Mid/Side - Side Mic On-Axis to Sound Source

R

rj-skelton

New member
Hello,

I'm wondering if there's any potential problems in recording a guitar amp using the mid/side technique, but having the side mic on-axis to the amp rather than the mid mic. My thinking is this:

If I want to have two guitars in my song, to achieve some separation between them I might pan them left and right. With the mid/side technique however I could have the side mic pointing towards the amp, and the mid mic 90 degrees off axis, pointed towards a wall for example. When the + side mic signal is on the left, and the - on the right, then this 1st guitar would appear in the left of the mid/side stereo field. If I then do the exact opposite and have another guitar recorded the same way, except the + side mic signal would be on the right and the - signal on the left, the 2nd guitar would appear on the right.

I'm going to try it anyway but I just thought I'd ask about it here in case anyone has tried it, or if anyone can see any potential or theoretical problems with it.

Cheers
 
Aside from the fact that when (not if!) the mix is collapsed to mono, all you'll have for either guitar will be the off-axis sound from the mid mics?

In general, I'd expect this mix to change drastically and somewhat unpredictably depending on the listener's position relative to the speakers.
 
I've used M/S technique for guitar, but I faced it "normally".
You can certainly try it your way...but the Mid is where the body of your signal is contained...so turning the mics 90 degrees and recording with the side...mmmm...not really seeing the benefit of that

You might as well just use one mic in a figure-8 pattern, and forget the Mid mic.
I use my ribbons all the time for guitars...and they're set to oonly figure-8 pattern...so the back side is always picking up some of the room.

Also...with the M/S up close to a cab...I don't think you will get any of the benefits of the M/S stereo technique.

What you can try...with the Mid mic facing the cab, move the M/S rig left/right in the horizontal plane to place your guitar a bit more left or right in the stereo field...if that's what you want...but you can also simulate that L/R position later, within the mix with M/S.
 
Ussually, in a mid/side configuration, there is nothing really 90 degrees to the side of it. The mic array is generally pointing at something, or a group of things in front if it. Picture a band on a stage and the M/S mics in the front row. None of the sound is coming from the far left or right.

In order to pull off what you are trying to do, you might want to point the M/S array in the direction of the amp, but place the amp on the left side of the 'stage', then for the next take, move the amp to the right side of the 'stage'.
 
Farview said:
In order to pull off what you are trying to do, you might want to point the M/S array in the direction of the amp, but place the amp on the left side of the 'stage', then for the next take, move the amp to the right side of the 'stage'.
Click to expand...

Right...that's what I was getting it when I said move the M/S rig left/right in the horizontal plane....or move the amp. :)

IMO...that actually works even better with a Blumlein Pair configuration.
It's something I've used a few times, and I first heard of it from some Bruce Swedien comments. He used that stereo recording approach a lot...and he would create the stereo image while tracking.
It takes a bit of planning for all your instruments...but it's a cool way to record & mix in true stereo.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top