In Picture: ESMA, Ambeo and GoPro Fusion on stage
Towards the end of the fall semester in December 2017, the Immersive Audio Group had the opportunity to record the NYU Adult Choir and Children’s Chorus during the Holiday Concert. The event took place at 7 pm on the 17th at NYU Skirball, a premier cultural and performing arts venue in Greenwich Village. This was one of the first live performances the group recorded with a combination of ambisonic recording techniques and 360º video, and provided a great opportunity for us try out some new recording setups, including the Equal Segment Microphone Array (ESMA).
People involved in the production-
- Marta Olko, Producer
- Charles Craig Jr., Co-Producer
- Ying-Ying Zhang, Lead Recording Engineer
- Peter Berman, Assistant Recording Engineer
- Scott Murakami, Assistant Recording Engineer
- Sungsoo Kim, Secondary Assistant Recording Engineer
- Sripathi Sridhar, GoPro Fusion
The recording components used in the setup were an ESMA array, 2 Ambeo microphones and a GoPro Fusion 360º camera for the video recording. The ESMA array is a audio recording technique suitable for virtual reality (VR) reproduction, detailed by Dr. Hyunkook Lee of University of Huddersfield (ESMA). The array captures immersive sound without using specialized ambisonic or binaural microphones, instead capturing a soundfield by a combination of multiple polar patterns. In addition, the Sennheiser Ambeo ambisonic microphones were used, which capture soundfields using 1st order ambisonics.
Since the auditorium is a large space, the venue characteristics were taken into account in the recording setup. The placement of a microphone in the audience area helps to capture a different perspective of the soundfield, as well as the audience reaction and involvement. Keeping this in mind, an Ambeo mic was suspended from the balcony above the audience area to increase immersion in VR reproduction. Another Ambeo mic occupied a more conventional position at the foot of the stage, alongside the GoPro Fusion camera. This microphone captures more of the performers’ sound along with the ESMA. The GoPro Fusion is a recently released 360º camera that uses its 2 lenses to capture, well, 360º footage. Although there are yet software and hardware improvements anticipated, it is perhaps one of the best affordable 360º cameras in the market today.
Despite the challenging nature of the ESMA configuration, the engineers got the setup up and running after much effort. The ESMA consisting of 4 Schoeps MK6 and 4 Sennheiser MKH-800 microphones, and the 2 Ambeo microphones were rigged to the Antelope Orion 32HD+MP32 preamps.
Overall, it was a fantastic experience and will be treasured by everyone involved. The recordings were of a high quality and currently going through post-production, to be released on the website soon. Stay tuned!
By Sripathi Sridhar
