CAPTURE #1 :: Drumming @ Tertulia Castelense

Date: 27 July 07
Place: Tertulia Castelense, Castêlo da Maia, Northwest Portugal
Description: 'Drumming' - ESMAE's percusion orchestra - playing live at a venue called 'Tertulia Castelense' near Porto, Portugal.
Equipment: 2 Oktava Mk-012 small diaphragm condenser microphones w/ cardioid capsules; 1 Mottu 828Mk2 firewire audio interface; 1 Dell Precision M65 laptop pc; 1 Senheiser HD-25 headphones; 2 20m XLR balanced cables



The 'Drumming' percusion orchestra is mainly composed by a beautiful instrument that comes right out of the Trinidad and Tobago islands - the steel drums - together with both a regular drum and a percusion set. I had never heard them before and got quite impressed: they're a hell of nice group of musicians and gave us a great concert that evening. Lots of energy and vibe...



Lukkas had been invited to perform along in one of the songs which he'd written for them, so we had a good opportunity to go and capture the gig.



We decided to place the mics above the stage, stuck to the lights rack so they wouldn't disturb or be disturbed by the audience, and using an X/Y setup got what we though was the best sound possible acording to the acoustic of the room.











It was a great first experience for a live capture, thanks to Lukkas who guided me through the whole process, to the 'Drumming' orchestra, and to the people down at 'Tertulia Castelense' who were most helpful.

A couple of hours after the gig, 5:00AM I was starting what would be my first trip with the new wheels, a hit'n'run voyage to Barcelona. The mission: to get my stuff from my ex-flat and come back alive.

Anyway, check out some sound samples (not yet mastered):

Sample1
Sample2
Sample3