Small room, live performance, to close mic or not?

[slowman]

Hi folks

I have to record a small group comprising of 3 or 4 people playing:

1. Fiddle
2. Accordian
3. Percussion - Cahon/bongo/shakers
4. Mandolin/Guitar

My recording room is about 11ft x 11ft (3.5m x 3.5m) - it sounds ok, it is part treated with acoustic panels on walls and ceiling (50mm acoustic mineral wool in frames) and laminate floor with rugs I can move around.

I have max 8 channels to record with

Mics available are:

1 x Rode NT2000 (LDC)
6 x AKG Perception 150 (SDC)
2 x AKG C1000 (SDC)
2 x AKG D50 (DYN)
1 x Sure SM57 (DYN)

I tend to track stuff usually, but these folk want to perform live. So I am wondering, given the small space if it is worth trying to:

1. Close-mic them
2. Close-mic and ambient mic
3. Set up a stereo pair somewhere in the room and just rely on that

I'd be really interested to know how those with relevant experience would approach it given the limitations?

RE the Mics: The 150s are clear and open sounding, and pretty good at rejecting sounds from behind for cardioid condensers. The NT2000 has a variable pattern from cardioid to omni to figure 8. The D50s are vocal mics primarily but sound sweeter and more detailed than SM58s to my ear.

[Camsauce]

I would recommend close-micing them. I would definitely play around with what mic on what instrument, but for starters, I would try a C100 on the accordion, or maybe 2 perceptions, its sometimes hard to get all of the range of the accordion. For the fiddle, I would definitely say the perception, get it over the instrument, as close to one of the f-holes as possible.

For the percussion, its hard to say, definitely the 57 on the back hole of the cajon, but you might consider putting one of the D50's on the front head if you have an open channel. Generally, you want dynamic mics for drums. For the shakers, a condenser mic in front of their hands would work.

For the guitar/mando, I would use another c1000, but the Perception mics might give a different tone, which would be up to the style of music. For an ambient mic, I might try putting up the NT2000, but be careful of how far, you dont want to run into phasing issues.

But the biggest thing to remember before you follow the advice of some random guy on the internet, is be open-minded. Be willing to try the different mic or point it in a different direction. Even try just the two stereo mics in the room. Good luck with your project, let us know how it goes!!

[130dB]

Originally Posted by slowman

1. Close-mic them
2. Close-mic and ambient mic
3. Set up a stereo pair somewhere in the room and just rely on that

It sounds like you have enough mics and input channels to close mic and have an ambient stereo pair. It never hurts to have plenty of material to work with during the mix. To me, option 2 is the only logical choice. The others will only limit your options during mixdown.

[slowman]

ok thanks guys, it's always useful to get ideas and opinions from other people - it's a one-time non-repeatable session with a limited time-slot so I need to hit the ground running as much as possible and won't have a lot of time to try things out (much as I would like to ideally) - so it's just useful to have a few perspectives on it, thanks

[slowman]

What do you think about the physical arrangement of people and mics in the room? How would you approach that?

[Camsauce]

I would have them stand how they're comfortable. Having them be comfortable in their own setup and get their own chemistry as a group going is important. But that doesnt mean you dont have a say. Make sure you get the players far enough and the mics pointed in the right direction for some rejection. For instance, I wouldn't have the cajon right next to the violin mic, as the violin mic will be pointed straight down, and will likely have alot of drum bleed if not managed well. But mostly just use your intuition and logic. Those are powerful tools in any field

[130dB]

It sounds like the kind of group that GZsound has done a lot of work with. Maybe he will have some good information for you.