New microphone setup (looking for)

[clintrubber]

Hi Rossi,

Thanks for the reaction.
I've been looking at the various Zooms (H2, H4N) and they sure look tempting,
the ease of setup and also the quick file transfer is nice (need to do a
real-time S/PDIF transfer from digital recorder to DAW now).

But while most 'easy recorders' will give totally usable results w.r.t.
hearing what was played, one can get spoilt/curious/etc... and I got the
(probably not fully correct) impression that these recorders go far w.r.t.
sound-quality, but separate decent (...) microphones will still give you a
better/fuller/whatever sound. (But haven't tried any of them myself yet.)

But regardless of which medium & recorder, I got also/mainly curious to
how this kind of situation would be best recorded, in terms of number of
mics (preferrably just 2), positioning & last-but-not-least which polar-patterns.

Toying around with the various setups is both some hassle as well as a further
learning experience for me w.r.t. mic-technique.


Bye,

 Peter

 

[pstamler]

Here's a slightly off-the-wall idea: Try an X-Y pair of cardioids in the middle of the group, pointed up at the ceiling. No kidding, I've had it work in difficult setups. Might need to lift the guitar amp up onto a stand.

Peace,
Paul

 

[clintrubber]

Here's a slightly off-the-wall idea: Try an X-Y pair of cardioids in the middle of the group, pointed up at the ceiling. No kidding, I've had it work in difficult setups. Might need to lift the guitar amp up onto a stand.

Peace,
Paul

Hi Paul,

Hey, that's a new & nice one, thanks.
While the mentioned Blumlein seems to do the trick very nicely,
that's no reason not to try that tilted X-Y as well.

If I'm understanding you correctly, the cardioids then each end up 45 degrees w.r.t. (both the) horizontal & vertical plane, right ?

> Might need to lift the guitar amp up onto a stand.

Doable, but perhaps causing losing definition for the non-lifted sources ?


While at it, I'll try a swapped variation on your idea then as well:
raising an X/Y-pair towards the ceiling, pointing at the floor under 45 degrees.
The floor is a sort of carpet, so I hope reflections are not too much.


Thanks again & have a good weekend,

 Peter

 

[pstamler]

If I'm understanding you correctly, the cardioids then each end up 45 degrees w.r.t. (both the) horizontal & vertical plane, right ?

I guess -- I'm not sure *I'm* understanding correctly!

Look at it this way: A regular XY setup has the microphones horizontal. This has the microphones vertical, but tilted toward each other until the capsules overlap.

From the side, they'll look like /\.

> Might need to lift the guitar amp up onto a stand.

Doable, but perhaps causing losing definition for the non-lifted sources ?

Possibly; depends what your microphones are like off-axis. But I figure, the bass is close to omnidirectional. The drums, except for the kick, are a few feet off the ground. Raising the guitar amp to the approximate level of the drums would probably let it sound pretty decent.

While at it, I'll try a swapped variation on your idea then as well:
raising an X/Y-pair towards the ceiling, pointing at the floor under 45 degrees.
The floor is a sort of carpet, so I hope reflections are not too much.

Also a good approach; for that, might need to tilt the guitar amp back 45 degrees or so.

Peace,
Paul

 

[clintrubber]

Actually, since you already posted this pic from the Zoom manual: Did you try a Zoom H2?
If it's just about hearing yourselves, I'd simply place a Zoom H2 on a tripod in the middle of the room and record in 4ch surround. That'll give you two 2-Track Wavs which you can later re-balance, if necessary.

I ran into this thread by accident. I've been using the Zoom H2n for well over a year now and it's a great quick utility recorder with good results.

W.r.t. 4ch surround you mentioned, as it happens we recently had a gig in big boulder hall (we do live soundtracks to movies)  so I put the H2n into action there as well. V-e-r-y nice! Time to put two more speakers in the living room! ;-)