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There are tons of discussions about these stereo techniques (RTF, NOS, XY, Decca tree, Blumlein, AB) but I did not see much with regard to the mix once used them after recording.
After one has recorded using one of these stereo techniques, what procedure to follow in the mixing process? Logically, the tracks should already reflect the stereo effect ... but if we are not entirely satisfied with the result:
What can one do with the 2 tracks in the DAW? If we do not let them as such, at 0 in the mixer, how much panning after each technique?
What after used the Decca tree technique that results in 3 tracks (from the 3 mics used)? Yes, I know, the center one let to the center, of course.
Thank you for your time.

Comments

Boswell Fri, 03/18/2016 - 10:26

Well, all the microphone configurations you listed are mainly used as stereo, so they would be naturally panned hard L and R. That said, I have on occasion artifically narrowed and skewed an image by setting the pan controls away from the end stops, but it's only been when I've used a stereo configuration on something like a xylophone that has needed a bit of width but had to be positioned in an overall L-R field at mixdown.

There are several microphone configurations that do not natively generate L-R images. Examples of these are Mid-Side (MS), MS-Blumlein, and the Decca Tree that you mentioned. These all require decoding to generate correct L-R results, and then they appear similar to a standard L-R pair and can be panned and mixed as above. There are further configurations such as tetrahedral that are more way-out, and these have their own decoding matrices.

If you include surround mixing and other mix types beyond simple L-R, then further de-coding prior to mix and post-mix coding work may be needed.

paulears Fri, 03/18/2016 - 16:05

The whole point is that with stereo miking techniques, you get your balance and stereo field right before you record, as said above, the only real [possibility stereo wise afterwards is to reduce the stereo field in width, and use eq. Pretty well everything is fixed. This is why it's so important to monitor on real speakers because stereo imaging is so difficult to do on headphones. I guess this is also why some people use M/S to retain a bit more control after the recording is done.

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