, and remember re wind noise that people generally SING a lot louder than they talk (esp professionals) so the recording levels would not have had to be cranked up much at that distance, and it sounds like the rolloffs on the mic are in. Also the bass sounds way distant and "necky"--ie not miced near the F holes.

philp

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It is very possible to get a very nice recording with one mic. The better the musicians and the environment the better the recording will be. Here are some recordings I did with Swell Season awhile back--one CS3e on a boom.

phil p

Beautiful sound, Phil, perfect recording. Some of the best recordings have been made with one or two microphones but as you point out that puts the whole responsibility on the performers --- when they're good there is nothing better than a simple, honest recording. In the case of this musical interview, your choices when recording worked so well to put the people in the context, not only of the physical place (the Paramount Theater?) but the emotional connection to their talking about the music they are playing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I tried the one mic method on a Georgian folk band for a wedding scene. I placed the mic and the musicians in a way which I thought sounded great, but the guy playing an instrument like an oboe, who I placed furthest away, could help but slide his chair up to the mic EVERY time. I tried and tried, using translators, but he just couldn't help himself.

No time for plan 'B' and I was quite certain it'd be replaced anyway, but it was such a cool performance.

Not all musicians get the concept :-)

And since I can't ever get enough of this video, you can hear the band I was trying to record in the BG of this video, af a demonstration we were given by The Georgian National Ballet in their rehearsal space. We used dancers and the rehearsal band in the scene. What was truly amazing about the space was the floor. Not just the smoothness of the very rugged planks, but the vibrations as the dancers hit the ground on their knees.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't know enough about that mic to judge, but the vocals and instruments all seem very much on mic, given their distances. I don't think it sounds studio recorded, and I'm convinced it's live, but perhaps there were other mics around that we don't see and the piece was remixed. The single mic in frame may have been one of the mics, but there for a visual too.

Robert

I know that mic well, as it's our workhorse in the studio. It has several patterns, and it's certainly capable of capturing those beautiful instruments in that environment. I vote for "live". What do I get?

BK

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.


×
×
  • Create New...