recording piano and solo vocal in a "classical" environment

Author
derFunkenstein
Max Output Level: -76 dBFS
  • Total Posts : 735
  • Joined: 2009/05/05 16:15:24
  • Status: offline
2011/12/13 10:06:05 (permalink)

recording piano and solo vocal in a "classical" environment

I'm going to be recording in a church on Sunday afternoon. Not for a service, but for a CD two of my friends have been working on.  They prefer to track together, one piano and one vocalist.  It's not capturing a live performance or anything, so what I was thinking of doing was trying to isolate everything as well as I can.  I have two inputs on my interface and two large condenser mics.  

Should I isolate as much as possible using chairs/blankets behind the mics? Set up the mics in such a way that they're facing away from one another and facing away from the opposite source?  That would let the vocalist make better eye contact with the pianist anyway.  Or should I just capture everything the two mics would normally capture?  

I don't plan to do much processing (if any) to the recording beyond basic limiting that allows me to bring the sound level up and prevent just a couple peaks from going above 0.0.   It's meant to sound as "live" as possible, but I think what I want to do is keep the audio from bleeding too much.  Any advice is welcome.  

King Ben of Nopantsville
#1

5 Replies Related Threads

    Guitarhacker
    Max Output Level: 0 dBFS
    • Total Posts : 24398
    • Joined: 2007/12/07 12:51:18
    • Location: NC
    • Status: offline
    Re:recording piano and solo vocal in a "classical" environment 2011/12/13 10:54:21 (permalink)
    In a case like this, set the pattern on the mic so that the nulls face the other performer. 

    Some bleed is always going to happen with 2 mics in the same room regardless of the efforts to minimize it. 

    THey need to see each other as you mentioned. Use the nulls to your advantage and have a good time. 

    Make a few trial runs to get it as good as possible. I'm guessing the piano will be the one you will need to work on the most to get it sounding right. 

    Use a pop filter on the vox mic, keep the input level low (to avoid high levels of bleed), and hopefully the vocalist knows proper mic techniques for singing. 

    Good luck. 


    the only place I'd maybe use a blanket would be on the piano.... if its a grand.... hang the blanket from the lid and that should isolate the piano mic a bit. Boom mic into the area under the lid. 
    post edited by Guitarhacker - 2011/12/13 10:56:17

    My website & music: www.herbhartley.com

    MC4/5/6/X1e.c, on a Custom DAW   
    Focusrite Firewire Saffire Interface


    BMI/NSAI

    "Just as the blade chooses the warrior, so too, the song chooses the writer 
    #2
    derFunkenstein
    Max Output Level: -76 dBFS
    • Total Posts : 735
    • Joined: 2009/05/05 16:15:24
    • Status: offline
    Re:recording piano and solo vocal in a "classical" environment 2011/12/13 11:00:39 (permalink)
    Ah, good point.  One of the mics has only a cardoid pattern but the other has a figure-8 switch that I need to make sure stays off.  It's also got a -10dB pad and a low-end rolloff switch.  Since it's a female vocalist, I think I'm going to try the rolloff since that should help exclude the bass of the piano even more.  Got a pop filter for the vocal mic already, so we should be good to go.  

    It's going to be fun.  A mother-daughter pair - well actually, mother-daughter-daughter trio, but only one daughter is singing at a time.  No duets that I know of.  An immensely talented family and a great-sounding room with a huge ceiling.  This won't need any processing beyond getting the levels up, assuming I do my job well.  I'll put a track or two up in the Songs forum early next week.

    King Ben of Nopantsville
    #3
    bitflipper
    01100010 01101001 01110100 01100110 01101100 01101
    • Total Posts : 26036
    • Joined: 2006/09/17 11:23:23
    • Location: Everett, WA USA
    • Status: offline
    Re:recording piano and solo vocal in a "classical" environment 2011/12/13 12:47:05 (permalink)
    Personally, I would not isolate the performers other than to have the singer face the piano and sing into a cardioid mic. Might as well capitalize on the church's ambiance. If it's too much for the piano, move the mic in a little closer. But let the vocalists step back from the mic for a dose of natural reverb. 


    All else is in doubt, so this is the truth I cling to. 

    My Stuff
    #4
    derFunkenstein
    Max Output Level: -76 dBFS
    • Total Posts : 735
    • Joined: 2009/05/05 16:15:24
    • Status: offline
    Re:recording piano and solo vocal in a "classical" environment 2011/12/14 11:21:22 (permalink)
    thanks bit. We may need to give it a couple different tries.  That may work out the best.

    King Ben of Nopantsville
    #5
    derFunkenstein
    Max Output Level: -76 dBFS
    • Total Posts : 735
    • Joined: 2009/05/05 16:15:24
    • Status: offline
    Re:recording piano and solo vocal in a "classical" environment 2011/12/19 09:02:34 (permalink)
    Well, I got it posted.  I'm pretty happy with what I did.  The performance on this track has one little rough spot, but given how "live" it was they didn't want to go back for it and they of course didn't want any editing.  http://forum.cakewalk.com/tm.aspx?high=&m=2454603

    King Ben of Nopantsville
    #6
    Jump to:
    © 2024 APG vNext Commercial Version 5.1