I Felt A Great Disturbance In The Force As Though Millions Of Amps Suddenly Cried Out In Terror.

LunarRock said:
Maybe just sell one or two of each and see how the universe balances for you with the new goodies to play with
Click to expand...
That's a really good thought, I'm going to take your advice and move carefully enough to see how each change affects things.
 
Black Plaid said:
Which one(s) will you be keeping?
Click to expand...
I'm not really sure yet. I'll make ad hoc decisions as things go forward, I guess., as I've started to do.
Black Plaid said:
What are you planning on getting for the studio first?
Click to expand...
Initially, what I want to be able to do is record small orchestral instrument ensembles at my own studio, around 4-8 players at a time.

At this point it's guesswork until I start getting hands-on with the gear.

But I'm looking at a few things, starting with a pair of mic preamps by Neumann; I'm told they were specifically designed to get the most dynamic range from Neumann mics (which makes sense). Vintage King sometimes has gear to demo and I want to hear the box before plunking down that much coin on preamps.

I'm also thinking about a matched pair of Neumann LDCs with variable pattern capsules. I love Neumann mics. For this purpose it's possible the TLM 107 would be a good choice, as it's supposed to be a very neutral mic. I want to be able to use their omni pattern in addition to cardioid. Basically the idea is to put up a three mic "tree" in front of the players, and have spot mics and two outriggers to get a roomier sound. I probably only need another matched pair to do that.

I may go back to using an analog summing mixer. I had a Neve summing mixer for several years before going completely in the box, and it was great for rock stuff, but it adds low end heft - great in that context - but I might want something more transparent for what I'm planning.

I'm waffling on whether I need something other than the Apollo for its converters, because it sounds great and I'm pretty heavily invested in the UA software world. So we'll see.

Goodness knows what else! It's been a while since I recorded an orchestral ensemble, and I booked fancy studios to do the work. But the client was paying the freight. This time I will be. I'd rather put the money into my own studio and the players instead of someone else's studio.
 
Last edited:
László said:
I'm not really sure yet. I'll make ad hoc decisions as things go forward, I guess., as I've started to do.

Initially, what I want to be able to do is record small orchestral instrument ensembles at my own studio, around 4-8 players at a time.

At this point it's guesswork until I start getting hands-on with the gear.

But I'm looking at a few things, starting with a pair of mic preamps by Neumann; I'm told they were specifically designed to get the most dynamic range from Neumann mics (which makes sense). Vintage King sometimes has gear to demo and I want to hear the box before plunking down that much coin on preamps.

I'm also thinking about a matched pair of Neumann LDCs with variable pattern capsules. I love Neumann mics. For this purpose it's possible the TLM 107 would be a good choice, as it's supposed to be a very neutral mic. I want to be able to use their omni pattern in addition to cardioid. Basically the idea is to put up a three mic "tree" in front of the players, and have spot mics and two outriggers to get a roomier sound. I probably only need another matched pair to do that.

I may go back to using an analog summing mixer. I had a Neve summing mixer for several years before going completely in the box, and it was great for rock stuff, but it adds low end heft - great in that context - but I might want something more transparent for what I'm planning.

I'm waffling on whether I need something other than the Apollo for its converters, because it sounds great and I'm pretty heavily invested in the UA software world. So we'll see.

Goodness knows what else! It's been a while since I recorded an orchestral ensemble, and I booked fancy studios to do the work. But the client was paying the freight. This time I will be. I'd rather put the money into my own studio and the players instead of someone else's studio.
Click to expand...
Exciting!

The TLM-107 looks amazing. I have a 103, but probably would have gone for the 107 had it been out. Although even that's overkill for my uses, I just ... well, apparently microphones give me the warm fuzzies.

For live recording of classical instruments, do you have any concerns that you'll need to add any acoustic treatment to your space? I know you have it set up well for engineering and close guitar micing, but I imagine aquartet+ could introduce some unanticipated challenges.

I'm saying "I imagine" because I've never actually done that myself. 😅
 
I love that your are following your passion Les, it will give you pleasure when you move away from commerce in (dare I say ) retirement (I am of an age to covet that myself) and just create for the heck of hit.

I shared this link a while ago on guitarspace ( the old other prs forum ) think you may enjoy it, its moby on his production

 
Black Plaid said:
Exciting!

The TLM-107 looks amazing. I have a 103, but probably would have gone for the 107 had it been out. Although even that's overkill for my uses, I just ... well, apparently microphones give me the warm fuzzies.
Click to expand...
I'm with you on the warm fuzzy thing about mics. I love the 103 for tons of sources. It's a great mic. For me, the 107's beauty is that it's a Swiss Army knife with the Neumann sound - the fact that it's reasonably priced is pretty nice. I think it'd be a good choice for classical recording, though it does have a presence bump, reviews have said it does a good job giving instruments and vocals a sense of 'air'.
Black Plaid said:
For live recording of classical instruments, do you have any concerns that you'll need to add any acoustic treatment to your space?
Click to expand...
I'm very concerned that the carpeted floor in the recording area might be problematic. Orchestras are usually recorded on a wood floor. That's part of the sound we're all so familiar with.

The acoustic treatment won't be a problem - the room doesn't sound dead. And you never know, it may work out OK.

I'm going to have to wing it and make decisions as I move forward. There are wood floors and more reflective surfaces upstairs. The room is larger, too. So that's a possibility.
 
LunarRock said:
I love that your are following your passion Les, it will give you pleasure when you move away from commerce in (dare I say ) retirement (I am of an age to covet that myself) and just create for the heck of hit.

I shared this link a while ago on guitarspace ( the old other prs forum ) think you may enjoy it, its moby on his production

Click to expand...
I've liked Moby ever since that breakthrough record 25 years ago (where literally every song was licensed for ads; clients wanted soundtracks in that direction so I did a lot of thinking about why his stuff worked so well with picture, and came to my own conclusions).

My production style is similar for a lot of things, but I do like to bring in players when possible, if only to get a variety of executions of the idea (I deserve to be executed for some of it! ;)).
 
László said:
clients wanted soundtracks in that direction so I did a lot of thinking about why his stuff worked so well with picture
Click to expand...
Love hearing the pro lingo.

When Bob Zemeckis, director of 'Back to the Future.' was starting at USC's Film School he was talking about the 'audio' in a film in class. The instructor corrected him: 'It's not video and audio. It's picture and track.'
 
On the amp front, if it comes down to one amp, I'll stick with the DG30. If two amps, the DG30 and HXDA. If I keep three, the Lone Star, HXDA and DG30. I love the Fillmore but there is something of a redundancy with the DG30 and HXDA, so if one gets sacrificed, it'll be that one.

The only reason I'd keep the Lone Star ahead of it is the 100 Watt headroom for super-clean tones.

I still haven't made up my mind how many to hang onto. Same with the guitars, I guess.

I did get started on microphones, but haven't yet had the opportunity to try one of the mic preamps I'm interested in. So things are somewhat fluid.
 
László said:
On the amp front, if it comes down to one amp, I'll stick with the DG30. If two amps, the DG30 and HXDA. If I keep three, the Lone Star, HXDA and DG30. I love the Fillmore but there is something of a redundancy with the DG30 and HXDA, so if one gets sacrificed, it'll be that one.

The only reason I'd keep the Lone Star ahead of it is the 100 Watt headroom for super-clean tones.

I still haven't made up my mind how many to hang onto. Same with the guitars, I guess.

I did get started on microphones, but haven't yet had the opportunity to try one of the mic preamps I'm interested in. So things are somewhat fluid.
Click to expand...
<Crying>
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Mark Ray
Archon 25 In The House
Replies
18
Views
176
Prina
Prina
László
Amps On The Radar Screen?
2 3 4
Replies
61
Views
2K
László
László
László
The National Department Of Amps That Sit In Mixes Well Doing...Things.
2 3
Replies
47
Views
781
László
László
László
Amp SOS: The Fillmore, Rescued.
2
Replies
26
Views
606
Bogner
Bogner
andy474x
Old Skoolin' the DGT15
Replies
3
Views
204
László
László
Back
Top