Martin Mitchell – Recording with the Valkyr

Martin Mitchell - Recording with the Valkyr

Having reviewed our BMx2 ‘Valkyr’ stereo microphone earlier this year, Martin Mitchell has been recording with the microphone for few months now. A fan of minimal mic’ing, Martin was kind enough to write and tell us how he’s been using the ‘Valkyr’ and share some recordings with us.

“What I’m trying to do with these various recordings using the ‘Valkyr’ is to show off its stereo capabilities on a range of subject which are perhaps a bit different. 

The Stuart Singers are a Gloucestershire based 70 strong choir, who tackle a very wide range of material from Mozart to Musicals to The Beatles. In the first half of the clip 8 solo singers are arranged in a line across the front performing an a cappella (unaccompanied) version of a traditional folk song. The mic captures an intimate and detailed stereo image conveying the exact positioning of the performers.

In second half of the clip, the full choir sings ‘One’ from the Broadway musical ‘A Chorus Line’.  This very neatly demonstrates the capability of the ‘Valkyr’ with a much larger choral subject. Once again positional accuracy is excellent. The balance across the frequency range is excellent and requires absolutely nothing in the way of post-production EQ. Across the 2 pieces the dynamic range is huge and once again the mic comes up with the goods. The shout at the end of ‘One’ missed the end of the meters by about -1/4 db.

For accurate ‘real stereo’ recording the ‘Valkyr’ provides an extremely cost effective, and unobtrusive solution. 

I recently witnessed a group of university Music Production students setting up in a cathedral to recording a similar subject using 12 microphones!  The tutor was directing them………. I firmly bit my tongue and departed.

This type of recording is largely a matter of artistic judgement. Choosing the right mic and putting it in the right place.”

Thank you Martin, these really are beautiful recordings.

June 19, 2019