Recorded on 17th Jan 2024
As part of the Location Sound module for my undergraduate degree, I organized a field recording performance of one of my original compositions. The piece, titled The Echoes of a Forgotten Breeze, explores the relationship between a solo clarinet and the natural environment.
For the recording, I used a SoundField ST450 alongside a spaced pair of Neumann KM184s, capturing the session with a Sound Devices 833. Our team of four included a producer, camera operator, production sound mixer, and cable wrangler. As the director, I was responsible for writing call sheets, conducting risk assessments, scheduling rehearsals, composing the music, mixing and mastering the tracks, and editing the video footage.
The project also featured an interview between myself (the composer) and the performer, discussing the creative and logistical challenges we faced. For this, we used a boom microphone (a Sennheiser MKH 416) and hidden lavalier mics (Sanken COS11Ds) on each participant. The final edit blended both audio sources with the video footage.
The ambience of the lake was just as much a part of the music as the clarinet was. Being able to control the spatial relationship between those elements, during the recording and afterwards, was worth far more than a single spot mic would have been. Given the monitoring limitations of outdoor recording, keeping the full sonic positioning data let me make precise adjustments during the studio mix, and it gave more control over stereo-mono compatibility.
Thanks to its consistent off-axis response, the ST450’s tetrahedral capsule array delivers a uniform frequency response in all directions, which let me capture the natural reflections of the clarinet outside accurately while reducing artificial colouration.
The ST450 does have a few limitations: its higher noise floor makes it less suited for capturing the clarinet’s quietest nuances. Pairing it with Neumann KM184s addressed this: the KM184s provided a lower-noise, more detailed high end and sharper transient response, while the ST450 preserved the vast spatiality of the lake’s ambience.
The layout mockup:
