TransAudio Group supplied the SoundField MKV surround sound microphone, the TRUE Precision 8 mic pres, and the Daking Mic Pre IV used by Stefan Heger for the recording of the avant-garde Vision Festival held in New York City’s Abrons Art Center.
Stefan Heger of Fisheye Music Studio in Cologne, Germany, shares his experience in recording the 14th annual Vision Festival, an avant-garde jazz event held at the Abrons Arts Center in New York City. Heger brought a raft of gear that included a SoundField MKV spatial microphone system, Mojave tube mics and 20 channels of TRUE Systems and Daking preamps.
“The Abrons Arts Center brings live recording to the next level,” Heger says. “The space is very thoughtfully designed so that the stage sound is quite isolated from the house P.A. That made it easy for me to capture the real sound of what was going on.”
Heger relied on a SoundField MKV microphone for his overall stereo and surround sound pickup. SoundField microphones capture spatial information with a proprietary 4-channel signal that records front-back location (X), side-side location (Y), vertical location (Z) and absolute reference pressure (W). Using software that easily interfaces with leading recording workstations, Heger was able to alter every aspect of the stereo and surround imaging afterward in mixdown. With so many acts of varied sizes at Vision Festival, the fact that he didn’t have to worry about the SoundField’s placement during the recording freed him up to focus on the numerous spot mics on stage.
“There’s a lot to think about with each varied ensemble taking the stage—so many different people, so many different instruments, and with very little time between sets to get spot mics up,” Heger says. “A lot of unexpected things can happen, and I needed to give myself a lot of headroom on the mic pre’s to avoid any nasty surprises.”
Two TRUE Systems Precision 8 mic pre’s gave him sixteen channels in just two rack spaces. Moreover, the Precision 8 gave Heger the ability to pick his own peak reference, providing a consistent headroom structure. “Even with careful planning and a lot of headroom, some things still snuck by,” Heger says. “But a distorted Precision 8 is actually quite pleasant, so even in those few moments where something got away from me, it was no big deal.
“It was easy to make mic selections with the Precision 8 as well because it’s so accurate and quickly reveals the true nature of a mic/instrument combination. The greatest magic happened with the Mojave MA-200 large diaphragm condenser. The combination of that beautiful tube sound with a neutral, yet musical preamp is something that I’ve never had the pleasure of experiencing before.”
For drums, Heger added a bit of color to the signal with a 4-channel Daking Mic Pre IV. Kick, snare and overhead mics benefited. “The Daking has a tone to it,” he said. “It emphasizes the top-end and makes everything come out with a bit more brilliance. The drums shine through. I had a pair of Mojave MA-100 small diaphragm condensers for overheads, and the cymbals came out wonderfully—even better than the real thing! In person, they came off as a bit harsh and overly metallic, but the recordings are much smoother and warmer, the sort of thing that a jazz drummer is really after.”
Heger used a bank of Apogee AD16x converters to interface with Logic, his choice of native software. Using the DB-25 output on the TRUE Systems Precision 8s made for easy hookup to the Apogee converters. To monitor, Heger used a Dangerous D-Box.
For information on the products mentioned in this story, visit TransAudio Group at www.transaudiogroup.com. Visit Fisheye Music at www.fisheyemusic.com.
