Kansas gets real with Soundfield mic system

Platinum disc-collecting rock veterans Kansas have recorded their first DVD 5.1 surround audio and film production, which captures a unique live performance.
Engineers from Real 2 Reel Studios used the new Soundfield Mark V/SP451 surround microphone package to capture live realism and ambience of the performance. The DVD, the 'Device Voice Drum', was made after a special performance for only hardcore fans at the Earthlink Live Venue. Atlanta, in June and is due for release in the autumn.
Real 2 Reel's project director Michie Turpin, and director of photography Steve Shepard used six film cameras, four video cameras, and a Sony 3348 digital tape machine recording on all 48 tracks to capture the live performance. Six of the 48 digital audio tracks were dedicated to the SP451's 5.1 outputs for the entire concert for ambience and 5.1 surround.
Kansas, who boast 30 years in the business, not to mention three sextuple-platinum albums, one live platinum album and eight gold albums, were delighted with the finished project. The elaborate live production included a string quartet for the band’s million-selling single Dust in the Wind and a seventy-four person choir for the song Preacher.
Real 2 Reel’s co-owner and engineer Steve Rawls said: "One of our concerns was how we were going to get the live feel and sound of the concert for the 5.1 mix without frequency cancellation or physical mic placement problems.
Those concerns turned out to not even be an issue once we introduced the Mark V/SP451 system. It captured all of the wonderful ambience of the concert flawlessly and beautifully from one microphone."
(GB)