Hello Gerda, Of course the many spaces of the entire cathedrals all become a grand musical instrument. The organs "make the air and the stones ring and sing". Glorious.
A thrilling new episode! Fantastic! The 'teaser' sound of the Reubke from the foyer was brilliant - once again, thank you for sharing this process with us - your insights and commentary are incredibly valuable! Can't wait for the next installment :)
So - we heard you sing albeit one note! I was surprised how far away the "direct" mics were from the pipes, I'd expected they would be a little closer. That's where the intimate knowledge of the organ's voicing and the effect in the building really are priceless to get that positioning just right. Well done Richard and Andrew - looking forward to the next instalment!
WOW!!! Truro Cathedral looks magnificent and the accoustics sound wonderful. Looking forward to seeing this organ recital and to seeing the remaining two parts in this series.
"I love how it fills the whole building" - this is exactly what I'm trying to replicate in my recording of Andrew's rectial. I hope you're able to listen to the rectial (Easter Monday) and if you close your eyes you can image being sat in the Cathedral itself 😊
You were quite correct when you said that the organ was sounding fantastic. WoW ! You do this documentary style of video so well I really feel as if I'm in there with you, and I can't wait for your guided tour of that console in the next episode.
I want to go there once. I would like to see the organ of the church. I may not be able to enter it. (I'm sorry I fell asleep yesterday.) It's a beautiful voice.
By using an Ambisonic Soundfield microphone you avoid phasing issues to do with having microphones differently out of phase at different frequencies, and you perfectly capture the entire acoustic as well as the direct sound. And you only have to consider placement of just the one microphone. And you have a lot of control over the resulting stereo image.
I didn't see any sand bags on the mic stands. You're braver than I am hanging those nice mics way up there in the clouds. Nice informative video. When things get back to normal here in the US I'm hoping to record some organs. I don't have a mic stand that tall but I have a tall light stand and a 5 Foot extension that will get me up 13 feet. I Also have saddle sand bags. Heres a sand bag hint. Sand can get messy even if double bagged. I'm using decorative glass pieces used in flower arrangements. Really squished marbles. Very heavy. I got my empty sand bags from Amazon.
The Manfrotto microphone stands are extremely stable and the legs at the bottom are very wide. The whole stand is very heavy, and in fact I dropped the larger one of the two on my finger on the morning of the recording and I thought I had broken it! Luckily it was just bruised (it still is!) but it did mean that I had to record my organ demonstration with a very painful finger. It was totally worth it though! 😊
I would have loved to have been there to help. Years ago I worked in a recording studio, then did audio for TV for years. Heavy stands are good, but its that 8 meter arm that worries. I KNOW that nothing is up there to knock into it, but I'm a worrier 😆. You know, check the door locks 3 times. Plus, I'm usually putting heavy strobe lights up on top so that adds into my worrying. Of course, that mic pair costs lots more than a strobe. Looking forward to more great videos. And setting up my own Hauptwerk system. I'm using Ahlborn Galante modules, now.
Well, I suppose if Caroline so skillfully held that swell key several streams back, it's only fitting that you would sing a single note. :) Really enjoying these, Richard. Thanks for taking us along!
lol! Caroline's voice would've sounded so much better in that acoustic than mine! The Truro Cathedral choir are seriously awesome, by the way - you should check them out on Soundcloud and here on TH-cam. Chris Gray is doing terrific things indeed!
Hi Richard, Thanks for this very informative contribution. One of the most fascinating experiences ever for me is walking into a large reverberant church with an impressive organ and then walking into that impressive onmipresent sound! Now the question is: how to capture that? I would be very interested in how you proceed with the postproduction of these six tracks of recordings! I decided to buy one pair of the best microphones I could afford: the Neumann KM-183, the onmidirectional sister of your KM-184. Onmidirectional because they seem to have a better bass extension and because I want to record the diffuse field (that's the reverberation and reflections) all in once. So I only have one stereo pair and that's it. Of course because they are onmidirectional they have to be separated from each other (otherwise you would get a rather monophonic image), 125 cm in my case. Now the challenge is: how far to place them from the organ to get the sound you like. That's also a matter of taste indeed. I did this with a nice 38 stop organ in a church with 10 seconds of reverberation. Can you demonstrate what your three stereo-pairs sound like and what decisions you make to mix them to the sound you like most? All the best, Rens from The Netherlands
How are you finding the 183s? The range of the 184s is very different to my 170s - the lower end on the 170s is instantly more present, but the 184s add a super clarity to the mix. I'm very happy with the balance of the blend of frequencies offered by the 184s and 170s.... the 184s provide super clear sound whilst the 170s are bringing a wonderfully warm and spacious sound to the table. Please leave a comment on Episode 4 to let me know what you think to the sound of the organ (I've tweaked and improved it since, actually). Thanks for your comment 😊
Thank you for interesting story about your pipe organ recording experience! I have a question. What stand do you use for support of your main microphone pair? If I understand you correctly, it is about 8 meters tall. I'm currently looking for suppoting stand for pipe organ micing as well. I have googled for photo lighting stands, but tallest which one I have found is about 3.9 meter tall, but it looks like not enough, because organs are usually placed high on balcony.
It will be fun all together over the next few months to see how we can creatively raise the money for the new console. I personally bid one dollar for the uppermost key on the new top register. I shall dedicate it to Nala, Bobbie, the new baby, and Caroline's lovely pinky finger.
I'll be giving an update soon about the progress of the fundraising and new ideas of how we can collectively raise more funds to put towards the new organ. I'm confident though, and incredibly excited about the whole journey! 😄
One more episode to go - back in my studio where I talk about the post-production process. Baby is still keeping safe inside but may decide to greet us any day now 😊
So no prizes for guessing what BIS fans will be doing on Easter Monday! I'm also looking forward to the episode on post-production. BTW do you have the total raised by last Sunday's EH Orgathon?
So glad to see these. One question: Did you record each mic on a separate channel, or did you mix pairs, or such? It would seem that post would allow more options with 6 channels for mix down. Can hardly wait to hear the result. Sadly, YT is rather lacking in audio quality over their 4K channels. I'd love to hear a high res / high bitrate version some day. Will you publish an organist bio and the Father Willis @ Truro organ specification? OK, ok, those were two questions. I'll add insult with this: [As an aside, an interview with the artist as to how he selected registration for various parts of the program would, I think, break new ground in organ concerts. With an orchestra, we can *see* the chosen ensembles. The organ is cloaked as to that.]
Jim - the microphones were recorded in multitrack allowing my to adjust each microphone back here in my studio. I'm VERY pleased with the sound, and I can't wait to share it with you on Easter Monday. Episode 5 will look at my post-production methods and how I've balanced the microphones in the mix. Patreons (in certain tiers) will be able to download the audio from the recital in lossless .wav quality, and the difference between that and compressed TH-cam quality is night-and-day. I'm surprised that TH-cam compresses the audio so much, and a time when recording companies and theatres are uploading their concerts to TH-cam. Andrew does talk between each piece in his recital and does explain his registrations 😊
No, everything you see in the video (apart from the cathedral and organ!) is mine. The 8m mic stand was bought especially for this recording, but the slightly shorter one I’ve had for a while 😊
Quality doesn't come particularly cheap, but my studio is one that I've built up over a few years and being to record this sensational organs with such high-quality equipment is a sheer joy. It also allows my listeners to hear and see these organs in ways they may not have done before. The cost of the microphones and cameras are available to see on Google if you search around.
Hello Gerda,
Of course the many spaces of the entire cathedrals all become a grand musical instrument.
The organs "make the air and the stones ring and sing". Glorious.
Definitely, this is my favorite TH-cam channel. Thanks for the outstanding work.
You are very welcome Alexis, thank you so much!
A thrilling new episode! Fantastic! The 'teaser' sound of the Reubke from the foyer was brilliant - once again, thank you for sharing this process with us - your insights and commentary are incredibly valuable! Can't wait for the next installment :)
So - we heard you sing albeit one note! I was surprised how far away the "direct" mics were from the pipes, I'd expected they would be a little closer. That's where the intimate knowledge of the organ's voicing and the effect in the building really are priceless to get that positioning just right. Well done Richard and Andrew - looking forward to the next instalment!
WOW!!! Truro Cathedral looks magnificent and the accoustics sound wonderful. Looking forward to seeing this organ recital and to seeing the remaining two parts in this series.
What a beautiful organ. Love your thinking on capturing the sound.
Cheers Steve!
What a stunning cathedral, and magnificent organ. The sound from that organ is amazing, I love how it fills the whole building.
"I love how it fills the whole building" - this is exactly what I'm trying to replicate in my recording of Andrew's rectial. I hope you're able to listen to the rectial (Easter Monday) and if you close your eyes you can image being sat in the Cathedral itself 😊
You were quite correct when you said that the organ was sounding fantastic. WoW ! You do this documentary style of video so well I really feel as if I'm in there with you, and I can't wait for your guided tour of that console in the next episode.
Sensational start which makes me extremely keen to listen to your educational presentation! Yr voice even sounding great!!
Andrew’s playing is sensational and the recital is amazing!!
Beautiful church and beautiful sounds!
I want to go there once. I would like to see the organ of the church. I may not be able to enter it. (I'm sorry I fell asleep yesterday.)
It's a beautiful voice.
By using an Ambisonic Soundfield microphone you avoid phasing issues to do with having microphones differently out of phase at different frequencies, and you perfectly capture the entire acoustic as well as the direct sound. And you only have to consider placement of just the one microphone. And you have a lot of control over the resulting stereo image.
I love this Series!
I didn't see any sand bags on the mic stands. You're braver than I am hanging those nice mics way up there in the clouds.
Nice informative video. When things get back to normal here in the US I'm hoping to record some organs. I don't have a mic stand that tall but I have a tall light stand and a 5 Foot extension that will get me up 13 feet. I Also have saddle sand bags.
Heres a sand bag hint. Sand can get messy even if double bagged. I'm using decorative glass pieces used in flower arrangements. Really squished marbles. Very heavy. I got my empty sand bags from Amazon.
The Manfrotto microphone stands are extremely stable and the legs at the bottom are very wide. The whole stand is very heavy, and in fact I dropped the larger one of the two on my finger on the morning of the recording and I thought I had broken it! Luckily it was just bruised (it still is!) but it did mean that I had to record my organ demonstration with a very painful finger. It was totally worth it though! 😊
I would have loved to have been there to help. Years ago I worked in a recording studio, then did audio for TV for years. Heavy stands are good, but its that 8 meter arm that worries. I KNOW that nothing is up there to knock into it, but I'm a worrier 😆. You know, check the door locks 3 times. Plus, I'm usually putting heavy strobe lights up on top so that adds into my worrying. Of course, that mic pair costs lots more than a strobe.
Looking forward to more great videos. And setting up my own Hauptwerk system. I'm using Ahlborn Galante modules, now.
Well, I suppose if Caroline so skillfully held that swell key several streams back, it's only fitting that you would sing a single note. :)
Really enjoying these, Richard. Thanks for taking us along!
lol! Caroline's voice would've sounded so much better in that acoustic than mine! The Truro Cathedral choir are seriously awesome, by the way - you should check them out on Soundcloud and here on TH-cam. Chris Gray is doing terrific things indeed!
Hi Richard,
Thanks for this very informative contribution. One of the most fascinating experiences ever for me is walking into a large reverberant church with an impressive organ and then walking into that impressive onmipresent sound! Now the question is: how to capture that? I would be very interested in how you proceed with the postproduction of these six tracks of recordings! I decided to buy one pair of the best microphones I could afford: the Neumann KM-183, the onmidirectional sister of your KM-184. Onmidirectional because they seem to have a better bass extension and because I want to record the diffuse field (that's the reverberation and reflections) all in once. So I only have one stereo pair and that's it. Of course because they are onmidirectional they have to be separated from each other (otherwise you would get a rather monophonic image), 125 cm in my case. Now the challenge is: how far to place them from the organ to get the sound you like. That's also a matter of taste indeed. I did this with a nice 38 stop organ in a church with 10 seconds of reverberation.
Can you demonstrate what your three stereo-pairs sound like and what decisions you make to mix them to the sound you like most?
All the best, Rens from The Netherlands
How are you finding the 183s? The range of the 184s is very different to my 170s - the lower end on the 170s is instantly more present, but the 184s add a super clarity to the mix. I'm very happy with the balance of the blend of frequencies offered by the 184s and 170s.... the 184s provide super clear sound whilst the 170s are bringing a wonderfully warm and spacious sound to the table. Please leave a comment on Episode 4 to let me know what you think to the sound of the organ (I've tweaked and improved it since, actually). Thanks for your comment 😊
Thank you for interesting story about your pipe organ recording experience! I have a question. What stand do you use for support of your main microphone pair? If I understand you correctly, it is about 8 meters tall. I'm currently looking for suppoting stand for pipe organ micing as well. I have googled for photo lighting stands, but tallest which one I have found is about 3.9 meter tall, but it looks like not enough, because organs are usually placed high on balcony.
It will be fun all together over the next few months to see how we can creatively raise the money for the new console. I personally bid one dollar for the uppermost key on the new top register.
I shall dedicate it to Nala, Bobbie, the new baby, and Caroline's lovely pinky finger.
I'll be giving an update soon about the progress of the fundraising and new ideas of how we can collectively raise more funds to put towards the new organ. I'm confident though, and incredibly excited about the whole journey! 😄
Beautiful cathedral can only seen in UK
I wish I could see them quickly!!
Truro is a beautiful cathedral in a beautiful city. The people at the cathedral are really friendly and welcoming - highly recommended! 😊
@@beautyinsound Thank you for your kind addressing Sir Richard
Yummy. I patiently await the next episode on Easter. How is the baby doing?
One more episode to go - back in my studio where I talk about the post-production process. Baby is still keeping safe inside but may decide to greet us any day now 😊
So no prizes for guessing what BIS fans will be doing on Easter Monday! I'm also looking forward to the episode on post-production. BTW do you have the total raised by last Sunday's EH Orgathon?
I’ll announce it very soon 😊
So glad to see these. One question: Did you record each mic on a separate channel, or did you mix pairs, or such? It would seem that post would allow more options with 6 channels for mix down.
Can hardly wait to hear the result. Sadly, YT is rather lacking in audio quality over their 4K channels. I'd love to hear a high res / high bitrate version some day.
Will you publish an organist bio and the Father Willis @ Truro organ specification?
OK, ok, those were two questions. I'll add insult with this:
[As an aside, an interview with the artist as to how he selected registration for various parts of the program would, I think, break new ground in organ concerts. With an orchestra, we can *see* the chosen ensembles. The organ is cloaked as to that.]
Jim - the microphones were recorded in multitrack allowing my to adjust each microphone back here in my studio. I'm VERY pleased with the sound, and I can't wait to share it with you on Easter Monday. Episode 5 will look at my post-production methods and how I've balanced the microphones in the mix.
Patreons (in certain tiers) will be able to download the audio from the recital in lossless .wav quality, and the difference between that and compressed TH-cam quality is night-and-day. I'm surprised that TH-cam compresses the audio so much, and a time when recording companies and theatres are uploading their concerts to TH-cam.
Andrew does talk between each piece in his recital and does explain his registrations 😊
@@beautyinsound Which tiers?
Woohoooooooo!!!!!
That's basically my reaction everyday when it comes to recording organs. It's a dream!
Where did you get such tall mic stands, Richard?
www.thomann.de/gb/manfrotto_269hdbu_super_giant_stand_blck.htm
Cheers, Richard 👍🏻
It's true. Richard has a great singing voice. Perhaps he is just a bit shy?
I am shy!
Richard,
What type of boom arm/stand are you using to have the GoPro be placed above the manuals? Been looking for a decent solution for sometime now.
www.elgato.com/en/multi-mount-system 😊
did you hire those massive mike stands or are they part of the recording project investment?
No, everything you see in the video (apart from the cathedral and organ!) is mine. The 8m mic stand was bought especially for this recording, but the slightly shorter one I’ve had for a while 😊
@@beautyinsound Where did you find an 8m tall stand? I've been hunting for a tall stand for my own use, but so far no luck.
Have a look on Google for Manfrotto tall microphone stand 👍
Noice
Dare l ask how many quid you’ve invested in all of this fine equipment? I know it’s a tacky question.
Quality doesn't come particularly cheap, but my studio is one that I've built up over a few years and being to record this sensational organs with such high-quality equipment is a sheer joy. It also allows my listeners to hear and see these organs in ways they may not have done before. The cost of the microphones and cameras are available to see on Google if you search around.
😑😑😑😑😑😑😑🙏👏