"Beta Zero" <beta_zero@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
news:Pine.LNX.4.44.0804271130450.29744-100000@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> (Trying to record a music band outdoors)
If you want that gig to turn out well, first learn how to record a band
before the real show comes up.
> I'm thinking of digitally recording an outdoor musical
> performance in late June 2008, and I am worried that some
> microphones are subject to failure, or at least an
> unusual performance of some kind, if the microphones - or
> the wire hookups - sit around baking in the sun.
Very unlikely. IME microphones are pretty durable period, and especially
resistent to high temperatures. The people who make microphones know that
they get carried around in cars and trucks and stored in hot places, and
used in hot places.
I'd be more worried about rain or high winds.
> If the weather is in the mid 90s F, in the shade, and even worse
> in direct sunlight, should I take precautions like
> shading the microphones in the shade of an umbrella or
> parasol? Or am I worrying about something that's not
> worrying about?
You're majoring in minors.
> I won't have access to AC current, as I'll be running off
> batteries; that also means there isn't going to be an
> amplifying system,
The absence of a SR system is the good news. Getting a good recording with
a
SR system going at the same time is IME much more difficult. I know how
difficult it is - I do it all the time.
> and the performers will just sit
> around strumming their strings, or banging their drums,
> or whatever.
There's problem number one - your leading challenge to getting balanced
sound it trying to get enough strings and not too much drums. Acoustic
drums
tend to be very loud.
> I figured that decibel alterations will be
> available to me during post production editing.
If you want flexibility during post, you are commiting yourself to
multitracking. That means lots of mics and one independent recorded track
per mic.
> (Yes, there will also be some cameras around, but I don't want
> to use their microphones as they may be around 30 or 40
> feet away from the performers.)
Good thought. If you do distant micing, you are stuck with whatever mix
nature decided to create for you that day.
> Which microphones are best for this sort of situation?
The general rule of thumb is the less mics the better. If you are outside,
chances are good you won't be fighting the room, but chances are also good
that you won't have a room that sup****ting the bass in any way.
> I haven't bought them yet, and noticed that some
> microphones are very expensive.
You said a mouth full.
> My budget is $800 for
> microphones alone (at about $150 apiece) but I would like
> to divvy that up between two separate recording systems,
> where each music performer has two microphones on stands,
> and if the first system fails, the second system is bound
> to pick something up.
In fact nobody working at your level doubles up on microphones. Mics are a
lot more reliable than that. Frankly, the most likely source of failure in
this project is you and your obvious lack of understanding of and
experience
with recording.
Recording is like learning to play an instrument, the secret to good
results
is practice, practice, practice. No secret at all. I've been recording
pretty intensively for six years, I've made several thousand live
recordings
of 100's of groups and I'm still making mistakes and suboptimal choices
that
are totally clear with 20-20 hindsight. Of course I do get a few things
right and have many satifisfied customers, but I don't fool me. ;-)
> So that made me wonder about something I've read about -
> 'balanced' audio lines. I understand that there are 3
> wires inside a typical balanced line, two of them are for
> audio, and a third wire between them is a ground.
Yup, that's a standard XLR mic cable. Thing is XLR connectors have a
large
degree of inherent safety. Anything with power is enclosed, whether
connected or not.
> Does
> anybody actually strip the insulation off those things so
> the grounding wire can be grounded better, say, with 8
> feet of a copper rod pounded into the ground? Or is that
> something nobody does?
I've never grounded a live recording gig through anything but the safety
ground of the power supply. If running totally on batteries, then what's
to
ground?
If you're running battery-powered equipment, then the largest voltage
around
is the 48 volt phantom supply which is usually totally enclosed in a
conductive ****eld every where it goes. I think you can give yourself a
noticable tingle with 48 VDC if you are hot and sweaty, but its pretty
darn
safe. Dry skin and 48 VDC is a nit, you can't feel a thing and it isn't
going to even make you tingle, let alone hurt you. Besides, its ****elded
everywhere it goes if you use standard cables and connectors.
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