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 4 responses by rcprince

Each record label has its own preferred miking. Twl is correct, before they knew any better companies like RCA and Mercury did it right with minimal arrays (Merc just used three spaced mikes across the front of the orchestra); gradually RCA started using more and more mikes in the later years of, and after, its legendary Living Stereo series. Columbia/CBS, after a while, became obsessed with multi-miking, and Deutsche Grammaphon has always multi-miked orchestras, running everything through a mixing console acording to the Tonmeister's taste. Telarc is fairly minimalist, using spaced omnis and a spot mike for soloists, which some don't like because it doesn't provide pinpoint imaging multi-miking can do. London/Decca has a triangular setup (the famous Decca tree) above and behind the conductor, with a few spot mikes for winds and other instruments, depending on the piece; Delos uses a spaced array in front of the orchestra with spot mikes for winds and other areas of the orchestra that need it, plus some ambience mikes they place out in the hall. It ultimately depends on the skill of the recording engineer and the artistic taste of the producer to produce a fine classical recording, but the goal of most labels is to put you into the concert hall (although the row you get in that hall may vary from label to label).
One of the finest recordings and performances of the work, IMHO. The XRCD of this recording is very good, but the Classic reissue, particularly the 45 rpm version, is superb. I will listen to it tonight to figure out if it's Heifetz (quite possible, as they close-miked their star) or someone else who's got the nasal problems, but I do recall hearing that breathing as well, so you haven't lost it!
Well, there was a lot of ambient noise at my house last night (the Newark flight path was over my house last night, it seemed), but I think you're hearing Heifetz breathing. You can also hear some of the orchestra's sheet music being turned at one point, I think.

Slipknot's right about the Water Lily recording, it's a very minimalist recording that sounds very realistic, although to hear it at its best you need to have your speakers at a 90 degree angle to each other or something like that, and don't expect to hear any hall sound (not at all the recording's fault, the venue is as dry a hall as there is). Of the current recording philosophies, I like Delos's best, as I am a fan of their chief recording engineer John Eargle and his work--he does use a few spot mikes, but mixes them in very unobtrusively. Other current classical recording engineers whose work I think is top-notch are Tony Faulkner, Peter McGrath and Michael Bishop (plus the person responsible for the latest SFO recordings), as they seem to have a very good sense of how to make an orchestra sound like you'd hear it in concert. And of course, the great recording teams of the past, Mohr/Layton for RCA, Cozart/Fine for Mercury, and Wilkerson for Decca, all made great-sounding classical recordings. There is no one way to make a recording of an orchestra, as all of these folks use different techniques, but they all have results that are satisfying.
I am a terrible typist, you are of course correct. Maybe I was thinking of Bobby Wilkerson, the forward on that Indiana national basketball championship team that beat my beloved alma mater in 1976?