Interesting article on Blumlein Array and a question

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nate_dennis

nate_dennis

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Here is a pretty cool article (I think) on a recording technique we don't talk much about here. (Note: it is part of a companies promotion and I am unaffiliated with them)

http://www.cascademicrophones.com/PDF/BrochureFinal_16.pdf

Now, my question is regarding the "decoding" part.

It says to pan the mid signal to the center (duh) but then basically it says to copy the right signal, pan it left and invert the phase. How does this make a stereo image? This seems like the same thing as copying a guitar track to "make it bigger." So, I dunno, I know i've heard of this array before, and it seems legit, I'm just trying to understand it. Anyone?
 
The description/explination and diagrams in the Cascade PDF explain it pretty good. I mean...there's not much more to add to their info that won't just be rehash.

I use the MS technique for my drum overheads...works great.

I think you should actually try it and let your ears be the judge of how well it works, but if you want more info...look up Alan Blumlein, he is the one who pioneered that technique.
 
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Since the 2 mics recorded the same source from different angles and one was phase-inverted and then panned hard left and hard right (try that one time) the signal was not cancelled because it isn't coming from the same output source. Adding in the mono mid microphone while the phase inverted-multed signal is playing from both speakers introduces a peculiar form of phase cancellation that actually takes the mono signal and just about cancels it completely, leaving (basically) what was recorded by the bidirectional mic in 2 separate signals (provided you've matched levels.) You can adjust the level of "spaciality" that you hear by bringing the level of the mono mic up and down. It's a crazy technique the first time you hear it. The first time I heard it was in a multi-million dollar studio with excellent stereo imaging and I almost shat myself. I still find myself using this technique when I want a great stereo sound with excellent mono-compatibility.
 
hmmmmm very interesting. Thanks for the extra info. It just seems paradoxical to me. But I know that I don't know much. Thanks again.


cheers.
 
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