Mic placement examples

[Bob Hoffnar]

This is amazing ! Listen for the accuracy of the depth of field and stereo width.

http://kazuyanagae.com/20120806orch/?fb ... oZZBxlh8tc

[Ian Rae]

Yes, it's amazing if you haven't heard Schoeps before, but if you want to demonstrate that nominally omnidirectional mics are somewhat directional at high frequencies, use something cheaper. At the angles they're using there's not much difference anyway, and mp3 is not a good enough medium for detecting what there is.

But thanks for posting, Bob. I love Prokofiev 5 and it's instructive to know where Japanese research grants go.

[Bob Hoffnar]

I’m way into schoeps mics. I have a pair of M2’s and M4’s I use for recording chamber music and other stuff. The thing that I’m always listening for and trying to create while mixing is depth of field. The classical guys have it down. It’s an elusive thing but when you get it right the recording has a presence and almost seductive quality. The Japanese examples are amazing because you can hear the subtle differences in the stereo field. They all sound great but some sound just like you sitting in front of the orchestra.

[Ian Rae]

Spaced omnis that far apart do indeed give a wonderful immersive experience. The downside is the lack of an accurate central image (the so-called hole-in-the-middle effect). You can put an extra mic in (Decca tree) or if there's no particular ingredient there that you need to capture you can save the trouble.

When I did classical recordings it was usually of public concerts where a faithful image of the venue was required and we were more or less ordered to use coincident figure-of-eights. But some of my favourite gramophone recordings are the old RCA ones done with a spaced pair, such as the Boston Symphony in the days of Leinsdorf.

I think part of the fun is that the reverb (as well as the direct sound) is also wider-than-life.

[John Macy]

This is a great recording of engineer’s personal favorite classical recordings. There is also a volume 2.
https://delosmusic.com/recording/engine ... favorites/