Strange Mic Techniques

[elbandito]

I'm gonna try something (that seems strange to me) today - recording a three-point mic setup with X/Y plus one SDC in the centre. Has anybody tried anything like this before?

Using my Zoom H4n's built-in mics (both in XY and ORTF) and my Shure SM94, I will try to get the capsules as close together as I can and see what it sounds like... I guess it's sort of like a lazy/retarded Decca Tree. I have a feeling that the ORTF setup with the extra mic will sound better than the XY, as it will fill in the hole in the middle. What strange mic techniques have you tried?

 

[Steenamaroo]

I don't know if strange is the word. Nothing's strange in our little world.

I'm no expert, but if I remember correctly (and thinking logically) the centre sounds captured by an XY setup are quieter than you'd expect by a few db since the centre is captured off axis by both mics.

I suppose the wider the placement angle, the lower the centre information will be.

The mic choice and off axis frequency response is very important because of this.
I suppose if you have a pair of mics with reduced HF response off axis, the centre of your stereo image may sound dull.

I guess sometimes that might be the selling point of XY, and other times it might be the reason you wouldn't use it; It depends what you're doing.


I can't see any reason why a centre mic, used sparingly, wouldn't be a good idea, or at least and interesting test.

Would you mind recording with and without it to let us hear?

At least it's the kind of thing where you can ride the fader for the centre mic and very easily hear the difference.

 

[elbandito]

Yeah, for sure Steen. I'll post some samples up later today. First, I'm gonna try some field recording and then later, I'll do some guitar or something.

 

[grimtraveller]

What strange mic techniques have you tried?

Sometimes, when recording acoustic guitar that had an output, I'd plug the lead into my bass amp and then go from that to my recorder and then I'd put a toilet roll centre over the end of a mic, get real close to the guitar and record the two as a simultaneous performance. I initially did it because I'd be recording with my mate on drums and the bleed from the drums was ridiculous, it pretty much would drown out the guitar say, to a ratio of 70~30. It was my way of trying to get some guitar. But because the two tracks of guitar would contain such different sonic captures of the same performance, panning them opposite each other brought an unexpected groove of a sound. The miked guitar sounded like it was recorded in a metal cylinder. Total accident, but a happy one and because I recorded the drums in mono at the time, the bleed from the miked guitar added a surprizing kind of strength to the sound.