After an hour-long walk along some of the busiest roads in Kathmandu, the GE-OS team arrived at the studios of Music Nepal to record a live performance of musicians Suresh Bajracharya and Rabin Lal Shrestha playing sarod and tabla.
For this recording the GE-OS team sat in the room with the musicians, giving them someone to perform to and drawing their attention away from the recording itself – an approach that often results in a better recorded performance.
The GE-OS Project update #02
Day 2, 22 December 22 2010
Despite recording an acoustic duo, the team chose to use close-miked multitrack recording techniques in preference to a purist direct-to-stereo approach. Team leader Greg Simmons explains: ‘My preference is to record direct-to-stereo with a well-placed pair of microphones but that is not always the best approach, particularly when recording a duo that includes the tabla because it has a tendency to dominate. So for this live performance recording we opted to play it safe and use multi-miking and multitrack recording techniques instead. With the addition of carefully-placed stereo room mics during recording and the judicious use of reverberation during mixing, a very good result should be possible.’
Miking
A matched pair of DPA 4041 large diaphragm omnidirectional condensers was chosen for the instruments; one placed approx. 30cm above the tabla, the other approx. 30cm in front of the sarod. In essence, they simultaneously served as a pair of spot microphones and a widely spaced AB pair. (The hole-in-the-middle effect was not a problem because there was no central sound in this performance.) The 4041s were chosen for their very low self noise (7dBA) to create a very ‘black’ background that would reveal the subtle drone strings of the sarod, and for their on-axis high frequency boost that allows them to be placed further away from an instrument to capture its full sound while still sounding close and detailed. A matched pair of DPA 4023 compact cardioids was used in an ORTF configuration to provide some acoustic glue to bind the close-miked sounds together, and to capture audience applause. To satisfy these requirements the ORTF pair was placed in the space between the performers and the audience, raised high and aimed directly at the floor to capture an even balance from instruments and audience. All four mics were recorded into an HHB Portadrive, chosen over a laptop-based system for its reliability, simplicity of operation and lack of fan noise – important factors for this application.
On completion of the performance the musicians and recording team moved into the control room to listen to playback. Although it was a rough mix made with the Portadrive’s internal mixers (level and pan only), it was more than sufficient to validate the chosen recording approach. Perhaps the most revealing comment came from soft-spoken sarod player Suresh Bajracharya, who said simply, ‘We would very much like to record with you again’.
About The GE-OS Project
Founded by Greg Simmons in 2008, The GE-OS Project takes audio students and other interested parties on international recording expeditions to capture the sounds and music of different countries and cultures. The goal is to make the highest quality recordings under the circumstances, with an emphasis on the educational aspects of recording on location.
‘GE-OS’ is an acronym for ‘Guerrilla Ethnomusicology – Open Source’, a reflection of the recording philosophies and dissemination methods used by the project. The recordings fall into three broad categories: direct-to-stereo ethnographic recordings of traditional music performed in traditional contexts, multitrack recordings of local musicians improvising over backing tracks, and phonographic recordings of city sounds, village sounds and nature sounds. On completion of the project, all recordings will be placed on line for anyone to access and use under the terms of a Creative Commons licensing scheme.
The GE-OS Project is currently undertaking its third extended recording expedition and gratefully acknowledges the ongoing support of Amber Technology, DPA Microphones and TC Electronic.
