Life has just bit me

[ajazzie]

I have always bagged bagpipes(excuse the poor pun), yet I have just been asked to record a few tunes for a festival. There are drums, a bass and of course those wretched pipes. Any ideas where to start and an approach to this session?
I understand its hard to be serious on this one but it is a genuine question.
Put the pipers on a click, then add the rest in turn?
Could be a nightmare.
Help please, AJ

[ethical]

just guessing,not having any experience here...
one mic from behind topick up the "drones" and
one from the front to get the melody pipe
or do you find a good room and just use a nice condenser??
i was once at a birthday party and apiper snare player and abig bass drum from the local pipe and drums marching band came in
they marched around the room and just filled the the room with this vibe...
i don't know if thats what youre trying to capture and it would probably be a mission to recreate the airwaves actually moving aroung you
be interested to hear how you get on

[Severe]

Originally posted by ajazzie:
I have always bagged bagpipes(excuse the poor pun), yet I have just been asked to record a few tunes for a festival. There are drums, a bass and of course those wretched pipes. Any ideas where to start and an approach to this session?
I understand its hard to be serious on this one but it is a genuine question.
Put the pipers on a click, then add the rest in turn?
Could be a nightmare.
Help please, AJ

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">That is some funny sh**. Of all the people on this board to ask this question......
You had this one comin' buddy. lol

Sorry I cant help. Im sure youll find an answer here though. Sounds interesting. Good Luck.

[mixin'chick]

I have found that the way to get a really great sound from the bags is to set them on fire.

Really phat!

Sorry couln't control myself.

Best of luck with the session.

I would accually try a nice condenser about 4-6 ft. in front of the player.

MC

[SoundWrangler]

For the trad. pipe & drums corp, I would go with a "classical" approach, your basic x-y stereo config. of large diaphragm stereo condensers over the entire ensemble (plus maybe some spot mics for safety, say the bass drum or an add'l stereo pair in front of the snare players) & experiment with placement of the players. (But I'm mystified by the bass; more likely sounds like this isn't a traditional ensemble?) If it's just a single piper, you could of course try two mic's on chanter & drones, or maybe again x-y stereo, since these things have a really huge sound field & I think would be pretty grating if miked too closely - just guessing, though - I've never done it myself...

One thing I do know from colleagues who've recorded pipe ensembles: they're incredibly loud. Aside from watching if you need to kick in the pad switch on your mic's, the sound will fill up & reflect/phase-cancel quite badly in the typical mid-sized recording rooms in most studios (espec. if they're fairly live, which otherwise is desirable for that parade drum sound they favor). Easily said, I know, but the ideal thing would be a really good-sounding small theatre stage, or orchestra shell.
Oh, & one last thing: be sure to hide all the liquour before the pipers arrive! [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[where02190]

They won't need/want a click. I agree with the previous poster, a decent sized, medium reverb time room is ideal, something wiht not alot of reflections, but a bit of short life to it. One stero pair, capturing the full sound of the ensemble, as individual micing will 1) sound very artifical and 2) they'll be pipes in everything anyway.

And yes, they are extremely loud. Use a pair of mics that can handle high spl's.

Hope this is helpful.

[ajazzie]

THanks all, I have been to thier rehearsal and I must say that the noise factor is a concern.
"Where" what condensors do you recommend?
The volume of these outweight the ammount of noise allowed in the entire universe by about 50:1, and to be honest its a tie between the field snare and the noise sticks. Is it worth a try or should I send them to pipe heaven?

concerned if I can do this one?

AJ [img]images/icons/confused.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/confused.gif[/img]