Engineer/producer Robert Friedrich recently helmed sessions recording the Notre Dame Magnificat Choir, led by chorus director Dr. Patrick Kronner, at The University of Notre Dame utilizing Sanken CUX-100K and CO-100K microphones.
Friedrich is president and co-founder of Five/Four Productions and part of the company’s team of Grammy-winning producers and engineers. “We captured the full dynamics and depth of the choir, organ and percussion with Sanken’s hi-resolution 100K microphones in The Basilica of the Sacred Heart, which is beautiful and sounds phenomenal,” he says. “The natural extended decay of the Basilica is simply breathtaking.”
The CUX-100K and the CO-100K are both designed for high-resolution high sample rate recordings. The CO-100K is an omni mic whereas the CUX-100K has the ability to change modes with three settings: cardioid (far), cardioid (near) and omni.
“Our CUX-100K’s were used for the large choir and on the percussion to capture the immensity of the space. The results are very detailed and smooth,” Friedrich states. “For this performance we used them in the near cardioid setting. The CO-100K’s were also used as the main organ mics, positioned in the center of the large, vaulted nave.”
The Basilica of the Sacred Heart is an historic church on the campus of the University. The neo-gothic edifice has 44 large stained glass windows and murals completed over a 17-year period by the Vatican painter Luigi Gregori. The basilica bell tower is 230 feet high, making it the tallest university chapel in America, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
“The Sanken CO-100K’s were super-accurate in translating what was actually happening in this immense space,” he concludes. “The Sanken mics accurately captured all the overtones and complex harmonics of the singers and the massive organ.”
