Saint Mary's University of MN and Winona State University

Concert Choir

Some background on the concert we recorded...

The Saint Mary's University and Winona State University choirs will perform together for the first time this Sunday, April 18, 1999 at 3 p.m. in the Chapel of Saint Mary of the Angels. The chapel is on the Saint Teresa campus at the corner of Vila and Wabasha streets.

The SMU choir is conducted by Dr. Patrick O'Shea, and the WSU choir is led by Dr. Harry Mechell. The groups will perform three major pieces together: Heilig by Felix Mendelssohn; Gloria by Antonio Vivaldi; and In Ecclesiis by Giovani Gabrieli. Separately, the choirs will perform other Renaissance and Baroque numbers. The voices will be accompanied by brass, strings and the chapel organ.

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Recording Techniques

Here we have Saint Mary's University student Dan Bowers assisting with some last minute adjustments to the Neumann KM-184 stereo pair. To reproduce equal balance during the live concert and the additional performances we use the Neumann pair in an ORTF configuration (see below for more information) to capture an even balance of the direct sound. We then used the Audio Technica 4050/CM5 stereo pair (set to a bi-polar or figure eight pickup pattern) in a Blumein array (see below for more information) to capture the room reflections for a nice compliment of natural reverberation.

We used a Sytek MPX-4A microphone preamp. (SYTEK is a Chicago-based manufacturer of very high quality outboard mic pres. Their flagship product, the MPX-4A, is a class A quad unit housed in a single rack space.) This unit has the standard 5532 op amp in channels 1 and 2. Channels 3 and 4 have a substitution of the Burr Brown 2604 AP op amp. We used channel's 1 and 2 with the Neumann's and channel's 3 and 4 with the 4050's. We went straight from the mic pre into the ADAT XT-20.

We monitored off the tape (the output of the ADAT) into a Mackie 1402 VLZ audio mixer. The Mackie then supplied a stereo signal to the Rane headphone amplifier. We used AKG K-240M and Sony 7506 headphone's for monitoring.

Microphone Cable was Canare Star Quad.

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ORTF - Named after the French broadcasting network (Office de Radiodeffusion Television Francaise), a near-coincident stereo mic technique which uses two cardiod mic microphones angled 110 degrees apart and spaced 17 cm horizontally.

Blumlein Array - A stereo microphone technique in which two coincident bidirectional microphones are angled 90 degrees apart (45 degrees to the left and right of center).

(Definitions are from the text "Practical Recording Techniques" 2nd Edition by Bruce and Jenny Bartlett.)

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The Recording Chain

Microphone's Include:

Neumann KM-184 (Stereo Pair)

Audio Technica 4050/CM5 (Stereo Pair)

Microphone Pre-Amplifier:

Sytek MPX-4A

Recording Device:

ADAT XT-20 (20-bit MDM)

Our equipment table for the event. We monitored off the tape (out of the ADAT) into a Mackie 1402 VLZ audio mixer which supplied a stereo feed to the Rane headphone amplifier. We used AKG K-240M and Sony 7506 headphone's for monitoring.

**You can hear some of the recordings we have done for the SMU Choir on the Saint Mary's University Music Department CD - Volume 1