SUBJECT 1 In-depth
Perception of a Violin Section
Anatomy of a Mix: Zooming Out — Perspectives on Performance
Subject 1A
In these examples, just the concertmaster is playing.
Subject 1B
In these examples, just the first stand of violins is playing.
Subject 1C
In these examples, three violinists are playing.
Subject 1D
In these examples, four violinists are playing.
Subject 1E
In these examples, six violinists are playing.
Subject 1F
In these examples, the full section of violinists are playing.
Subject 1G
In these examples, the full section of violinists are playing but the rear desk is leading.
Contact | Spots | Decca | Rooms | Master Mix
Contact Mics
Ordinary microphones capture acoustic energy from the air and transduce it into electrical potential, also known as voltage. Contact microphones, on the other hand, transduce sound not from the air but from the vibrations of the object they are attached to. Also referred to as "piezo" microphones after the thin layer of piezoelectric ceramic or crystal they contain, these microphones were mass-produced for applications such as telephone handsets. Their speaker counterpart can be found in buzzers or glued behind the folds of the dreaded singing birthday card.
Spot Mics
Cardioid spot microphones are used to fill in the details of a mix and bolster clarity. Quite unlike the distant Room microphones, spot mics can be placed close to individual instruments. In this recording, the engineers were thorough and have placed microphones to capture every individual wind instrument, multiple sectional microphones for each string section, and five microphones (including two on the timpani) in the percussion section. Because of this, listening to a rough balance of all spot microphones can give the listener an impression of the orchestra as a whole.
Decca Tree
The Decca Tree is a staple of orchestral recording and is named after Decca Records, whose engineering team is considered to have perfected the method. There are multiple ways to create a Decca Tree, but they all involve three omnidirectional microphones ("A" on the left, "B" on the right and "C" for center) placed in a triangle formation. In this recording, the Tonmeister chose to use DPA 4006 microphones. A and B were roughly two meters apart while C jutted forward by aproximately one and a half meters. This distance allows the mixed stereo signals to be naturally decorrelated while also capturing a cohesive center image.
Room Mics
Room microphones, instead of presenting the clear and direct image of the orchestra, capture the response of the concert hall. In this case they were placed at the back of the upper balcony and faced away from the musicians. While technically omnidirectional microphones have a pickup pattern that extends all the way around the capsule, in practice turning them away from the direct sound of the orchestra attenuates high frequency transients and focuses the capture of the microphone on ambient room sound reflected at the back of the room.
Master Mix
ODESSA
ODESSA I — Montreal
1. Perception of Violin Section
• In-Depth