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Microphone heights for orchestral recording
Height is the adjustment that changes an orchestral pickup the most and gets written down the least. These are working heights for each kind of microphone, what moves when you change them, and how to put them on a plot so a crew can set them without you.
Why height matters more than it seems
Moving a main microphone up does three things at once. It lengthens the path from every instrument, which evens out the balance between the front desks and the back rows. It changes the ratio of direct sound to hall, because the hall arrives from everywhere while the direct sound is now further away. And it changes the angle at which the mic sees the floor, which decides how strong the first reflection is and whether it combs the sound. Lowering it reverses all three. Nothing else on the plot — spacing, pattern, model — trades those three against each other so cleanly, which is why a tree is tuned mostly by its height.
Working heights
Heights are the capsule above the stage floor. The ranges are where most engineers start; the hall and the ensemble decide where you end up.
| Microphone | Starting height | Higher gives | Lower gives |
|---|---|---|---|
| Decca tree / main pair | 3–3.7 m (10–12 ft) | Blend between sections, more hall, winds and brass come up against the strings | Presence and detail, strings forward, less hall |
| Outriggers | Same as the tree or a little lower, 2.7–3.4 m (9–11 ft) | Smoother join with the tree | More definition at the string edges |
| String section spots | 2.4–3 m (8–10 ft) | Hears a section rather than a desk | Individual players and bow noise |
| Woodwind pair | 2.7–3.4 m (9–11 ft) | Looks over the music stands, evens the two rows | Front row dominates, stands block the back row |
| Brass spots | 3–3.7 m (10–12 ft) | Rounder tone, less spit and bite | Edge and attack |
| Timpani, percussion | 2–2.7 m (6½–9 ft) | Blend, clear of mallets | Attack |
| Cello, bass, harp spots | 1.2–2.7 m (4–9 ft) | — | These instruments radiate low; a spot at violin height hears mostly the floor |
| Choir mics | 3–3.7 m (10–12 ft), angled down at the back rows | Evens the rows on risers | Front row forward |
| Hall / ambience pair | 3–5 m (10–16 ft), 10–20 m back in the hall | Smoother, more diffuse reverb | Audience noise, seat reflections |
What the hall does to the numbers
- Low ceilings cap the tree. If the hall's clearance over the podium is 5 m, a 3.7 m tree is already most of the way to the ceiling reflection; come down and widen instead.
- Deep stages ask for more height, not more spots. Raising the tree is the honest way to bring a brass section 15 m back into balance.
- Risers change the arithmetic. A woodwind player on a 40 cm riser is 40 cm closer to a mic set at 3 m. Note riser heights on the stage plot and set spot heights from the floor, not from the riser.
- Flown versus stand-mounted. A flown tree can go higher than any stand and is out of the way, but it needs the hall's rigging crew and their rules. Decide early and write the rigging point on the plot.
Writing heights so they get set
A height nobody can set is a height nobody sets. On the mic plot and input list:
- Write heights in the unit the crew measures in — feet and inches in most North American halls (9'6"), metres elsewhere — and be consistent across the whole plot.
- Give the stand with the height. A 12 ft spot on a plot without "tall boom" next to it becomes an 8 ft spot on session day, because that is the stand that was on the truck.
- For flown mics, give the height and the point on the grid or batten. The riggers will ask.
- Measure after the crew has set them. A tape measure on the first morning catches the stand that was built one section short.
Questions engineers ask
How high should a Decca tree be?
A full orchestra tree usually starts 3–3.7 m (10–12 ft) above the stage floor, over or just behind the podium. Higher blends the sections and adds hall; lower brings presence and pushes the strings forward. Low ceilings and chamber groups bring it down.
Should spot mics be higher or lower than the main array?
Lower. String spots sit around 2.4–3 m (8–10 ft), cellos, basses and harps lower still, because those instruments radiate from a lower point. Brass spots are the exception: 3–3.7 m and well back, to avoid bite.
Do I measure height from the floor or from a riser?
From the stage floor, and note the riser height on the stage plot. A player on a riser is that much closer to a mic set at a given floor height, which is what you want to know.
How high are hall or ambience mics placed?
Typically 3–5 m (10–16 ft) up and 10–20 m back into the hall, above the audience, so they hear diffuse reverberation rather than seat reflections and audience noise.
See every height from any angle
MicPlot shows each microphone at its real height over the seating in 3D, so a 12-foot tree and a 5-foot bass spot look like what they are, and prints them as feet-and-inches the crew can set.
Open MicPlotRelated guides
- Decca tree placement: a practical guide
Starting dimensions, height, outriggers, and what to move when the balance is off.
- Orchestral spot mics: where they go, how high, and when to leave them out
Spot mics are the microphones placed close to a section or an instrument to add definition the main array cannot give on its own. Used…
- How to make an orchestral mic plot
What goes on the plot, the order to build it in, and the mistakes that get a rig redone.