Renaissance Concert in 3D

Concept and aim

As part of the 6th-semester Linear Workshop, we had the opportunity to collaborate with the Civica Scuola di Musica Claudio Abbado in Milan. The singers and musicians from the Scuola performed a Renaissance concert entitled “Gaude Gloriosa” at the Castello Sforzesco in Milan. Our task was to record the concert in 3D, then mix it in Dolby Atmos and produce an accompanying video. As part of the collaboration, we had the opportunity to attend the rehearsals at Villa Simonetta, the music conservatoire, to test our set-up and to gather video footage and interviews for our documentary. Our lecturers, Moritz Bergfeld and Felix Krückels, also gave masterclasses to the music and sound students at the Scuola.

Microphone Setup

We chose a 2L-Cube as our main microphone array. This consists of nine omnidirectional microphones, each attached to the corners of a one-metre-wide cube, with an additional microphone at the bottom centre. As all the instruments were given equal weight in the mix, it was important that all the support microphones were positioned at the same distance from the instrument or singer. We received active support from the Italian sound engineering students during the stage set-up.

Mixing

The concert was mixed in Dolby Atmos. For this, we used the university’s surround sound studio. It was fascinating to fine-tune the balance between the 3D room microphone and the individual support microphones. In the Dolby Atmos Renderer, we defined a ‘bed’ for the microphone array and the instruments as individual objects.

Headphones should therefore be used to listen to the concert.

Video

The 15-minute video comprises three songs from the concert at the Castello Sforzesco, as well as documentary footage, shots of the concert venue and various interviews with musicians from the Scuola and technicians from our team.

To this end, the entire concert was recorded using five cameras.

Conclusion and Acknowledgements

For us, this project marked our first contact with a 3D music production. It gave us the opportunity to gain experience with 3D microphone arrays, the Dolby Atmos renderer and an Atmos mix. The blend of classical and Renaissance music was also a unique experience for us. We learnt a great deal about what is essential in a classical production. We were also able to develop additional skills in the field of Audio over IP whilst working with Ravenna.

We would particularly like to thank Alessandra d’Aquino Hilt, who organised and oversaw the collaboration with the Scuola di Musica. We would also like to thank the sound engineering students at the Scuola di Musica, who supported us behind the camera during rehearsals, whilst setting up the equipment for the concert, and throughout the concert itself.

We would also like to thank our lecturers, who gave us the opportunity to take part in this fantastic project and gain new experiences.

Gaude Gloriosa (at Castello Sforzesco) [https://youtu.be/uNVgOkjalb0]