This Sunday I will record a handbell concert. Have not been to the church yet, but it seems that their normal performance layout is a single row about 20 people wide.

My concern is that I might have to be close enough to them (for acoustic or practical reasons, it's a live concert) that the distance from a central mic (or pair) to the center performers will be much closer than the distance from the mic(s) to the performers far right and left.

Seems like no matter what, a pair of (probably) omnis somewhere out on the flanks to balance the far right/left performers. But I'm curious for ideas for the center mic or pair.

Options I can imagine are:

1. Single omni center. Classical 3-across.
2. Some kind of XY or ORTF-like center pair.

or... this hairbrained(?) idea...

What about using an MS center with a wide cardiod as the M mic? A Schoeps MK21/MK8 rig.

Here's the thinking.

Usually in an MS setup the M mic (cardiod, most often for me) rolls off to the sides where the Fig 8 is coming in. So there is a fairly uniform response directionally. But in this case, I probably have a significant level difference between the center and far left/right players because of the widely different distances. (Of course, this assumes I have to get close enough to the center to be getting into the direct field.)

By using a wide card for the M, I will end up with a higher overall gain on the L/R lobes of the pattern, which might help to conterbalance this.

Of course, if the idea turns out to be nuts, I can still use the MK21 as a respectable center mic alone (using MK2S onmis as the L/R flanks).

Anyone ever tried this? I have a little rehearsal time, but not really too much for experimenting.

I'll track all the mics, so I can mix it later.

Michael