Topic: Creative way to get ORTF every time?

[StarkRavingCalm]

I have a pair of LDCs that I normally mount on a stereo bar.

Does anyone have any creative to achieve ORTF each time?

Like some kind of clamp that can be applied behind them or something?

[2manyrocks]

http://www.gearslutz.com/board/remote-possibilities-acoustic-music-location-recording/743167-ortf-template.html

You can make a template.  One of the posters thought there was a guy here on TS who made lazer etched templates. 

[tgakidis]

Print this out on clear / translucent paper
http://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=62359.msg832485#msg832485

[DigiGal]

If you have an iOS device then pick up Stereo Mic Tools by Engineered Stuff.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/stereo-mic-tools/id572383335?mt=8

[flipp]

http://www.gearslutz.com/board/remote-possibilities-acoustic-music-location-recording/743167-ortf-template.html

You can make a template.  One of the posters thought there was a guy here on TS who made lazer etched templates.

perhaps the "dial-a-pattern" is what the poster was referring to

[StarkRavingCalm]

perhaps the "dial-a-pattern" is what the poster was referring to

I really like this. I'm gonna send him a PM to see if he still has some

Thanks everyone for your suggestions!

[John Willett]

If you have an iPhone then the Mic Tools app is the answerer.

It includes a "bomb sight" mode that gives you the exact angles.

You then place this over the array to check you are correct.

Very fast and easy.

[DigiGal]

^^^ 

If you have an iOS device then pick up Stereo Mic Tools by Engineered Stuff.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/stereo-mic-tools/id572383335?mt=8

[StarkRavingCalm]

I didn't see bombsight on there at all!
Will try it out tonight at home.


Thanks!!!

[2manyrocks]

Whatever happened to the days of scribing lines on piece of clear polycarbonate and calling it a day?

[runonce]

ORTF is like making coffee...do you really measure each scoop every morning...?

Yep - "that's enough."

[StarkRavingCalm]

This look like it could be helpful:

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/KM235/1/

anyone using it?

[tooldvn]

Neumann makes an android app that gives you angles.  Doesn't give you that awesome bomb sight that the iOS app has with the camera, but it's pretty useful for determining angles.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=air.com.neumann.recordingtools

[StarkRavingCalm]

the MicTools app is pretty useful.

My biggest challenge is that I am using side-address LDCs.
A front -address mic so much easier to get the angle right.

The K&M bar looks like I could have the LDC face directly forward and then angle the bars themselves using the MicTools app and them maybe  screw the bar into that position permanently.

[2manyrocks]

I might be confused about what you mean and may end up looking silly saying this, but it seems to me that a LDC is easier to set right because an LDC is sort of set in a fixed position lengthwise to the mount bar. Mine at least are held in relatively fixed position by their shock mounts except for angle of rotation and where they are placed on the mic bar. 

A pencil SDC can slide back and forth in its mount making it a bit harder to consistently space the right distance and the right angle in addition to angle of rotation and where they are placed on the mic bar. 

 

[StarkRavingCalm]

No problem. I should probably stop calling them side-address and start calling them vertical mics.
Here is the mic here:

[2manyrocks]

I have a pair of AT2020s with collar mounts, and I can see where that kind of mount would be more of a challenge to set repetitively.  What I like about the shock mounts is I squeeze two arms to take the mic out of the mount.  Much faster than screwing those collar mounts onto the mic stand and then on the mics.  Shock mounts might be helpful.   

[DSatz]

By definition ORTF requires small-diaphragm, single-diaphragm, non-side-addressed condenser microphones that have very flat on-axis frequency response. The 110° included angle and 17 cm spacing aren't magic; what counts is how they combine with the behavior of the type of microphone for which this technique was designed.

Your setup will have distinctly different characteristics because of the type of microphones you're using: less-even distribution of apparent sound sources across the stereo field, reduced spaciousness, and a greater high-frequency roll-off of the reflected sound as compared with the direct sound pickup. Actually, I tend to like that third part myself, but I'm just saying ... if you're only using the specified angle and spacing but not the intended type of microphone, it's not ORTF, any more than it would be if you used the right kind of microphones but not the specified angle and spacing.

--best regards

[StarkRavingCalm]

Thanks for the explanation DSatz.

I have enjoyed the recordings I have made with these mics in a pseudo-ORTF configuration.
But maybe there is a more 'optimal' configuration for these types of mics?