Latest Masterworks concert.

[Allan Black]

Here’s the next concert in the Helena Masterworks series streamed live on UTube in Montana U.S.A. …

Masterworks VI: Carmen in Concert! - YouTube

The reason they’re posted here in the Audio Forum is because of the great sound by engineer John Murphy who uses Australian RODE mics. And this time it’s Bizet’s Carmen which has some of the most well known melodies in Opera. There’s a saying that goes, he works so hard to make it sound so easy, in this case so good.

And this time that certainly is the case, John will be here soon to let us know some of the trials in getting this all together using his Zoom L-20 mixers and what looks to me like DPA necklace mics on all the lead singers, who wander around in amongst the orchestra during their performance.

Here’s a list of running times. The concert starts at 11:00 with a rousing rendition of Ukraine’s national anthem and the Overture starts at 14:15. ACT ONE/TWO start at 17:50. The Helena commercials start at 1:48:30 and ACT THREE commences at 2:12:00. Enjoy.

Cheers.

[John Murphy]

Kids, DON’T TRY THIS AT HOME! What a project this was.
When we originally planned this show is was going to be “Carmen in concert”, plenty of work but doable. Set out mics on the raised stage and capture the performers where they stood. Sometime between our meeting 7 weeks ago and the 2 weeks just before showtime maestro decided to stage the show. Now we need 9 separate body worn mics and someone with enough time to wire up the singers. When I made mention of this apparently overlooked fact, the FOH and the stage manager said they would handle that. Thank Goodness! I never even looked at the mics although they were hair/over the ear setups. With the exception of one buzzing transmitter, receiver, they worked very well.
With the increased usage of electronic devices used in place of sheet music more and more interference is being generated. Some of the choir mics and several orchestra mics were popping. We chased this for 3 days with no luck on finding where the interference was coming from. Finally on Friday night we (I) made the bold decision to change out the choir mics with whatever we could find. I rerouted one of the offending orchestra mics and left one as it was. My comment to the FOH was that we would have the Ukrainian national anthem to dial in the choir mics on show night. What could possibly go wrong!
Well the gamble paid off, the only offending mic was the mic that I did not re-wire. Sorry viola players. Shut that mic off.
There was way more to the story but the end result was pretty good.
Hope you enjoy the show. J

[Allan Black]

John, listeners to Carmen will never be aware you went to that much trouble to get that great result. The live comments on the UTube Live Chat column certainly appreciated it, even the knowledgable Helena manager commented ‘The sound is magnificent.’

It looks to me like the singers were using DPA necklace mics, and you never even saw them before you used them live is more than incredible, it’s heart attack territory. Your previous experience along with some Luck of the Irish is evident there. Your Zoom L-20 mixer is another great sounding unit, the reverbs in the mixer channels add colour and depth to your mixes.

The U.S. Montana agent for Zoom came to the party with a 2nd mixer when John recently discovered a possible problem with his 48 volt mic. supply on a couple of channels, it’s apparently ok but they said he could keep their new L-20 for this Carmen concert.
That’s what I call product support.

You’re right John, don’t try this at home … I won’t :)
Cheers.