About On Site Location Audio Recording
To understand On Site or Location Recording, it is helpful to know a bit about how most popular music is recorded. Individual instruments; or like groups of instruments, are typically recorded separately, and in isolation. For example, the lead guitar part of a song might be one such recording, or "track". The lead vocalist might be another track. Add bass and rythym guitar; two more tracks. Backup vocalists could be another track or set of tracks, and drums yet another set of tracks. Each track is assigned a position; or "panned", to determine where in the mix each instrument appears. For example, the lead guitar could be panned far left, far right, dead center or anywhere in between. Panning determines where between the loudspeakers the instrument appears when listening to the music. Finally, all tracks are blended together to create the final stereo mix. This process is known as multi-track recording, and the primary advantage is the recording engineer has ultimate control over each instrument or track. For example, the engineer can "bring up" the lead vocalist if he/she is weak, and corrections or "edits" can be done even without the performers present. However, since the tracks are recorded in isolation they often sound somewhat sterile with little natural ambience, so enhancements or effects must be added electronically during the post-producton. Further, as each track is basically a monaural recording, there is no naturally occurring stereophonic reference point. While the engineer is able to "pan" the instruments to "create" a stereo mix, the resulting stereo image is purely subjective! This may be desirable for popular music, but this technique is not optimum for recording classical or acoustic styles of music such as choral or jazz where the stereo image is a direct result of the actual physical positioning of insturments. For example, if you attend classical concerts, you will notice the strings are typically positioned from far left to left of center, while tympani, cello and bass are typically to the right and rear. If you are listening to a piano concerto, the piano will be placed in the center.
Direct to Stereo is the technique Acoustic Imagery uses to record. We typically position one stereo mic array; and depending upon the size of the group of musicians and the type of performance, we may add one or more "outriggers", which are mics placed to augment the sound pickup from the main stereo pair. An example might be to capture an instrumental soloist in an orchestral setting. Direct to Stereo requires all mixing be done as part of the recording process, so it is imperative that mic placement is at the correct distance, height and angle to allow the music to; in effect, mix itself. The final position of the instruments in the mix is determined by the conductor or music director, not the recording engineer! Unlike multitracking, Direct to Stereo is intended to capture, rather than determine, the sound. Since it is critical for our clients to understand the nature of this recording technique, we meet with them at the recording location in preparation for the recording session to discuss mic placement, musician locations and other session details. We typically use the ORTF, Jecklin OSS or AB Spaced Omni's techniques. An excellent overview of these techniques can be found here.
Our Philosophy on Recording
Our approach is to preserve the characteristics of a musical performance by mixing and recording the music; on site, in a natural acoustic setting with a minimum of electronic processing in the post production and mastering stages. Given a good acoustic environment and proper stereo microphone techniques music can be recorded with a very real sense of ambience and space, characteristics critical for accurately capturing choral, instrumental ensemble and mixed ensemble acoustic music. In this manner, in addition to the sounds produced by the instruments and and singers, the recording captures the acoustic "signature" of the space in which the music was performed. For example, if an instrumental ensemble is being recorded in a large cathedral, the spacious ambient nature of the cathedral should be apparent when listening to the performance on CD, just as if the listener been present during the actual performance. On Site Location recording offers the most accurate and honest recording of the musical performance. On Site Location recording is also very well suited to recording large choral groups and ensembles as studios often have limited space.