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Originally Posted by boojum  I have to agree. I just followed a discussion of omnis on another board which went into the differences between free field and diffuse field omnis and when each would be appropriate. The choice of the omni, its response curve and its axial sensitivities are all important. More so than just spaced omnis or ORTF as while both of these patterns work well, each has to be fitted to the situation.
I have found that the Michael Williams article on "Stereophonic Zoom" is excellent and a help making the appropriate choice as to spacing. The characteristics of the individual mics still have to be considered.
Williams article: http://www.rycote.com/assets/documen...nic%20Zoom.pdf
Cheers |
Thanks for that info, I always like more info on mic placement.
I have a method of testing it that I find works: I set up the mics and press record, then I speak into the mics and describe each set up briefly and play a short passage from the piece I'm going to record. For example: "Mic directly facing 12th fret 12 inches away" and then change the mic or my guitar placement, without pressing stop and describe the new placement "Mic facing 12th fret, 12 inches away, angled towards soundhole by 45 degrees" etc. I'll be able to quickly go through 8-10 different spacings on a 3 minute track.
I then take the split tool and split the wave file into individual files and then normalize them for comparison purposes. This is very important because the closer ones always sound better because they are louder, but when you bring them to the same level you get a more accurate picture. I quickly delete the non-contenders and have a few that I'm left with for close listening.
I've found this to work and it's sometimes surprised me which mic placement sounded better. Whenever I find myself saying, "This mic placement
looks good..." I give myself a mental kick in the butt, because I realize how ridiculous it is to think that way. I don't know why, but it is so tempting to use the eyes when placing mics, when ears are the only important factor.