Old 11-18-2019, 10:19 AM   #1
mschnell
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Default A Cappella Quartett: So It Goes

I did my first recording of an A Capella performance (Quartet).

Mics:
Bass: home-built revival of M7
Tenor: Rode 1000
Alto and Soprano: home-built revivals of an old Neumann 87

https://soundcloud.com/user-213300358/and-so-it-goes

What do you think ?

-Michael

Last edited by mschnell; 11-18-2019 at 11:53 PM.
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Old 11-18-2019, 11:53 AM   #2
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Sounds good Michael, very clear and all the freqs are there.

Quote:
Bass: home-built revival of M7
Tenor: Reode 1000
Alto and Soprano: home-built revivals of an old Neumann 87
You say "home-built", can you explain what that entails?
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Old 11-18-2019, 12:07 PM   #3
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Sounds great! It sounds a little dry to me but other than that, great!
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Old 11-18-2019, 01:43 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tod View Post
You say "home-built", can you explain what that entails?
I borrowed these Mics from a colleague of mine. He is an electronics engineer and he buys 1" capsules and magnetics form somewhere, builds the electronics (FET and Tube with selected components) himself, and buys cheap mics to disembowel and fill them with the revived content.

-Michael
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Old 12-13-2019, 12:26 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tod View Post
all the freqs are there.
After some private discussions this seems to mean: also those that should not be there .
-Michael
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Old 12-13-2019, 06:28 AM   #6
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Very smooth. I can "feel" the bass voice. Fav is that harmony chord at 0.34.
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Old 12-13-2019, 06:42 AM   #7
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Yep. The bass has a great voice. No need for much tweaking.

I also liked the soprano.

As this is strictly a "demo" / self-examination session (and i have no experience with that task) I did not do much tweaking with the other voices, either, even though they seem to need it.

-Michael
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Old 12-14-2019, 05:14 AM   #8
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Sorry to be dense, but is this you alone singing w/ pitch shift for Alto & Soprano, or 4 distinct singers? If you alone, what software was used to do the pitch shift? Thx.
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Old 12-14-2019, 04:27 PM   #9
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Its a quartet of singers (two male, two female; none is me, as I can't sing at all ) in a "close to live on stage" situation, captured with four condenser mics, just one take, rather sparse effects and mixing tweaks.

-Michael
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Old 12-16-2019, 07:52 AM   #10
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The college of mine who crated the revived Neumann mics, did an alternative mix of the tracks. He used Logic and some high-priced plugins.

-> https://soundcloud.com/user-21330035...o-it-goes-nico

(Much too much reverb for my taste . My son, who in fact is a classical singer, agrees on that.)
-Michael

Last edited by mschnell; 12-16-2019 at 01:48 PM.
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Old 12-30-2019, 08:55 AM   #11
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Very cool Michael. Was someone directing them, or were they just watching each other to stay together?
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Old 12-30-2019, 04:47 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Glennbo View Post
Very cool Michael. Was someone directing them, or were they just watching each other to stay together?
Its just the four of them. They don't have anybody in a "producer" position. I placed the mics in a circle so that they could watch each other perfectly while maximizing the distance between the mics for lowest bleed.

At the recording session I met them for the first time and I provided just a few words of advice on how to deal with 1" microphones in a studio situation (as a group, they only did live performances before).

BTW.: my college sent me another Logic mix only reducing reverb to a (to me) much more appropriate level. IMHO this is the best of all. -> https://soundcloud.com/user-21330035...oes-nico-small

I suppose we will do some more recordings in 2020. They now call themselves "4-Tunes".

Things I do know that should be improved:

Performance:
- Tighter timing between the voices (especially at the ends of words)
- Try not to slowly drop in tuning

Mix (this last one)
- Do it in Reaper

The much stronger compression than with my own mix results in very loud breathing. Best the singers would try to avoid too loud breathing noises. Alternatively I could try to edit them out.

-Michael

Last edited by mschnell; 12-30-2019 at 05:19 PM.
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Old 12-30-2019, 05:11 PM   #13
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The shorter verb sounds better. Reason I asked if they had a director is my wife works in an environment as keyboard accompaniment with 4 to 15 vocalists and them seeing the visual cue of the director's baton helps keep them tight(er)(ish)!
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Old 12-30-2019, 06:20 PM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mschnell View Post
After some private discussions this seems to mean: also those that should not be there .
No not at all, I meant all the freqs that are associated with bass, tenner, alto, and soprano. It sounds very good.

PS: Ha ha, I was listening again to your Quartet and when it finished it went to another one of your creations, I've always told you I like your stuff Michael.

Last edited by Tod; 12-30-2019 at 06:25 PM.
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Old 12-31-2019, 01:11 AM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tod View Post
PS: Ha ha, I was listening again to your Quartet and when it finished it went to another one of your creations, I've always told you I like your stuff Michael.
Thanks a lot !
As today is my birthday your affirmation is great and unique present to me.
-Michael
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