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[twotoedsloth]

Just in case any of you might be interested, here is a small part of the Taiko concert I recorded on Thursday. I'm curious to see what you guys might think.

http://walterhallrecordings.music.utoro ... ings/Taiko

http://walterhallrecordings.music.utoronto.ca/recordings/Taiko

The concert was recorded in a relatively modern recital hall with very good acoustics. I used two Rode NT5s (cardioid) and two Rode NT55s (omni).

Please let me know your thoughts,

Peter

[blinddrew]

My only experience of taiko drums is from Hans Zimmer soundtracks so I think I was expecting a little more bottom end, but this sounds very real and very natural. And the bottom end is there, just not overblown.
Have you done any processing to track yet?

[twotoedsloth]

Hello and thanks for taking the time to listen to the track and offer your insight.

I have not done any processing, other than a highpass filter at 32 hz. Do you think a low shelf would be appropriate? I used the omnis as a spaced pair because, as my prof used to say, "anything else and you're shortchanging the bottom end". The cardioids were ORTF.

Many thanks,

Peter

[Bob Bickerton]

Sounds like a Taiko band to me!

I'm not familiar with the track Blinddrew is referring to and of course for certain genres or production values you might want to close mic elements and get into all sorts of production trickery. You have captured a live performance well.

If you wanted to explore options, it's worth experimenting with the balance between ORTF pair and the omnis as that can change the focus and/or lower end. I'd tend to avoid EQ unless you have identified a specific problem which needs to be fixed.

Bob

[blinddrew]

I wasn't thinking of a specific track, but the kind of sound he goes for - e.g. from about 2 mins in this video: https://www.spitfireaudio.com/shop/a-z/ ... aXhe-v8xL4
He likes his big bottom end.

[twotoedsloth]

Hello again, and thanks for your thoughts.

The director of the ensemble is happy so I'm going to leave it be. Do you think that if I used four omnis, wide spaced and narrow (er) spaced, instead of ORTF and wide spaced, would that give me the "whump" in the bottom end that blinddrew is referring to?

It would be nice if they didn't just record once a year. I've kept notes, so unless my gear changes, it should be easier next year.

Your help is greatly appreciated,

Peter

[blinddrew]

Listening to the chap from Spitfire talking about the Hans Zimmer stuff it seems that one of the things they did is actually sample the drums played very quietly, this gives a lot more low end to the signal. When people are actually playing properly they're going to be using a lot more welly which, apparently, means you get less of the real low end.
So you probably could add some back in with a bit of a shelf or by shifting some of the balance from the cardiods to the omnis, but if the director is happy, and if Bob reckons it sounds ok, I'd be happy with that.

[Bob Bickerton]

I don't think it's a fair comparison between a live recording with Rode mics versus a carefully produced set of samples for Spitfire, no doubt recorded with a wide range of esoteric microphones, in a beautifully controlled acoustic and with no restriction on microphone placement!

Likewise it's difficult to compare with other commercial recordings, unless they are specifically tagged as live concerts and even then we would not know what freedom of placement, microphone selection was used.

Regarding the use of two pairs of omnis, I find I get all the bottom end I need with just one pair.

Bob

[blinddrew]

I don't think it's a fair comparison between a live recording with Rode mics versus a carefully produced set of samples for Spitfire, no doubt recorded with a wide range of esoteric microphones, in a beautifully controlled acoustic and with no restriction on microphone placement!

Indeed, not exactly apples to apples.