More on Mic placement

For spaced omnis, my usual technique as I explained above, I typically place the two microphones two feet apart for a small sized ensemble, four to six or more feet apart for a full sized orchestra.  The trade off here involves distance to the different sections.  If the mikes are close together and the orchestra is "wide" with, as is common, the basses at the far sides, your recording may have weak bass, due to the distance from the bass pans and the microphones.  If you place the mikes too far apart you will get a "hole in the middle", you won't pick up the instruments in the center of the orchestra well.  There are variations to the spaced omni technique to avoid this (beyond the scope of this article), but the simplest solution is to move the microphones further back, making the distance from the microphones to the different parts of the orchestra more equal.  However, this may cause problems if a noisy audience or PA system is present, the mics may pick up too much of the audience or PA "spill".  If you have a tall mic stand, like my giant "On Stage" boom stand, you can raise the microphones as high as possible.  Again, the distance to the different sections of the band will be more similar.  Another solution I use on occasion, particularly at panyard recordings, when there is no space to move the microphones back, is to suggest to the arranger or bandleader that we move some of the basses (or whatever is weak) closer to the microphones. Since they want a good recording, most are amenable.

The next issue is the height of the microphones.  I try to position the microphones relatively high, around 8 to 10 feet above the musicians if possible.  This is for a very practical reason, not for better sound.  If someone walks or stands directly in front of one of the microphones, the high frequencies disappear, it sounds muffled.  It's like putting pillows next to your ears.  If the microphones are up high, no-one can step in front of them.  If someone steps directly in front of a pan, the sound is muffled, but only from that pan.  Unless that is the only pan playing that part, you are unlikely to hear the difference.  A secondary benefit if there is an audience, the mikes are a little further from the audience and you are less likely to have an issue with private conversations, coughs, etc.  In New York, if I'm not using two stands, I have a couple of options described above.  In either option, I use a junior boom arm on the top, "T" shaped, crosswise parallel to the ground.  I have some extra stand pipes, threaded on both ends, and some couplings.  So I can use my regular tripod junior boom stand with an extra pipe to add to the height, or the heavy duty tall On Stage boom stand, which will go up over 10 feet, which as described above often helps balance the sections..  As explained above, with either stand the mikes are from two to four or more feet apart

In Trinidad I used to try to borrow a pair of stands from a friend.  I more recently took a pair there, together with a pair of my homemade two foot extension pipes.  I now leave them with a friend when I'm not there.  If all else fails, I improvise.  I have used pan racks, a ladder with a 2X4 taped crosswise to the top, the fence around the panyard, whatever is available to hold the mics.

One other item involving the mics, unless it is dead calm, use windscreens (available from DPA but the ones from Rycote are better).  Even though omnidirectional mics are less subject to wind noise, you will have a problem even in a light breeze.