Recording - February 2011 - 58

Miking The Really Big Gig
Interview by Lorenz Rychner

Mike Pappas records Dianne Reeves with band and full symphony orchestra
How big is big? Miking a live recording of a symphony orchestra? A symphony orchestra plus a jazz quartet? A symphony orchestra plus a jazz quartet plus a Grammy-winning singer and a household-name conductor? Recorded in 5.1 in a really big hall? Yeah, that‘s big. Not your everyday gig, so—for this issue with its focus on mics and miking—we wanted to know how it’s done. Back in September 2010 issue we brought you a report on a surprisingly simple miking setup that was used in June in Denver’s Boettcher Hall, to record the Colorado Symphony Orchestra in an evening of classical orchestral music, featuring a piano concerto: 5 elevated mics across the front of the wider-than-deep orchestra stage, plus an M/S array above a lidless grand piano and a rear-facing audience mic. Simple and effective. I described the stage, the hall, and its difficulties in that article. Fast-forward to December 14, 2010: Same hall, same symphony orchestra, same engineer Mike Pappas, but now with a piano/bass/drums/guitar quartet, backing up Dianne Reeves on vocals, for a Jazz Christmas pops concert. One night only, one chance to get it right—many more challenges, many more mics... To see many more photos and read more, including a complete mic list and a rundown of the control room setup, as well as a reprint of the September 2010 article, check out www.recordingmag.com and check Resources & Info under Magazine Extras. How long did the preparation take? Mike Pappas: The planning, about two months. Two companies were involved in sponsoring, dts and Avalon Acoustics. When everybody was on board, we built the complex system, with more than 70 inputs total, of which we were using 40, including splitting MADI between two DiGiCo consoles and feeding an analog monitor mixing console. It all worked right out of the gate with only a clocking issue which we resolved. But we put in 1500 feet of MADI cable... We had one rehearsal with everybody on stage, from 10 AM to 12:30 PM, with a break during which we swapped out a couple of things. That was it. How did you arrive at the final miking setup? Last time, in June, we had five mics across the front, a left/center/right trio and two “flankers”, one on each side, out wide. This time, because of the jazz trio that was grouped around the conductor’s podium,
58
RECORDING FEBRUARY 2011


http://www.recordingmag.com

Recording - February 2011

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - February 2011

Recording - February 2011
Fade In
Contents
Talkback
2010 AES Convention Report
Brian Tarquin: Ins And Outs Of A Guitar Recording
Bock Audio 195 Microphone
Terry Wollman On Miking Acoustic Guitars
Al Schmitt On Miking, Mixing And More
Prodigy Engineering Bella
Commit, Execute, Deliver
Strings: The Real Thing
Coles Electroacoustics 4050 Stereo Ribbon Microphone
Plug-In Outlet
KRK Systems KNS Series Headphones
Recording Drums In The Studio
Miking The Really Big Gig
MXL Revelation Microphone
It’s Your Music—Know Your Rights. Chapter 11: Managers—Part 2
Readers’ Tapes
Bartlett Microphones Spark Mini
Advertiser Index
Fade Out
Recording - February 2011 - Recording - February 2011
Recording - February 2011 - Cover2
Recording - February 2011 - 1
Recording - February 2011 - Fade In
Recording - February 2011 - 3
Recording - February 2011 - Contents
Recording - February 2011 - 5
Recording - February 2011 - Talkback
Recording - February 2011 - 7
Recording - February 2011 - 2010 AES Convention Report
Recording - February 2011 - 9
Recording - February 2011 - 10
Recording - February 2011 - 11
Recording - February 2011 - 12
Recording - February 2011 - 13
Recording - February 2011 - 14
Recording - February 2011 - 15
Recording - February 2011 - 16
Recording - February 2011 - 17
Recording - February 2011 - Brian Tarquin: Ins And Outs Of A Guitar Recording
Recording - February 2011 - 19
Recording - February 2011 - 20
Recording - February 2011 - 21
Recording - February 2011 - Bock Audio 195 Microphone
Recording - February 2011 - 23
Recording - February 2011 - Terry Wollman On Miking Acoustic Guitars
Recording - February 2011 - 25
Recording - February 2011 - 26
Recording - February 2011 - 27
Recording - February 2011 - Al Schmitt On Miking, Mixing And More
Recording - February 2011 - 29
Recording - February 2011 - 30
Recording - February 2011 - 31
Recording - February 2011 - 32
Recording - February 2011 - 33
Recording - February 2011 - Prodigy Engineering Bella
Recording - February 2011 - 35
Recording - February 2011 - Commit, Execute, Deliver
Recording - February 2011 - 37
Recording - February 2011 - 38
Recording - February 2011 - 39
Recording - February 2011 - 40
Recording - February 2011 - 41
Recording - February 2011 - Strings: The Real Thing
Recording - February 2011 - 43
Recording - February 2011 - 44
Recording - February 2011 - 45
Recording - February 2011 - Coles Electroacoustics 4050 Stereo Ribbon Microphone
Recording - February 2011 - 47
Recording - February 2011 - 48
Recording - February 2011 - 49
Recording - February 2011 - Plug-In Outlet
Recording - February 2011 - 51
Recording - February 2011 - 52
Recording - February 2011 - 53
Recording - February 2011 - KRK Systems KNS Series Headphones
Recording - February 2011 - 55
Recording - February 2011 - Recording Drums In The Studio
Recording - February 2011 - 57
Recording - February 2011 - Miking The Really Big Gig
Recording - February 2011 - 59
Recording - February 2011 - MXL Revelation Microphone
Recording - February 2011 - 61
Recording - February 2011 - It’s Your Music—Know Your Rights. Chapter 11: Managers—Part 2
Recording - February 2011 - 63
Recording - February 2011 - 64
Recording - February 2011 - 65
Recording - February 2011 - Readers’ Tapes
Recording - February 2011 - 67
Recording - February 2011 - 68
Recording - February 2011 - 69
Recording - February 2011 - 70
Recording - February 2011 - 71
Recording - February 2011 - Bartlett Microphones Spark Mini
Recording - February 2011 - Advertiser Index
Recording - February 2011 - 74
Recording - February 2011 - 75
Recording - February 2011 - 76
Recording - February 2011 - 77
Recording - February 2011 - 78
Recording - February 2011 - 79
Recording - February 2011 - Fade Out
Recording - February 2011 - Cover3
Recording - February 2011 - Cover4
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