Taperssection.com
Gear / Technical Help => Microphones & Setup => Topic started by: Ukiah Bass on April 26, 2016, 09:49:49 AM
-
Yesterday I invited my group's drummer to come by to systematically test 3 variations each of ORTF, X/Y, Split Pair, and Glyn Johns overhead mic positions. I used a matched pair of Telefunken M60 small diaphragm FET condensers for the overheads into a Zoom F8 recorder. The rest of the kit was also mic'd: Peluso 22 251 in front of the kick, Shure Beta 91a boundary mic inside the kick, Shure SM57 on snare, and Sennheiser MD421 under a set of Octobans. We powered through the variations and then listened to the results.
Everything sounded good. XY was slightly pinched toward the center of the stereo field. ORTF had a wider sonic spacing and sounded much better than XY. Spaced pair sounded even wider with a bit more room noise. At that point it seemed like a toss up between ORTF and Spaced Pair depending on how each worked with the rest of the mix. Then we auditioned Glyn Johns (which I've never tried) and both of us instantly went: "WOW!" It sounded huge and natural, the definite winner. The entire kit's mic setup produced a giant, wide, deep sound -- best ever.
And then I slapped my head, remembering: "Dang - I forgot to decouple the two channels that I'd previously joined into a single stereo channel for XY and ORTF. In other words, the Spaced Pair and Glyn Johns mics were appropriately positioned but their signals were both routed into a single stereo channel.
By then the drummer had torn down the kit and we had run out of time to re-do Spaced Pair and Glyn Johns "correctly." And as they say, "If it sounds good, it IS good!" But what are the downsides of using this incorrect methodology of micing? What benefits are available by decoupling the channels other than more granular control over each's mic's volume and perhaps (for whatever reason) EQ?
-
Thanks for the reminder. For all four overhead techniques, the snare/kick was centered between the mics and mics were equi-distant from same.