Last Sunday Tim and I recorded “Music of Magnificence”, a ‘movable feast’ of a concert at the High Court by:
- Polifemy – a Renaissance vocal ensemble,
- Walking the Dog – a recorder ensemble, and
- Trumpet Club – a 20 piece trumpet ensemble with timpani and bass.
The concert was a mixture of pieces from each individual group and pieces combining all three groups. Performers moved around the entire main space of the High Court; including in front of the main seating area, staircases, balconies, and the basement.
So, not the easiest thing to mic up.
Tim and I decided the best approach was to record the show as if we were one of the audience to get the experience of the variety of distances the performers.
We tried a few option: Tim’s Octava soundfield microphone, a pair of AT 4050s mounted as a Blumlien pair and a spaced pair of Omni mics.
The concert was fantastic, ranging from a trumpet volley possibly 100m away in a totally different space with the doors closed though to the recorder group popping up just behind where we were sitting. The performers must ahve used just about every available space in the building, The choir on several of the staircases and the conductor had to move around a lot: from a high balcony to right in with the audience.
Congratulations to everyone involved in putting this on. Another great show from the High Court music program.
I can’t wait to get a good listen to the recordings. I’m particularly keen to see hear the soundfield mic and see what we can do with the decoding of it.