Room Mics, Ex. A, One Violinist

TOR / ODESSA Montreal / Subject 1 / Anatomy of a Mix / Room Mics / Example A

A rather lonely sound: the projection of a single violin from the back of the hall. The room capture is diffuse and reverberance seems to cause the sound source to almost ripple back and forth from the left and the right side of the image, depending on the frequency characteristics of the violinist's notes. There is the characteristic lack of transients associated with a room pickup. However, reverberation also brings out a resonance in the violin's higher frequencies that is not prominent in the other microphone systems. Compared to the room-free capture of the contact microphone as well as direct sound of the spot microphone, there is much less of the musician present, although her breaths at the beginning of longer phrases are still audible. And compared to the Decca Tree system there is less instrument present as well, with the room becoming the dominant perspective in the recording.