Re: [ARSCLIST] How not to mike an orchestra

[Michael Shoshani <mshoshani@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

David Lennick wrote:
> I've just given up on the NY Philharmonic live broadcast (not difficult, 
> since I can't stand Lorin Maazel anyway)..what the hell are they doing, 
> using 50 mikes? Joshua Bell's sniffing was almost as loud as his fiddle 
> playing, and the two bassoonists in the Sorceror's Apprentice could be 
> heard clicking away. Ghastly. 

Yeah, funny how the NBC Symphony had to make do with a SINGLE RCA 77 or 
44 (depending on the time period), suspended from the ceiling above 
Toscanini so it basically heard what he heard.

(NBC always had three mics together, but only one was on the air at any 
given time. The other two were failsafes, there in case something went 
wrong with the main mic. And before anyone gets ideas, they were far 
enough away from the orchestra that two together would not give a stereo 
picture at all - too much acoustic mixing of the wave front BEFORE it 
got to the mics.)

More mics = more noise and dirt, plus tremendous room for phase 
cancellation and other unwanted sonic errors. The concertgoer does not 
hear each instrument clearly defined but rather a blend of all the 
elements together; the radio broadcast and recording should certainly 
try to give the same experience to the listener.  You're there in the 
hall to hear an ensemble, not 50 soloists playing at the same time. In 
that respect, Robert and Wilma Fine not only knew what they were doing 
with the Mercury Living Presence series, they can teach all of us 50 
years later a thing or two

Michael Shoshani
Chicago
A bit inebriated from New Years celebrations, but hopefully remotely 
articulate.