Favorite stereo pairs for comedy audience?

[Jon Mendel Sound]

Hi all,

 

Curious what are people's favorite stereo pair mic setups specifically for audience laughter tracks? I have a gig in a month for some comedy recording, and have Schoeps CMC MK4 in a pair as well as Oktava Cardioids in a pair at my disposal. Also have miniCMITs and MKH50s in pairs but my brain went caridoid for this use. ORTF? X/Y? What's the best for laughter?

 

I thought a pair at the front of the stage and then one around the middle or rear would be good locations for my mics.

 

Thanks for any tips

 

Jon

 

 

[henrimic]

I recorded a lot of these kind of shows years ago. Instead of stereo pairs, I did use a lot of spot mics  at different places around the audience. The more mics, the best results you obtain.
The thing is that if you just have a main pair and someone talks or make noise just under it, you are screwed. Also, with more mikes at different distances, you can spot some laughs and have a variety of width and options. 

[Derek H]

2 hours ago, henrimic said:

I recorded a lot of these kind of shows years ago. Instead of stereo pairs, I did use a lot of spot mics  at different places around the audience. The more mics, the best results you obtain.
The thing is that if you just have a main pair and someone talks or make noise just under it, you are screwed. Also, with more mikes at different distances, you can spot some laughs and have a variety of width and options. 

Sounds like your approach was to disregard any kind of spatial relationship or specific stereo configuration and just go for a good blended coverage of the audience?

[henrimic]

Exactly. The idea is also to get rid of the PA system. You can always create a sense of spaciousness by panning the different mics. 

[Mungo]

2 hours ago, henrimic said:

Exactly. The idea is also to get rid of the PA system. You can always create a sense of spaciousness by panning the different mics. 

 

Most sound people I know follow the same approach. Main challenge is to get as little PA sound as possible. They end up hanging some 416s straight above the audience at different spots.