Phase interference

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bdemenil

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In reply to a post I made somewhere in this forum, someone recomended that I not double mic bongos, because of the risk of phase interference. Does this go for any situation where 2 mics are picking up the same sound?

I was double micing them so that 1 mic picked up more bass drum, and the other more high drum. This gives me a bit more control over their relative loudness in the mix. I guess I could single mic them, and just try to control it with eq.
 
The recomendation stands as a rule which is:
If it sounds good on 1 mic then don't use two.
But if you want a good stereo or panned or a more controled sound and carfully watch for phase problems then there is no reason not to use two mics.
However..Equing each mic will effect the sound it picks up from the other drum
as well and when you mix then together, it will effect the total sound.
This is one reason it is better to use 2 dynamic mic's

Sometimes I will use 3 mics for Bogos. 2 dynamic each on a drum and one condensor for ambiance futher away.
 
dynamics on bongo

Do you use the dynamics because they are less sensitive to the huge amount of force being generated by the drums? What are tell tale signs of phase problems?
 
i check phase by hitting the mono button on the console, or by flipping the phase buttons on the channels. if stuff starts dissapering or it doesn't sound right, something is out of phase.
 
When something is out of phase it tends to sound very weak, and the tone is basically sucked away. So if it sounds good with one mic, then sound really bad when U put the other one in the mix, it might just be a phase prob. But to avoid phase probs, apply the "3:1 rule". And that rule states that the next mic your placing should be 3 times farther away than the first mic is to the source. And as U can see.... I'm not very good at explainin things like that, heres an example.

If you have 1 mic a foot above an snare drum, the next closest mic shout be 3 feet away. or 2 inches above a bongo the next one should be at least 6 inches from that mic.

I believe thats the rule, correct me if I'm wrong =)

Sabith
 
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