Basic home studio design: You’ve made the decision to produce your own music, but where do you start? One option is to go to the nearest professional recording studio, however with fees starting at $100 ...
A far cry from today’s stereo sound cards the Stereo LP record was first introduced in 1957 and brought along with it a whole new home music listening experience. Although stereo sound reproduction had been experimented with in the early part of the 1900’s, and used in motion pictures such as Disney’s Fantasia in the 1930’s, the excessive costs incurred made it prohibitively expensive.
Pic by whiskymac
The popularity of stereo grew rapidly because as well as providing a sense of the relative positioning of the instruments, the stereo recording technique lets listeners feel they are actually present in the same room as the performers.
Stereo Sound Cards - The Options
M-Audio Audiophile 192 Sound Card
M-Audio Delta 44 Digital Audio Sound Card
Creative Technology E-MU®1616M Sound Card
Now for the Techniques
Stereo recording is achieved by the use of two microphones and there are various different microphone positioning techniques, all of which have their own pros and cons. For the purposes of this article we’ll just concentrate on the more popular techniques, but there are in fact many different ways to record in stereo. It’s up to each individual to experiment with different techniques and then select the one that best suits their requirements.
Coincident-Pair Techniques
This technique provides excellent stereo imaging with no noticeable phase problems. It is ideal in situations where there are noise problems and you need to ‘zoom in’ on sound.
The X/Y combination is the most common of the coincident-pair techniques and involves the positioning of two microphones of the same make and model towards the sound source and is ideal for close up recordings. Cardioid microphones placed at angles of between 90 and 120 degrees will provide you with a very focused recording and is often considered the perfect technique for those who are just starting off in the world of stereo recording.
Similar to the X/Y combination, the Blumlein Array uses two figure 8 microphones placed at 90 degree angles to each other. The centre angle faces the sound source allowing for an even balance.
The last of the coincident pair techniques is called the Mid-Side. This recording method uses a cardioid and a figure 8 microphone positioned to form a T shaped polar pattern. The Mid-Side technique produces a left, right, and center image but requires double recording followed by the use of a decoder matrix or computer software to adjust the tracks.
Spaced-Pair Techniques
This technique gives a better low-frequency response with enhanced stereo images but due to phasing problems it is more difficult to use.
To get around the phasing problems you should begin by mixing both tracks to mono and then experiment with the positioning of the microphones until the bass volume is as low as possible.
If you’re recording large instruments such as a piano, adopt the 3:1 rule. By positioning your microphones above the instrument’s hammers, three times the distance to the sound source from each other, you’ll achieve a perfect mix of bass notes to the left and treble notes to the right.
ORTF Technique
The ORTF technique (Office de Radiodiffusion Télévision Française) is similar to the X/Y in that it uses two cardioid microphones. These are placed 17 centimetres apart and angled at 110 degrees. This technique does not lend itself to close up recordings and is better suited to situations like concerts where the microphones can be placed further back in a room.
Other similar techniques include:-
The Faulkner Array which uses 2 figure 8 microphones, placed 20 centimetres apart and facing parallel to the sound source.
The Stereo 180 technique which uses two hypercardioid microphones, 4.6 centimetres apart and angled at 135 degrees.
As mentioned earlier, there are several other recording techniques in use. However to be a successful sound engineer you need to have knowledge of many different recording methods and the ability to adapt to each individual session regardless of the surroundings.
So as soon as you have your Stereo Sound Cards, the time will be right to get cracking with these tricks…
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