Spot Mics, Ex. E, Six Violinists

TOR / ODESSA Montreal / Subject 1 / Anatomy of a Mix / Spot Mics / Example E

This recording contains three spot microphones (aimed at the first three first violin stands) that now give a reasonable idea of what the section sounds like. Each microphone was panned to the approximate position it would be in the orchestra, which gives a reasonable aproximation of the image, however the sound is still relatively heavy on the mid-frequencies, which gives the impression that the listener is too close to the violin section, and individual players have the tendency to pop out of the mix, rather than blending into the whole of the section.

Because these two spot microphones are now laterally distant from each other, this mix has them panned slightly further from each other. Again, this is for evaluation purposes and in a final mix all spots would be panned to the left of center because of their position in the body of the orchestra. However, this version decouples them slightly from that context in order to show their relationship with each other.