Microphone placement
As discussed in the ‘Orchestral recording debate’ post; multi
mic techniques are indeed most common today. The challenge is where to
place the main mics (hauptmicrophone) to keep a wide stereo image
without being too close for concert naturalness in tonal quality, but at
the same time not capturing too much ‘over-enveloping’ reverb tail.
The tried and tested solution is to place the main mics at around the
conductor’s position and raise the height. This is adjusted to between a
height of 3-7 meters to change the perspective between the rear and
front of the orchestra. This method provides distance to avoid harsh
timbre yet avoids the reverb tail wash.
These main mics are used to capture the majority of the sound, with the addition of spot mics, placed closer to individual instruments/sections that allow the engineer to enhance these groups as desired. The spot mics are panned to the positions heard in the main mics to replace some of the high and low-frequency spectrum (or articulation) lost, through distance, in the main mics. Further to this, ambient mics are placed in the audience position to capture the reverb tail. In fact many engineers actually choose to enhance or completely replace the reverb tail using high-end processors from Bricasti, Lexicon or Sony.
Orchestral Stereo Image
These main mics are used to capture the majority of the sound, with the addition of spot mics, placed closer to individual instruments/sections that allow the engineer to enhance these groups as desired. The spot mics are panned to the positions heard in the main mics to replace some of the high and low-frequency spectrum (or articulation) lost, through distance, in the main mics. Further to this, ambient mics are placed in the audience position to capture the reverb tail. In fact many engineers actually choose to enhance or completely replace the reverb tail using high-end processors from Bricasti, Lexicon or Sony.
Orchestral Mic Placement Diagram
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