ISSUE 1/MAY 2014
18
Indeed the short-coming has been addressed by The UTT by introducing a number of new methods and technologies to the recording process.
Most excitingly among these is the addition of surround sound which can be experienced on the panorama DVD’s that are available from PanTrinbago. Surround sound means the listener can hear 360° of the band helping with directionality and depth, The UTT Music Technology group adopted this technique to give the listener the experience of being inside the band an aspect of the music which spectators could never experience previously without actually going to the panyard; this is done in 5.1 Dolby or DTS.
This year (2014) the MTECH group also implemented the use of the Soundfield Surround microphone that is placed in the Grand Stand behind the judges to capture what the judges are actually hearing. All this in addition to using many of the worlds best microphones and preamps including Neumann U87, DPA, Shure SM91, AEA R84, Sennheiser e614, Grace, Focusrite, API and many others coalesce to add to the richness of the final product.
Additionally all the microphones are time aligned, this means there is little or no phasing between microphones. Once the recording and mixing in high-definition format HD, DSD Super Audio and PCM 192kHz is complete it is then mixed down using Steinberg Nuendo and Samplitude, which are audio and video post-production software.
You can visit The UTT Campus @ NAPA at any time to talk about the process with one the involved students or instructors. The proof is in the pudding so you should definitely also check out the panorama DVD’s. The group has a facebook page called PANPOT where you can listen to panorama performances in stereo at least until they get a way to stream in Surround Sound. Below is a lay out of one of the surround recording setups.
Contd.