The Benedict Music Tent, the principal venue at the annual Aspen (Colorado) Music Festival, utilized Neumann M 150 microphones for live orchestral performances recorded and heard on American Public Media (APM), Colorado Public Radio, and Aspen Public Radio.
Since 1949, the Aspen Music Festival and School has been one of the most famous classical music festivals in the world and one of the most prolific, hosting more than 350 performances between June and August each year. Performances range anywhere from small chamber ensembles (three to five musicians) up to more than 100 musicians and a full choir on stage.
Each year, the main microphone array at the Benedict Music Tent consists of a Decca tree with five Neumann M 150 tube microphones placed in the center and arrayed across the stage.
“Our Neumann M 150s tube microphones, which were a gift from the Sidney E. Frank Foundation, have been a staple of the festival for a long time,” says Scott Burgess, head audio engineer for the Aspen Music Festival and School. “It is of paramount importance for us to capture every instance of what these incredibily talented students are doing onstage, and the M 150 lends a warm sound that makes the orchestra shine in all of our recordings and broadcast transmissions across the country.”
Each performance in Benedict Music Tent is manned by the festival’s audio staff, which consists of 14 advanced students and professionals. Burgess says that students on the audio staff come from many of the major recording institutions around the country.
This year, the Neumann M 150s — which were chosen as the principle microphone several years ago in a “blind” listening test versus microphones several leading manufacturers — were routed to Grace Design and Millennia Media preamplifiers situated in the catwalk of the venue before being converted by an RME AD/DA interface and subsequently routed to a Studer digital console in the control room.
The team also relied on several Sennheiser HD 600s for headphone monitoring, including at front of house. “The HD 600s can be useful at Front of House since they sound great and are open air,” says Burgess. “They can be useful for hearing audio details while remaining aware of what is transpiring around you.”
While this is only Burgess’ second season, he says there is plenty of collective experience to draw from, and that the Neumann M 150 plays an integral role. “The festival has been working these rooms for a long time and, and we are quite clear on what we want and how to get it. From this perspective, the Neumann M 150 delivers in every possible aspect,” he concludes.
