How To Record String, Wood, Brass Sections, and Orchestras With the N8

The N8’s open, natural character and expansive tonal range, make it the ideal mic to capture instrument sections like woodwind, string, and brass. Its far-field functionality and figure-of-8 polar pattern allow for the blending of the direct sound of your instrument with expansive, dimensional room sound.

The far-field N8 delivers a balanced treble/bass ratio from as far as 20 feet away, supplementing the direct sound of an instrument with expansive, dimensional room sound. Recording a section is made simple by fixing two N8s in the Blumlein configuration of the NUVO Stereo Kit and perching it 6 to 10 feet in front of the instrumentalists. By moving the N8 or N8 Stereo Kit array closer or farther from the source, one can find the desired treble/bass ratio as well as balanced direct sound/room sound.

Orchestras

In many instances, a pair of N8s positioned in Blumlein configuration or ORTF from 10 – 20 feet away from an orchestra is all that you need to really capture the sound of the musicians in the room. This setup with N8s has become a staple in Hollywood when recording movie scores.

In the following video, Kaleidoscope, an incredible conductorless chamber orchestra, performs a breathtaking piece by Prokofiev with only a pair of N8s in ORTF positioned 10 feet above the stage. In this video, only the N8s are heard.