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omni mic q

ok, i'm more than a bit embarassed to ask this. but i'm more curious than embarassed, so here goes:

is the stereo field represented with an omni mic?

ok, there i asked it. whew!

i've been using omni mics for quite awhile. and i've been thinking of a way to simply record and instrumental quartet. i was thinking of just sticking an omni mic in the middle of the quartet (we typical play in a circle). i definetly want a true stereo recording. at least, selfishly, the way i hear it when i'm playing. i don't want to waste anyone's time experimenting, so i thought i'd ask.

btw, here's my list of omni mics - RODE nt2, oktava 012, ev dynamic omni.

thanks!

tony

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Comments

anonymous Sat, 04/26/2003 - 20:46

The only way to get stereo with a single mic would be to use either a mic with a fig.8 pattern ( you'll need to split the output to two channels and flip the phase on one) or use a stereo mic, which to me doesn't count because it is actually two mics in one case.

That said mono omni recordings can sound quite good. Some of the best drum tracks I got with my old 4-track were done with a single omni above the drummer's head. No phase issues. ;)

:c:

KurtFoster Sat, 04/26/2003 - 21:15

Originally posted by M Brane:
The only way to get stereo with a single mic would be to use either a mic with a fig.8 pattern ( you'll need to split the output to two channels and flip the phase on one)
:c:

Tony,
Actually, this would just be out of phase mono. You need two elements to get true stereo... What M Brane is thinking of is mid side technique..of which he is discribing half of ... you would need a figure 8 mic and an omni mic to acomplish this. Try taking 2 omnis and placing them slightly above and behind where you sit in the circle. This should give you what you are wanting. ... Kurt

anonymous Sun, 04/27/2003 - 00:59

Kurt,

Ive heard of this M-S technique, but I wonder if it would work with a cardioid pattern mike.

Also, is it a common way to mic for recording OH drums?

I dont know, cuz I havnt had a fig-8 mic to play with, but I am thinking of getting a multipattern for my first condenser.

Thanks, man.

KurtFoster Sun, 04/27/2003 - 10:13

I am having a Brain F@rt on this one.. I was wondering when I wrote that. It may be a figure 8 mic and a cardioid mic instead of an omni. For some reason this is a piece of info that has escaped me.. "Senior Moments" .... M-S is a technique that usually is applied with classical recording. It isn't employed too often in regards to recording drums. All I can say is try it. It can't hurt. I'll see what I can find about mid side micing and come back here to post it. Kurt

KurtFoster Sun, 04/27/2003 - 10:27

I just did a quick search on Netscape (love it!) and I found this..

http://www.radiocollege.org/rc/tt14.html

We were both correct. Both omni or cardioid may be employed.. typically however, cardioid or hyper cardioid is used. There are some discriptions of other micing techniques there also.

Also of interest are these links ....

http://www.dpamicrophones.com

Gefell - the original hand-made German microphone

http://www.gefell-mics.com/stereo_mic.

Stereo Mic Techniques for Field Use

http://home.sprintmail.com/~markgrisw...

Transom Tools: Recording/Interviewing: Stereo-Types

http://www.transom.org/tools/recordin...

How to mike up a horn best

http://www.hornplayer.net/archive/a87.

Classical Microphone Techniques

http://music.depaul.edu/~tmiller/clas...

Kurt