Howdy, stranger! Still occasionally running my CM3s... although I've been in "omni" situations recently, and out come the Gefells (M296), with their usual VSO Very Satisfactory Outcomes). Glad to see we're both still doing what we do!

A jazz singer whom I've photographed at her concerts asked me to come to one of her gigs and take photos "and a little video." I initially pushed back on the video idea as my video cameras are not good in low light and there's usually no easy way to record sound in the small jazz clubs I've been to.

But she said this club (which I'd never been to) had more room in front of the stage than the other clubs in town so I brought my CM3s, NOS-array clip, suspension, and Sound Devices MixPre 6, figuring I could record a stereo mix from the speakers. She's a very energetic singer who moves a lot when she sings and rarely leaves the mic on its stand, so spot miking the instruments and vocals to do my own mix wasn't an option, plus there wasn't time to set that up.

When I got to the club, I saw to my chagrin that there was very little room in front of the stage: there would be swing dancers occupying the spot where I though I could put the mics. I had to put them on a step in front of the stage and figured it would be largely unusable as I was too close and there'd be a hole in the middle using NOS.

But it mostly worked out okay, as you can hear in this video. I'm not sure why her vocals dropped when she started belting; I'm guessing she triggered the limiters on my MixPre but she also stepped farther back and raised her head, projecting toward the ceiling.

https://vimeo.com/1011643306/dc690e1ecc?share=copy

It looks like bradh's reply from earlier this week (22-24 Sept 2024 ?) has been lost in the GS Black Hole of Entropy...

I always carry a small passive splitter so I can take a feed directly from the vocal mic. Also, I try to set levels so that I don't have to rely on any limiter. I realize this is difficult in a live situation without a soundcheck. Anyway, a decent recording under difficult conditions.

I do quite a lot of interview work.

I find two CM4 spaced about 8 inches apart on a little K&M bar, just pointing a tiny bit outward, gives me BBC Radio 4 type sound no matter where they move their head. Single mic would not cut it I feel.

Same technique on various Spots in Orchestra recording too.

Love the CM4 more every day!

KM184s collecting dust in box... (well obviously not as I don't want dust but you get the idea)

A CM-4 up about five feet over the lid-lifted-box of a harpsichord, peering down... and one right at the tail end.

414's to capture the room (relatively modest stone church.)

I take them with me wherever I roam...

The splitter is a great idea, I'll get one of those, thanks!

There was no soundcheck; the singer arrived five minutes before the gig and the sax player arrived five minutes late. :-) I watched levels during the first song and tried to make sure I had enough headroom but she belted out more as the night went on. I was busy taking photos and video but I never did see the MixPre knobs turn red, which would have indicated limiting, so I think in this case it was just that she stepped back and projected to the ceiling. I'm pretty sure the mics were picking up some sound from the monitors as her voice should have been drowned out by the other instruments there.

Excellent, thanks.

Was the Harpsichord a Newport? It has that Ralph Kirkpatrick kinda sound which I like.

Extra on the tail? Interesting must try.

Nice piece of music, no idea what it is

Fortunately, since I know next to nothing about it, I can quote the program to boast that the instrument was built by Ronald Haas in 1983 after a 1624 Ruckers model (the Antwerp folks.)

Yeah, cool piece of music, probably an improv?

Naturally the underside of the lid was elaborately painted, evoking an era of cloudy skies and dying trees:

Yep that looks about right. A lot of modern harpsichords copy that one.

You have to have the moody painting on the lid otherwise you are not authentic! If I ever have the money and get a Harpsichord built, I'm going for "Urban riot" for my lid, you know burnt out police van, drunken racist, that kind of thing. Reflects the times...

That tune is catchy, been humming it all morning. This Bach chap might catch on. When's his next gig?

Oh, he's been reincarnated a zillion times, where do you start?

I bought a pair of sE8's with the cardioid capsules. I got them because after trying the sE7's for a while, I quite literally gave them away to a young friend who is getting into recording. They were so "hard" and "bright" sounding to my ears that the only thing I could imagine using them for was drum overheads and I seriously doubt that I'll ever do much of that.

I did an AB test of the sE8's and the CM-4's in NOS, about 3 feet behind the conductor, 9 feet up +/- recording the 15-piece string orchestra that I'm the manager for. The room was a large church, high ceiling, carpeted floor, pews, and truly a wonderful place to perform. Result?

I much prefer the smooth and uncolored CM4's.

I'm saving the sE8's for times when I'm recording a jazz group with just two microphones. I might...possibly.... use them as spot mic's within the large orchestra that I sometimes record, or depending on how a solo piano or violinist sounds, might use 'em for recording them.

Hi, I just wanted two share two recordings where I used the CM3. The first one is the latest single of my band, where we used them as overheads and the second one is a solo piano performance of my sister from a few years ago. I hope they are helpful to somebody.

https://youtu.be/0rc9j4Fjcmk?si=IKCGHrllKsQbR0T2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAOC4klA2MM

A pair of CM3s on double bass:



There is some "bleed" contribution from percussion mics (not playing in this part), though.