overhead and stereo mic techniques???

Posted: Sat Apr 10, 2004 5:53 am

hey does anyone know a site or a good book that has complete discriptions and pictures of overhead and stereo mic techniques?
thanks -jal

Posted: Sat Apr 10, 2004 7:12 am

These three websites will get you on your way

http://www.dpamicrophones.com/eng_pub/index.html

http://www.tape.com/Bartlett_Articles/stereo_microphone_techniques.html

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/1997_articles/feb97/stereomiking.html

also look at the posting for m/s micing technique in this forum

Respected Past Moderator Joined: Mar 13, 2001 Posts: 1256

jalipaz wrote:

hey does anyone know a site or a good book that has complete discriptions and pictures of overhead and stereo mic techniques?
thanks -jal

you're on one

Posted: Sat Apr 10, 2004 2:39 pm

hey thanks for those links johnwy! ive seen those before im ike looking for like real pictures though. like isnt their a book or a site that just has pictures of a technique and then what its called and a description of how it sounds. yeah i know recorderman, i really dug ur technique on here. i replied on it.
-jal

Posted: Sat Apr 10, 2004 6:52 pm

Your best bet would be to get a book called "Professional Microphone Techniques" by David Miles Huber and Philip Williams (available at amazon.com).

The Shure website also has downloadable pdf's on a whole lotta stuff at http://www.shure.com/booklets/techpubs.html

Use these as a guide, your ears will do the rest.

Posted: Sun Apr 11, 2004 1:21 pm

i have that book it doesnt have many pictures at all. -jal
nevermind. i was just wondering if their was a site or a book that had all the oh, and stereo mic techniques neatly laid out with a very detailed picture and description, guess not. -jal

Posted: Mon Apr 12, 2004 8:57 am

scoll down on this forum and look for a huge thread about overhead mic technique. I forget the title, but it's over 5 pages long. The 2nd or 3rd post is by Recorderman, with a very detailed description about overhead mic placement. It's not conventional, but by the replies on that thread it works very well. I haven't tried it myself.

I think RM gets a little frustrated that he spent all that time describing that mic technique and people don't bother to even scroll down for it, let alone search. Can't say I blame him.

Kase
www.minemusic.net

Posted: Mon Apr 12, 2004 2:34 pm

thanx for the reply dymaxian.
i did read all that. im the last person who replied on that post. it was great, but again it doesnt mention all the techniques and their arent pictures of all the techniques. thats what im looking for. i did goto school for recording in '95 but they didnt cover all the techniques and id really like to know all of them, the reason i want pictures is cause a description just isnt enough. what id really like to find is a video, i mean it wouldnt be that hard to have a video with that, just film so guy setting up mics and showing what preperation he did and what it sounded like. so thats more of what im looking for. -jal

Respected Past Moderator Joined: Mar 13, 2001 Posts: 1256

dymaxian wrote:

I think RM gets a little frustrated that he spent all that time describing that mic technique and people don't bother to even scroll down for it, let alone search. Can't say I blame him.

thanks..but not even. It's only one tool in the chest. there is no best way to do anything, except maybe the beat way for each unique situation.
Jack Joseph Puig once told me about the first time he worked for Glyn Johns, recording guitar for somebody like Clapton, I don't remember the artist. He spent all this time trying to put up the perfect combination of mics in the perfect phase arrayed placement. Glynn came out and asked him if he was done? jack replied yes...then Glyn kicked over his beautiful "perfectly" placed mics. and said hurry up and just throw it up...he had a guitar overdub to do. The point was, there's many things much more important to making the sound great than any single technique or gear, etc. On this particular day, The artist who was about to play and Glyn's coaching/production were far more relevant. Many times the amount of difference that that 1" makes especially heard days, weeks or even months later is irrelevant. We end up changing the EQ anyway to make it fit with the rest of things that have been added, or our own changed perspective of that day. It's a combination of everything. The sum is greater than the whole. I'd rather get everything @ 90% than get stuck on any one thing trying to achieve 100% and missing completely something else.

Posted: Mon Apr 12, 2004 9:30 pm

i couldnt agree with u more rm. im just looking for a real wide, and detailed stereo image. know of any? i mean i did the snar and r shoulder technique but i just cant get it wide enough. sounds good though. any ideas would be great, if not ill stop talking.
thanks -jal

Posted: Tue Apr 13, 2004 7:02 am

jalipaz wrote:

i couldnt agree with u more rm. im just looking for a real wide, and detailed stereo image. know of any? i mean i did the snar and r shoulder technique but i just cant get it wide enough. sounds good though. any ideas would be great, if not ill stop talking.
thanks -jal

This paragraph is taken from the Bruce Bartlett tape.com article that I provided a link to above:

"With the coincident-pair method (XY or intensity stereo method), two directional mics are mounted with grilles nearly touching and diaphragms one above the other, angled apart to aim approximately toward the left and right sides of the ensemble. For example, two cardioid microphones can be mounted angled apart, their grilles one above the other. Other directional patterns can be used, too. The greater the angle between microphones, and the narrower the polar pattern, the wider the stereo spread."

Hope this is what you are looking for.

Posted: Tue Apr 13, 2004 6:06 pm

Hi jalipaz,

I saw your question and it's something I am getting ready to do as well. I just got my copy of Recording magazine today and there is an excellent article on stereo recording and good pictures of the various mic techniques. It was on recording classical demos and although it is not my preferred kind of music it is a good article and you will pick up some good stuff there.

I'm considering getting a pair of stereo mikes for this as well, anyone have an opinion on the Studio Projects C4 condensers versus a pair of AKG C1000s?

Both are in the same price range. Anyone?

cheers

forsooth Very Happy

Posted: Tue Apr 13, 2004 7:05 pm

thanks forsooth ill definitely check it out. i had the c1000's before not really a fan ive heard good things about the sp's though. o and their is a topic all about that on this forum it should be pretty recently. -jal
what kind of music r u into?

Posted: Tue Apr 13, 2004 8:25 pm

Hey Jalipaz,

You might want to try this site --> http://www.oade.com/Tapers_Section/faq-mic.html

I found the wealth of information on this site to be very helpful.

Hope it helps you too.

JHC

Respected Past Moderator Joined: Mar 13, 2001 Posts: 1256

If you want wide...use a standard spaced pair of OH's on either side of the kit, on the outside, above the kit (usually over the cymbals ) looking down. I hat toms going from speaker to speaker, etc. and it isn't as punchy / not my cup o tea. To get it beyond the speakers, though you'll need something like 'Q'-sound, spatializer, B.A.S.E. unit, ect...something that plays with phase. Again though, this approach will have detrimental affect on the kick & snare, toms, lo and lo-mid in general..that's why I like a more centered approach...like if you're on the kit or looking at it. Let's us know what you finally come up with that you like.

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