Ben Langfeld Posted October 23, 2005 Share Posted October 23, 2005 I've been asked to come up with a presentation to possible funders for sound equipment for a small studio and have sorted out the bulk of it without problems, but now I've come to considering the choice between overhead mics and rifles on the front of the stage, I'm having a few problems. I don't want to spend more than about £200 (I know it's tight, but there we go). Can anyone recommend anything for this sort of price? The space is normally used for amdram but I also want to start running some small gigs (mostly rock) and also using the space to record some ameture bands. The space is also used for an annual concert (orchestra, choir, etc). The stage is only about 10m by 4.5m. [Off topic] Where's the spell checker gone? [/Off topic] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanG Posted October 23, 2005 Share Posted October 23, 2005 For amdram, I'd go for boundaries - you could probably get a couple of second hand PCC-160s for your budget. They'd be useless for your rock gigs though, but so would any general cover mic. If you're looking at recording your orchestral events, then I'd go for overheads for the amdram application - you could move them from being spaced (for the am dram events) to XY/ORTF or similar for the orchestral ones. You aren't going to be able to choose a single mic for all of the applications you list, so you'll have to prioritise one particular type of function. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Langfeld Posted October 23, 2005 Author Share Posted October 23, 2005 Well I suppose I was looking for a jack of all trades type solution, with the am-dram and orchestral recordings being the most important. Anyone else any ideas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulears Posted October 23, 2005 Share Posted October 23, 2005 I suspect you want to do rather a lot, on not a lot of money. Recording bands is going to be the biggest snag. If you've had any experience of this, then you'll know that to record a rock band properly, it is pretty well a mic everything up scenario. To record a chamber orchestra on stage could just be a couple of flown mics in A/B, X/Y, M/S, or other configuration. This could be direct to stereo, with headphone monitoring. The rock band, on the other hand, will need either a decent room to isolate you from the stage sound, and you can mix live - if you want to edit and tweak, then you're going to have to go for a multitrack method, with al the extra costs involved. Unless you mic everything up, recording real room sound for a rock band sounds pretty poor - even taking a pa feed and recording that may sound odd, as anything that is already loud - drums, bass etc will be mixed in low, and sound feeble in the recording. Mic wise - you'll need many different types to do it well, as has been said, there really isn't a total all rounder. There are quite a few threads on boundary mics already. For my money, overhead mics do sound better on certain sound sources, but normally look awful. Floor types pick up more foot noise, but nobody sees them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Langfeld Posted October 23, 2005 Author Share Posted October 23, 2005 Ok then, if we forget the bands and just think about the drama and orchestral stuff. As I understand it, the floor type such as the PCC-160 would be best for drama, and flown condensers would be best for music, but the question is, which would be the best compromise? I'll also have another search - couldn't find anything relevant when I looked this morning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulears Posted October 23, 2005 Share Posted October 23, 2005 You've hit the nail on the head. The word compromise. If you do try to do it this way, the results wil compromise quality and definition - BUT it depends on how good you want the results to be. A pair of cheaper chinese condensers (reviewed often in things like SOS www.sospubs.co.uk) overhead on a twin bracket will set you back between £100 and £150 and produce excellent results, and as in this thread herewill show you products that are also cheap but good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Langfeld Posted October 23, 2005 Author Share Posted October 23, 2005 Ok, so from everything that I've read, I've decided the best plan would be to stick to hire for now. I'll hire a couple of PCC-160s, but I'm still unsure about which condensers to look into for the orchestral type events. What sort of models should I be looking at? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulears Posted October 23, 2005 Share Posted October 23, 2005 Have a look at these - very similar, if not identical ones are all over the place. The links take you to the info page. http://www.thomann.de/prodbilder/the_tbone_em800_stereo_set_pimx_149787.jpgcheap pair http://www.thomann.de/prodbilder/the_tbone_sc100ii_stereoset_pimx_155961.jpgI've got a couple of these and they are brilliant for the price http://www.thomann.de/prodbilder/175241.jpgbetter mounts As a stereo pair overhead for your more traditional, real instruments or choral stuff they work extremely well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robloxley Posted October 23, 2005 Share Posted October 23, 2005 I'll hire a couple of PCC-160s, but I'm still unsure about which condensers to look into for the orchestral type events. What sort of models should I be looking at?Again, your budget is your biggest limitation so it'll be more a case of seeing what you can get for your money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Langfeld Posted October 23, 2005 Author Share Posted October 23, 2005 Those last lot look perfect for what we need. Only thing is, what sort of mount is that in the middle? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulears Posted October 23, 2005 Share Posted October 23, 2005 It's a small rubber band type, not as good as the larger ones, but if you use careful hanging 'cleverness' they are fine. I always used to use a long nylon line to span accross large gaps, as in when making recordings in churches, when floor support was out of the question, but found that the lightweight mics and clamps make suspension from the actual cable feasable - I've never had a failure yet. For over stage use, the cable itself provides enough mechanical isolation to make the use of extra large mounts not too important. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Langfeld Posted October 23, 2005 Author Share Posted October 23, 2005 No, I mean the bit in the centre of the bar. How would I go about attaching that to a scaff pole? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulears Posted October 23, 2005 Share Posted October 23, 2005 I see. The easiest way is to bastardise an old mic stand, and use the top part clamped with a 90 degree clamp to your lighting bar, or whatever. TV aerial shops often have handy brackets that will let two different size tubes cross at right angles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew C Posted October 23, 2005 Share Posted October 23, 2005 I see. The easiest way is to bastardise an old mic stand,Or you could mount a mic thread adaptor to a standard hook clamp. I've got a hand-full of these in my "useful junk" box. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Langfeld Posted October 23, 2005 Author Share Posted October 23, 2005 I see. The easiest way is to bastardise an old mic stand,Or you could mount a mic thread adaptor to a standard hook clamp. I've got a hand-full of these in my "useful junk" box. Any idea where I could get such adaptors? I can't seem to find anything suitable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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