the mic'ing was VERY venue and stage set specific, and went through several iterations before we settled on something that we could use.....


not to give too much away, 4 fig 8 beyers across the main body of the 160 strong choir, 2 more on the soprano boys , also picking up a brass dectet.

REALLY close spot mics on each grouping in the orchestra , all schoeps/neumann , mostly cardioid, the odd fig 8,

pair spaced omnis higher up , between choir and orchestra for the organ.

stereo AEA ribbon above string section.

spots on Perc and Piano,

+ feed from radio mic and lectern mic for readings and presenter.

ALL positioning carefully attended to to try and optimise the ratio of source Vs venue acoustic....


at the sharp end of this job, it's more about getting a usable sound before the doors open, than it is getting the perfect sound, this particular gig is recording this lot for later broadcast..... not a purist CD recording.... and you don't get to ask the audience to go away and come back in an hour when you've carefully set up the decca tree over the string section.... nor can you simply stick stands anywhere you like..... with over 200 performers on stage.... and an audience of a few thousand....
(and the choir being made up of people with expensive lawyers.... and titles before and after their names... )

and in an acoustic as weird as this one..... traditional techniques like a pair over and behind the conductor's head, just do not work..... at all........

i believe you can find out what it sounded like at about 6 pm on Xmas eve on Classic FM.

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