Tommie-boy, thanks for the great advice. I’ve got a pair of AT2020’s that I picked up for drumkit overheads. Cheapos. I also have four SM57’s, but I do guess that the AT2020’s are more appropriate. Now that you’ve also mentioned ORTF as a better starting point, as Southae did, maybe I’ll go with that. The smaller string orchestra and wind ensemble (around 20 members each) are on one day and the symphony orchestra is the next day (around 50 members). I was worried that ORTF would be too wide for the smaller ensembles, but it is true, they use up most of the stage anyway. Should I do ORTF on both days?
You’re certainly right about having two computers to record, and I certainly wish I had two. I was planning to use 24-bits at 44khz, as you recommend. I may be making a video, but I am pretty sure that the camera compresses the audio to MP3. So I guess that’s my only available backup. Maybe I can borrow a zoom. Do you use one stereo track or two mono tracks in Cubase?
Thanks for the pointers on levels; that’s what I needed. I’ll be able to test it out in dress rehearsal.
Now I have to go do my reading on SRAs!