? Overheads placement - "equal distance from snare and kick."

[Blast9]

Can someone decribe a method please?

Where do you measure from?

Am I "drawing" a straight line between the snare edge and the kik beater.

Will the "piece of string" (per recorderman technique) method do this anyway?

[skatingbasser]

The string serves as a means to measure distance. Try measuring from where the beater hits the batter head for the kick, and the usual area of playing for the snare (usually the center.) Hold the string to the head and measure where your overhead is. Hold the string with your finger at that place in the string, and compare with the other drum. Keep moving the mic and checking until they are the same amount of string away.

[danbronson]

+1

Basically you're getting each mic the exact same distance from both the snare and kick drum. This means they will always be in phase.



Keep in mind that your cymbals and toms will still have phasing issues. The only way to get rid of that is an XY pair. Also keep in mind that the benefits of the recorderman technique will not be heard much at all if you're mixing in large amounts of close mics from the snare and kick.

[joeq]

Originally Posted by skatingbasser

The string serves as a means to measure distance. Try measuring from where the beater hits the batter head for the kick, and the usual area of playing for the snare (usually the center.) Hold the string to the head and measure where your overhead is. Hold the string with your finger at that place in the string, and compare with the other drum. Keep moving the mic and checking until they are the same amount of string away.

it can be a bit of a puzzle finding TWO spots that are equidistant from the snare and the kick and still serve your recording. I tape the strings to the head so I can swing the other end around freely.

sometimes you start off with the mic at one place, run two strings to snare and kick, and find that the only other place where the strings are both taut seems to be right in the middle of the drummer's head or something like that.

Then you may have to start over, with a new 'first' spot, one that hopefully gives you more flexibility with your 'second' spot.

[danbronson]

I've said it before and I'll say it again, XY is a beautiful thing.

[Blast9]

XY above the snare pointing down at the snare?

What is the diff between this and a coincident pair?

And what aboutthe piece of string method for spaced pairs?

[danbronson]

Originally Posted by Blast9

XY above the snare pointing down at the snare?

What is the diff between this and a coincident pair?

XY = coincident pair. same thing. put it wherever you want. the closer it is to something, the more that something gets brought out in the mix. everything is in phase and you get perfect right/left stereo. if you're doing a two-mic setup, i advise placing it so that the kick and snare are both in the exact middle of the pair. that way you can bring up the levels so that your kick and snare are the same volume on either side and everything else will sound correct too level-wise.

And what aboutthe piece of string method for spaced pairs?

what about it?

[Blast9]

LOL -was just wondering out loud how to go about measuring the exact same distance with a spaced pair vis a vis the recorderman technique - anyway, gonna give it a try - probably exactly the same... just need to use more string that's all.

[skatingbasser]

Originally Posted by Blast9

LOL -was just wondering out loud how to go about measuring the exact same distance with a spaced pair vis a vis the recorderman technique - anyway, gonna give it a try - probably exactly the same... just need to use more string that's all.

I think you just need to learn some vocabulary. Coincident refers to proximity of two mics to eachother, more specially them being very close together. Non-coincident, obviously means a large distance between the two mics. The thrid class is Near-coincident, the two mics will be close but not as close as with coincident pairs.


Types of coincident pairs are: XY, Blumlein, and MS.
Type of near-coincident pairs: ORTF, Binaural/Jecklin
Types of non-coincident pairs: AB (spaced), Decca, Recorderman, Glyn Johns


To answer your question, the string idea goes out the window with coincident pairs; as the possibility for enormous phase issues goes down the closer the mics get to eachother.

[Blast9]

Yes I get what you mean but I was referring to a spaced pair in this instance.