Re: [ARSCLIST] How not to mike an orchestra

["Steven C. Barr(x)" <stevenc@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Bob Olhsson" <olh@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> -----Original Message-----
> >From Michael Shoshani: "...Yeah, funny how the NBC Symphony had to make do
> with a SINGLE RCA 77 or 
> 44 (depending on the time period), suspended from the ceiling above 
> Toscanini so it basically heard what he heard..."
> 
> I got hired around ten years ago to record a woman who turned out to have
> played flute in both the NBC Symphony and the New York Philharmonic where
> she met her husband who played clarinet. Before leaving, we sat down with
> the couple and had a conversation about the recording and broadcasting of
> those orchestras. After some wonderful anecdotes about Toscanini and
> Stokowski, I was shocked to hear them say they believed "recordings improved
> so much after the modern technique of using lots of microphones instead of
> only one started to be used."
> 
> It's very important to understand that the use of lots of microphones to
> pick up an orchestra generally isn't the engineer or producer's idea. One
> reason a lot of early stereo sounds so great is the fact that the conductor
> was mostly involved in the mono version while a separate team experimented
> with stereo. 
> 
Well, as a (very part-time, blues...) musician, I'm quite happy with the
first recording I cut...more than one mike, because the tech staff had no
idea how else to record a band, but still "live off the floor," done by
recording two takes of each tune and keeping the better one!

If/when I get another opportunity to record, I'd like to do one with
two mikes (one per channel), "live off the floor" and NO overdubs or
such stuff! It has always been my experience that when overdubbing
exists as a possibility, the participating musicians are ALWAYS
convinced they can redo their solo just a tiny bit better...ad
infinitum/nauseaum, if time and budget so allow...!

All the blues hits we now know and love were recorded straight
to a master (one or two tracks as needed)...if it was good enough
for them, it oughta be good enough for me, eh...?!

Steven C. Barr