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standup
buyin' gear
Joined: 01 Nov 2004
Posts: 518
Location: Baltimore
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 Posted: Mon Jan 30, 2012 10:30 pm Post subject: Live jazz recording |
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I posted a few weeks ago about a live performance series I'm recording. I just did the third set in the series last night, and I'd like some feedback on the results.
This link (http://soundcloud.com/user94420/movementtrio) is one tune from a 2-hour set. It's a jazz quartet: Drums/upright bass/tenor sax/alto sax. Recorded live in a gallery space, maybe 25' by 75' approximately.
There is a pair of 'overheads' or spaced cardiods bracketing the group, ATM 450's running to the mic pre's in a TC Konnekt interface. Horns are picked up by a single md421 at chest level running to a FiveFish x72 pre, and the bass is a Lomo large-diaphragm head on an Oktava 012 running to a Fivefish pre.
The bass mic was problematic -- the bass player was quiet and very close to the drummer. The drumkit was in the null of the mic, the kick was two feet from the back of the bass mic. The bass mic is 8" off the top of the bass, but it's a wide pattern and picked up more drums than bass much of the night.
This is pretty cool music in my book, totally improvised i.e. composed on the spot by the players involved.
Excellent musicians. I dug the bass parts but they're sometimes buried. Saxes are clear and doing some cool stuff. The drummer is killer, he was banging on a pot lid on the snare, dropping goat hooves on the floor in perfect time, playing with fingertips or stomping on the floor when appropriate.
Technically, I think the recording gets the music across. How does anyone else hear it? What's missing, besides the bass being often buried? Are the horns too upfront? |
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jhharvest
steve albini likes it
Joined: 23 Oct 2010
Posts: 318
Location: Tanzania
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| Posted: Tue Jan 31, 2012 2:33 pm Post subject: Re: Live jazz recording |
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The music's really cool. The recording gels together nicely. Although I do feel it's a bit too bunched up in the centre of the stereo image. And the issue with the bass isn't in my opinion to do with volume - it sounds more like it's being split into two different instruments captured by the room mics and the close mic.
Have you tried ORTF instead of a spaced room pair? |
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Gregg Juke
resurrected
Joined: 12 Jun 2010
Posts: 2286
Location: Buffalo, NY, USA
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| Posted: Thu Feb 02, 2012 9:28 pm Post subject: Re: Live jazz recording |
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Sounds nice. Would it be crazy ("Just crazy enough to work!!" ?) to create some parallel tracks to super-EQ like mad, bringing-out as much bass as possible, then mixing-in to an appropriate amount?
GJ |
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Brett Siler
resurrected
Joined: 05 Dec 2003
Posts: 2345
Location: Evansville, IN
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cale w
gimme a little kick & snare
Joined: 09 Nov 2009
Posts: 99
Location: Seattle
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| Posted: Sat Feb 04, 2012 1:42 am Post subject: Re: Live jazz recording |
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That's just one 421 on the horns? It sounds pretty good! I actually sort of like where the bass is in the mix... when everything quiets down for a sec and the upright pops out it adds a depth that's pretty cool. The only thing I'd say is that there might be some unneeded low mid information in the horns that's masking the bass at times. I found this really enjoyable to listen to!
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-Cale
low-fi dub! http://soundcloud.com/calewilcox/sets/district-dubs# |
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standup
buyin' gear
Joined: 01 Nov 2004
Posts: 518
Location: Baltimore
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| Posted: Sat Feb 04, 2012 9:46 am Post subject: Re: Live jazz recording |
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Yep, one 421 3-4' away from two horns. Running to a decent transformer-based mic pre. Originally it was supposed to be a trio with one tenor, but then alto guy showed up. Considered switching to a small-diaphragm condensor, but took a guess that the 421 is a better mic for saxes anyway and stuck with that.
Thanks for the commentary, y'all. In a couple weeks I've got a string quartet in this space, the fun will continue. |
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cgarges
zen recordist
Joined: 16 Jun 2003
Posts: 10623
Location: Charlotte, NC
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| Posted: Fri Feb 10, 2012 2:27 am Post subject: Re: Live jazz recording |
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Sounds good!
The cymbals are a bit "present" to me. I think maybe if you pulled the overheads down a bit and used some of the bass mic bleed, you could get a bit more "air" in the drum sound and get the bass louder at the same time. Like, even with a totally great, isolated bass, the cymbals sound too "in your face" for my tastes. But the horns sound really good and really balanced across the range of the instruments. Well done!
Was the bass player using an amp? I've had good luck in these types of situations miking the bass AND closely miking the bass amp. With careful positioning and EQ, I've been able to pull some drums out of the acoustic bass mic and use it for some of the string sound, while relying on the bass amp mic to fill in some of the definition in the bottom end. Maybe worth trying in the future.
Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC
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Bunky Moon, The Public Good
Playing drums with Mitch Easter |
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