vrijdag 23 september 2016
Macbeth
This Opera of Verdi was played with the choirs installed in 3 different locations. One in the hall, one in both sides of the orchestra pit and one upstage. Only in the pit we could place 2 ORTF microphones for a propper stereo recording but in the hall nothing could be hung or placed on stands so it was a bit of improvisation. On stage we could hang 4 hypercardioids but at more than 8 meters height. These microphones passed trough an SPL Vitalizer which did a small miracle I must say.
zondag 3 juli 2016
zondag 22 mei 2016
woensdag 30 maart 2016
Béatrice & bénédicte
This was our first production at the temporary tent, installed at "Turn and Taxis" at Molenbeek, during the Brussels attacks (22 mars 2016). Since La monnaie is closed for more than one year for renovation works, we installed a big tent, the MMPalace with more than 1k seats on the grounds of an old industrial place.
We were very curious about the acoustics and ambient noise for the shows and recordings and during rehearsals we had some overflying cargo flights and rain which were disturbing the performance but since all microphones were relatively close to the instruments for amplification, you cannot hear these noises on the recording. The tent itself has dry acoustics since it was treated that way to fight flutter echo's, which can be very ugly in this kind of venues.
All Singers had wireless lavelier microphones for amplification and in the orchestra we installed 16 microphones. on top of that there were 8 microphones on the proscenium for the choir and 2 omni's in front of the orchestra for the recording. These 2 were the only omnidirectional microphones, all others were cardio or hypercardio. Another 4 ambience microphones were installed in the hall for applause. That Makes a total of 50 channels for live mix and multitrack recording.
Every microphone was distributed by an optocore system to the FOH desk and the monitors desk and to the recording van via an optical MADI stream. We had one day of rehearsal and then the second day of recording we went live on arte web. The mixing engineer for the live streaming recorded the first night on multitrack and rehearsed the second day from 9 o clock in the morning until 5 PM with this multitrack to be sure to have all the singers entrances and volumes right. With this setup all 3 mixing desk used the same preamps (and thus gains) of the optocore system. some are pro, others against. I think it is an easy way of distributing the signal and there is no quality loss in conversions.
For the Radio Mix we took the multitrack recording and mixed at La Monnaie on our protools system the days after the recording. For radio purposes we had to take out some silences which were too long on this medium.
Pictures on Facebook
We were very curious about the acoustics and ambient noise for the shows and recordings and during rehearsals we had some overflying cargo flights and rain which were disturbing the performance but since all microphones were relatively close to the instruments for amplification, you cannot hear these noises on the recording. The tent itself has dry acoustics since it was treated that way to fight flutter echo's, which can be very ugly in this kind of venues.
All Singers had wireless lavelier microphones for amplification and in the orchestra we installed 16 microphones. on top of that there were 8 microphones on the proscenium for the choir and 2 omni's in front of the orchestra for the recording. These 2 were the only omnidirectional microphones, all others were cardio or hypercardio. Another 4 ambience microphones were installed in the hall for applause. That Makes a total of 50 channels for live mix and multitrack recording.
Every microphone was distributed by an optocore system to the FOH desk and the monitors desk and to the recording van via an optical MADI stream. We had one day of rehearsal and then the second day of recording we went live on arte web. The mixing engineer for the live streaming recorded the first night on multitrack and rehearsed the second day from 9 o clock in the morning until 5 PM with this multitrack to be sure to have all the singers entrances and volumes right. With this setup all 3 mixing desk used the same preamps (and thus gains) of the optocore system. some are pro, others against. I think it is an easy way of distributing the signal and there is no quality loss in conversions.
For the Radio Mix we took the multitrack recording and mixed at La Monnaie on our protools system the days after the recording. For radio purposes we had to take out some silences which were too long on this medium.
Pictures on Facebook
woensdag 17 februari 2016
zaterdag 9 januari 2016
"To Be Sung"
Today was the last performance of "To Be Sung" a Lyrical opera from French composer Pascal Dusapin. The orchestra has only 7 members and was amplified together with the 3 soloists and a narator. The Orchestra was on stage together with the singers who moved around and had wireless microphones. The flute, oboe and clarinet (Bb and bass) had each a schoeps MK4V, the trumpet and trombone had each one a C414. The cello had a DPA clip on and the doubble bass had a U87.
For the voice off we tried first the U87, then the C414 a TLM 103 and finally we picked the EV RE20 as the winner on a UA4-710d preamp. Since we were surprised by the degradation of the sound patched trough the buildings cables, we decided to install a separate preamp in the vocal booth and send it direct to the sound desk without passing trough the walls. It sounded great, especially with the preamps full on lamp-drive.
For the recording , which was done by the RTBF, we added some ambiance mics on stage and in the hall.
Pictures can be found on facebook
For the voice off we tried first the U87, then the C414 a TLM 103 and finally we picked the EV RE20 as the winner on a UA4-710d preamp. Since we were surprised by the degradation of the sound patched trough the buildings cables, we decided to install a separate preamp in the vocal booth and send it direct to the sound desk without passing trough the walls. It sounded great, especially with the preamps full on lamp-drive.
For the recording , which was done by the RTBF, we added some ambiance mics on stage and in the hall.
Pictures can be found on facebook
dinsdag 13 oktober 2015
Recording "Powder Her Face"
This Opera was played in an old warehouse because La Monnaie is closing for renovation work on the stage. The stage was very deep and at floor level, the public was sitting on something that looked very much as the tribune of a big sports venue. The small orchestra was sitting behind the public. Because of it's placement it needed some sound reinforcement, for the singers and the audience. All Instruments had close microphones and a big line array was setup in front of the stage. The singers were surprisingly well audible at the audience's place but the set was (intentional?) well build to project the sound from the back to the front.
In addition to the close microphones, we added 2 couples of omnidirectional microphones, one above the conductor's head and another one on front of the wind-section. (saxomophone and brass) This is one of the rare occasions where we can benefit of a real stereo array installed at a good sounding position. Whenever the orchestra is playing in the pit and the singers are on stage, we cannot hang a main microphone pair because it is to visible and would also create shadows in the stage. But how 'easy' the mix job becomes when you have this pair installed. The sound of the orchestra is much more natural end you can create a lot of depht to it.
The singers all had wireless microphones and we had a backup with 7 boundary microphones on stage. This style of music sounds good with the voices a bit closer and dryer so in the mix we mainly used this ones.
3 channels, 1 setup
The Opera was live on the Opera Platform and recorded simultaneously by the Flemish radio. The setup for this was rather easy because the Flemish radio did a live mix for the streaming platform and their radio transmission and we recorded the same MADI stream on multitrack for post production for our own streaming.
In addition to the close microphones, we added 2 couples of omnidirectional microphones, one above the conductor's head and another one on front of the wind-section. (saxomophone and brass) This is one of the rare occasions where we can benefit of a real stereo array installed at a good sounding position. Whenever the orchestra is playing in the pit and the singers are on stage, we cannot hang a main microphone pair because it is to visible and would also create shadows in the stage. But how 'easy' the mix job becomes when you have this pair installed. The sound of the orchestra is much more natural end you can create a lot of depht to it.
The singers all had wireless microphones and we had a backup with 7 boundary microphones on stage. This style of music sounds good with the voices a bit closer and dryer so in the mix we mainly used this ones.
3 channels, 1 setup
The Opera was live on the Opera Platform and recorded simultaneously by the Flemish radio. The setup for this was rather easy because the Flemish radio did a live mix for the streaming platform and their radio transmission and we recorded the same MADI stream on multitrack for post production for our own streaming.
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