8/19/2023 0 Comments Binaural recording microphonesAnother thing that has been done quite commonly is to use “spot” mics on individual performers, to set them more properly in perspective or to bring a player far back in the orchestra up to “center stage, front” for a solo and then move him/her back into the group by just changing that mic’s volume on a mixing board. That may sound more accurate, but, for stereo, it necessarily presents a different-from-normal “image”. To counter that, a number of things have been tried: One is just to rearrange the group so the “balance” will be better. That kind of recording, where the mics are spaced differently than your ears and the playback is through speakers, also spaced differently than your ears (and probably even differently than the microphones) creates, as I described in earlier parts of this series, problems of arrival time and phase that make it impossible for stereo to truly duplicate the original experience.Īnother problem that stereo has is that differing distances from the microphones to the artists and instruments in a large group – a symphony orchestra, for example, perhaps with a solo vocalist (the fat lady in the Viking helmet and armor, if it’s an operatic recording) – can result in significant differences in relative level (how loud everything is) that can result in some performers appearing more or less prominent in the recording than they actually were in the actual performance. The original stereo recordings, as I’ve mentioned earlier, were done very simply, usually with an “A-B” mic array (two mics, usually “omnis”, spaced from a couple of feet to about eight feet apart). It’s not just that binaural is all that good it’s that stereo has problems that binaural will. For sheer reality, though – for the seemingly palpable duplication of a real musical or sonic experience – headphones, providing that they’re playing a binaural source, have no equal. In terms of a pleasant background or even serious listening experience, speakers, IMHO, are the champs. (That seems always to happen just as I’m settling-in to really enjoy the music, and it always reminds that I’m listening to a recording, and not the real thing) Finally, at least in stereo, although I’ve been told that there’s software available that can make it otherwise, I don’t like the way headphones (even my Stax Sigmas and the AKG K1000s, which were specifically designed to counter it) image inside my head, instead of in front of me, as speakers do. (Even with 15 foot extension cords, I still feel spatially constrained.) For another, I don’t like the fact that, when I’m wearing headphones of any kind, if I move my head, the whole orchestra moves with me. I’ve tried the latest and greatest of every style of ‘phone at Shows and I own three sets of Stax electrostatics (Lambda Pro, Sigma, and SR-80 Pro) and both of the top-of-the line earbud models (3 driver and the yummy new 4 driver) from 1More, and for me, despite how great the headphones’ sound may be, for most background or other uncommitted listening, speakers still offer a number of advantages that I find important: For one thing, I’m not on a leash when I listen to them. Quite frankly, I like speakers a whole lot more than headphones. Do please check out Rimshot if you need to record in a nice room, the home made soup and super warm welcome you get there is amazing as is the gear.Twitter Facebook Email Print LinkedIn Pinterest SMS WhatsApp Special thanks to Paul Jobson for being the Hammond Organ player for us to record, Nigel Powell for being the star of the day and involving us on his songwriting, Gary Stevenson, George Shilling, Mike Thorne and everyone at Rimshot Studios. It's not as 'effected' as the close mics and we will be running a video comparing these at a later date. Hammond organ player Paul Jobson played while Ian walked around the studio and the effect has to really be heard listening on headphones but even on our laptop speakers the effect is rather realistic. The results are rather good and Ian talks briefly on camera about how they work followed by some audio examples recorded while he wandered around the recording space while the session was in progress. There were several producers and engineers at the studio all recording a series of new recording features for the website and Ian Shepherd had brought along a set of wearable binaural microphones(Soundman OKM II) that you place in your ear as if they were headphones. March 2017 - We were at Rimshot Studios recording a new production series for the site with musician Nigel Powell, pop producer superstar Gary Stevenson and ace engineer / producer George Shilling. Testing out wearable Soundman OKM II binaural microphones on session
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