[LAU] Recording Beethoven's "Heroic"

[Ken Restivo]

On Thu, Jun 17, 2010 at 11:06:02AM +0200, J?rn Nettingsmeier wrote:
> On 06/16/2010 09:53 PM, fons at kokkinizita.net wrote:
>> On Wed, Jun 16, 2010 at 11:52:12AM -0700, Mark Knecht wrote:
>>
>>> Not picking on Giorgio but as for the mic setup it's more reminiscent
>>> of how I might record something like jazz ensemble if I wasn't
>>> interested (or wanted to eliminate) room acoustics.
>>
>> Exactly my impression. The six 'on stage' mics are (in the context
>> of orchestral recording) really 'spot mics'. If the main pair is
>> as Giorgio posted 'far from the stage' (is it the pair visible on
>> one of the pictures, at the back ?) it could be difficult to combine
>> them. And *one* mic for room reverb seems strange as well (unless it's
>> a stereo mic).
>
> the main pair (if it really is) sure looks unconventional. but i've seen  
> (or rather, heard) at least two venues where curved surfaces would  
> create a very sweet spot quite far away from the stage, and any closer  
> main microphone position would sound less defined.
>
> i'd also be interested in hearing an excerpt. thanks for posting this!
>

Didn't Mr. Zappa record the London Symphony Orchestra using clip-on electret mics on the horns and peizo plates behind the timpani? He then put the mix through a digital reverb. The players, as he tells it, were rather skeptical of this setup and played like crap, but the resulting albums sound great, at least to me.

-ken