Topic: the Healy Method???

[svenkid]

TS - I was perusing some LMA, and saw this

"Healy Method, 8' high, DFC @ center pillar, ~6' from stage"

What's the healy method? Just being up high and close, nice 

[Jammin72]

Here a pair of omnidirectional microphones are placed approximately ear distance apart and oriented at 90 to the sound source, facing outward.

[dean]

Here a pair of omnidirectional microphones are placed approximately ear distance apart and oriented at 90 to the sound source, facing outward.

Like so:

       stage

O------ ------O


Where the O is the "head" of the mic and the ------ is the body.  That's how they're oriented towards the stage.  I use Healy a TON and really love it.  It's got to be ideal omni conditions to use, however.  When I run healy on stage it gives me the impression in playback that I'm sitting on stage in the middle of all the musicians.


edit:  to make "graphic" look a little cleaner

[svenkid]

really, that's pretty cool, but I don't see that as a good idea back 6 feet in a bar type venue, but on stage I can see, perhaps not stage lip, but actually on stage, definately. Thanks for the knowledge drop.

Carl

[stirinthesauce]

The Healy Method is a great way to do AB omnis on a really small footprint.  Used it quite a bit when I was doing 4 channel mixes w/ my old Avenson's.

From Hartkopf's old page:

AB Stereo Setup
A setup to record whole ensembles. It uses two omnidirectional microphones, which have a distance from each other. Only the runtime difference between the two mics indicates the position in the stereo image. Runtime difference always means phase difference too. Therefore it is not allowed to convert an AB stereo recording to mono because phase cancellation will cause comb filter effects which will shift through the whole audio spectra. You can bet that this will cause bad sound. AB is prone to over-emphasize the stereo width. To avoid this, you should 1.) be sure that the distance among the mics is smaller than the distance of the source and 2.) the sound source is completely within the recording angle shown in the table below. The table bases on the geometric calculation that when a natural left ear sound from straight left, it takes 17 cm at the speed of sound to reach the right ear. In this distance, the recording angle is 180 degrees. For a larger mic distance the angle is smaller to ensure being inside the "17 cm at the speed of sound" border. It is just a trigonometric calculation that created the table.
 

[cleantone]

I need to try this. I have been in a safe zone for too long. Need to experiment a bit. Next jazz gig or something with a good spread/image onstage.

[dean]

really, that's pretty cool, but I don't see that as a good idea back 6 feet in a bar type venue, but on stage I can see, perhaps not stage lip, but actually on stage, definately. Thanks for the knowledge drop.

Carl

I've used it a few times 6' back in a bar and it was allright.  It's all about high spl's at that point.  I've also had KILLER luck with it at outdoor music festivals from a decent distance.  Again, it's simply got to be a LOUD show for it to pay off.  I've been very disappointed when too far away and not enough SPL's to sustain it.  It's got to be good since you're forfeiting the directionality of the omnis (which, despite the name and reputation, are somewhat directional in nature).

[Tim]

really, that's pretty cool, but I don't see that as a good idea back 6 feet in a bar type venue, but on stage I can see, perhaps not stage lip, but actually on stage, definately. Thanks for the knowledge drop.

Carl

I've used it a few times 6' back in a bar and it was allright.  It's all about high spl's at that point.  I've also had KILLER luck with it at outdoor music festivals from a decent distance.  Again, it's simply got to be a LOUD show for it to pay off.  I've been very disappointed when too far away and not enough SPL's to sustain it.  It's got to be good since you're forfeiting the directionality of the omnis (which, despite the name and reputation, are somewhat directional in nature).

what Dean said

[NOLAfishwater]

I made some recordings this summer using the Healey method using 36" spacing and also using 14" spacing. Ran at 8' FOB about 60' from the stage. Those recordings smoked other recordings from the same festival using Card or Hyper. Overall, I think when the PA system is strong enough, I will utilize the Omni setting every time. One thing I was worried about was the crowd noise and luckily, there weren't too many people around us.

[Jammin72]

I made some recordings this summer using the Healey method using 36" spacing and also using 14" spacing. Ran at 8' FOB about 60' from the stage. Those recordings smoked other recordings from the same festival using Card or Hyper. Overall, I think when the PA system is strong enough, I will utilize the Omni setting every time. One thing I was worried about was the crowd noise and luckily, there weren't too many people around us.

Wouldn't it be considered something else if you're using 36" ?  One part of the technique is defined by the "approximately ear distance apart".

I know it's semantics but someone else probably has the same thing at that particular spacing coined as something else.

I would think this technique would be wonderful for outdoor Bluegrass festivals, near stage, with an attentive crowd.  Springfest comes to mind.

[dean]

I made some recordings this summer using the Healey method using 36" spacing and also using 14" spacing. Ran at 8' FOB about 60' from the stage. Those recordings smoked other recordings from the same festival using Card or Hyper. Overall, I think when the PA system is strong enough, I will utilize the Omni setting every time. One thing I was worried about was the crowd noise and luckily, there weren't too many people around us.

Wouldn't it be considered something else if you're using 36" ?  One part of the technique is defined by the "approximately ear distance apart".

I know it's semantics but someone else probably has the same thing at that particular spacing coined as something else.

I would think this technique would be wonderful for outdoor Bluegrass festivals, near stage, with an attentive crowd.  Springfest comes to mind.

I believe, technically, that it is supposed to be closer to "ear width", but with everything Grateful Dead related, I don't think Healy will mind...   

[OFOTD]

Wouldn't it be considered something else if you're using 36" ?  One part of the technique is defined by the "approximately ear distance apart".

I know it's semantics but someone else probably has the same thing at that particular spacing coined as something else.

I would think this technique would be wonderful for outdoor Bluegrass festivals, near stage, with an attentive crowd.  Springfest comes to mind.

Hit the nail right on the head.  The spacing makes ALL the difference.  I experimented with the Healy method several times.   Quite frankly this technique rides that fine line between either being a superb sounding tape and one that sounds terrible.  Not a whole lot in between.

For me the spacing that I felt gave the best representation of the method was 8" from top of cap to top of cap.  I ran the 482's and the bodies were over lapping each other to give you an idea of spacing.  Anything over that 8" left not only a HUGE hole but the overall tended to make things super thin.   I can't begin to imagine having a 36" spacing.  I felt that I was pushing things at 8" as well. 

What difference does a few inches make?  Well if you look at the differences between DIN and DINa sound wise then there you're talking about 3 cm difference and that 3 cm is a noticeable difference in sound so imagine what 3 inches would do let alone 25 additional inches.

 

[dean]

I've had luck with a Healy about 10", but David is directionally correct there, certainly.  Once you get to 36" split, I think it's just a split omni recording, not a Healy.  I run split omnis all the time, too, and LOVE 'em (I've split as narrow as 2', as wide as 10', all with excellent results to my ears).  It just depends on what you're recording...   

[Gil]

I've only run it twice, both with ~8" spacing. The first time (Avetts 6-13-07) turned out suprisingly well despite the at times overwhelming kick drum, which was easily remedied in post. The second (moe. 7-12-07) turned out rather crapily, at least to my ears. The high end just seems rather thin. You can check out the moe. here: http://www.archive.org/details/moe2007-07-12.teac.me80.ad20.flac16
The Avetts...well, I think we're all waiting on some sort of policy clarification 

[OFOTD]

Once you get to 36" split, I think it's just a split omni recording, not a Healy.  I run split omnis all the time, too, and LOVE 'em (I've split as narrow as 2', as wide as 10', all with excellent results to my ears). 

Yup sounds like a split omni to me as well albeit with the omnis facing incorrectly so maybe we'll call it a split healy omni config?   

As for split omnis i've run up to a 25' split with suprisingly good results.   

I believe that the Healy method is really a specific way to run the omnis without a whole lot of wiggle room as far as the spacing is concerned.  You can certainly experiment but if i'm going to split up to 36" or thereabouts I am most likely to run split omnis facing the PA stacks than I am running them to the outsides at that spacing.  YMMV