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How do they MIC a symphony?

I'm not a big classical fan but what I like I love. Mostly I'm into solos but I just listened to the Classic 45 series of Beethoven's "Violin Concerto (in D)" - Heifetz/Munch with the Boston Symphony and the recording was incredibly airy. I thought there was static on the LP at first but then I realized it was the rustling of a shirt and the whistling of a nose from (I assume) the conductor breathing and since many instruments were playing I'm assuming it wasn't from a single musician (unless a very overweight triangle player.) Whoa! (Am i hearing things, btw?)

I've heard similar personal sounds on Beehoven's "Moonlight Sonata" (Serkin) and Bach's 6 suites for cello (Casals) but these are solo pieces and the sound was coming from the players which makes sense.

How do they mic a live symphony? How do they mic a recorded one? Where do the engineers try to place the home audience?

Hope those questions aren't too basic but I'm fascinated by this now and would love to know.

Thanks
kublakhan

Showing 1 response by eldartford

eldartford
4,262 posts
 
Multimicing saves money for the recording company because various screwups that ought to be corrected, and the music replayed, can be patched up (sort of) in the mixing process. It costs a fortune to "rent" an orchestra, so you want to get it done ASAP.

The ultimate multimic situation occurs when one musician isn't even playing at the same time and place as the rest of them. For example, if the concert hall does not have an organ, this part can be dubbed in later by an organist wearing earphones.

The sound tack of the movie "Sweet Dreams" (life of singer Patsy Cline) is interesting. Patsy was in a sound isolation booth (with earphones) when she sang, so her voice is on a completely separate track of the master tape. This made it possible to mix her in with better audio quality accompaniment than that on her original records.
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