     
Recording Techniques and Post-Production Methodologies
- While most pop and jazz music is recorded
multi-track, with one or more microphones per instrument or voice,
most of the best sounding classical and acoustic music are recorded
with fewer microphones using a wide variety of 'techniques' and
microphone arrangements, each with their own set of pros and cons.
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- Stereo Pair
- The stereo pair is the basis of most of the
classical and acoustic recording techniques. When the ONLY
microphones used are a single stereo pair, that is the true
purist approach. And the purist approach can be the absolute
best if the venue acoustics, artist positions, and everything else is
just right. But unfortunately that is rarely the case -
especially for live performances. So in most cases, the Stereo
Pair is the 'centerpiece' of the technique, but it is augmented by a
variety of other microphones that can be mixed in to provide optimal
sound.
In almost all of Lucid's recordings, we start with the Stereo
Pair. This pair of microphones is strategically placed to capture the sound of the
performers with the right balance of 'ambience' from the hall.
Most of the time, Lucid uses either the ORTF arrangement (directional
cardioid mics spaced at the width of the
human head, and angled 110 degrees apart) or the Jecklin Disk
arrangement (omnidirectional mics spaced at the width of the human
head and separated by an absorptive acoustic baffle). Both of
these approaches provide excellent results on both headphones and loudspeakers.
Other approaches include XY, AB, and spaced pair.
While the stereo pair can be used on its own, Lucid will often augment
the stereo pair using one or more of the methodologies
below. When augmentation mics are added in, the stereo
pair can often be placed closer to the performers, as it no longer
needs to be responsible for recording the ambience and 'natural
reverb' of the hall.
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- Ambience Recordings
- These recordings start with a Stereo Pair as
described above, but add in additional microphones to provide depth,
spread, and ambience. Typically the stereo pair will be in the
middle right in front of the performer(s). Then, two 'outrigger'
microphones will be placed 8-16 feet on either side of the center
pair, and one or more 'ambience' microphones, such as the Soundfield
microphone, will be placed further back in the hall. The Center
pair will provide most of the sound on the recording, but the
additional microphones that are mixed in at lower levels will add
depth, spread, and ambience in a way to make the sound much more
enveloping and enjoyable.
- Spot Miking
- Spot mics are typically a single mic or stereo
pair used to record a single voice, small vocal group, instrument, or
small instrument group. They augment the stereo pair and
ambience mics to make sure that the 'spotted' performers are clearly
heard. For example, if a choir has solos, often times one or
more 'spot mics' are provided for the soloists to sing into.
This way, the soloist can be emphasized and clearly heard in the final
recording. When Lucid uses spot mics, we take extra care to
ensure that the spot recording integrates into the sonic fabric of the
final sound. We ideally do not want the soloist/small group to
sound like they are a lot closer to the front than the rest of the
group. Thus, we add in artificial reverb matching that of the
recording hall, along with eq to 'push back' the performers. And
we time align the spot mics with the main stereo pair so that
everything sounds integrated and "as-one". Note that
sometimes the 'spot mics' are actually handheld mics provided by the
artist or venue that normally go to the venue PA system. Lucid
can usually get split feeds of these PA mics and use them in our
recording. They typically won't sound quite as good as our
microphones, but they provide the handheld flexibility often required
by many artists.
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- Surround Sound
- Our
surround recordings are variations on the Ambience and Spot Mic'd recordings
described above. However, we utilize the house microphones to capture the
natural ambience of the venue, including audience applause, etc., and
route this microphones to the side and rear channels. For spot
mics where artificial reverb is added, we create realistic artificial
reverb to provide the spotted source with realistic surround sound as
if it was in the same venue. For our house surround ambience
microphones, we often use our incredible Soundfield
ST-250 "B Format" surround sound microphones place in the
house. This microphone allows us
to capture sound from all directions onto 4 separate tracks. The
4 recorded tracks from the B-format microphone are run through special
software during post-production that allows us to create numerous 'virtual' microphones
from this single B-format set of tracks. We can aim the
directional 'virtual' mics in any direction in three dimensions, front
to back, left to right, and up to down. The possibilities are endless, and the
decisions don't have to be made until after the recording.
- Multi-Track
- Sometimes the acoustic ambience capturing
techniques above don't provide the best results due to the nature of the performing group or the
performance hall. The group might be amplified, or might be
performing in a dead space. The sound of the hall may not be all
that good. In these cases, it is often best to fall back to
'multi-track' recording, where each instrument and/or group of voices
is mic'd separately. This allows greater flexibility in
post-production to adjust the relative level of all of the different
parts. However, it also results in a very 'dry' recording, which
is usually not all that pleasing without additional processing. Therefore, artificial
'sweetening' in the form of digital reverb and eq are usually needed to achieve the
best sound. Lucid has a variety of quality reverbs available,
including the excellent "Pristine Space" convolutional
reverb that allows creation of reverbs that are incredibly realistic
sounding.
Lucid utilizes all of these methodologies, depending
upon the nature of the recording and the desired results. We typically use
a main stereo pair, with a set of outriggers, along with either our Soundfield
B-format mic or a pair of 'ambience' mics further back in the hall to pick up
the natural ambience of the room. And if there are any soloists or 'quiet
instruments' that need emphasis, we will use spot mics where appropriate.
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