Purpose of this type of mic placement...

  • Thread starter Thread starter warble2
  • Start date Start date
Could be stereo,

Or could be tracking:

Using different model/make of mics.

Different mac patterns, cardioid, omni, fig 8, etc.

Through 2 different signal chains, pre-amps, processing.

so they could decide which one to use later when mixing.

Cheers

Alan.
 
I'm not sure, but it looks like the two mics are facing in opposite directions (note the bottom mic looks to have a nameplate or similar on the collar below the grill that you can't see on the upper mic.)

This might be used to pick up room reflections purposely, or it might be used for the opposite, i.e.: use the backward mic to pick up the reflections, reverse the phase, and apply that against the forward mic to iso the direct voice.

G.
 
SouthSIDE Glen said:
I'm not sure, but it looks like the two mics are facing in opposite directions (note the bottom mic looks to have a nameplate or similar on the collar below the grill that you can't see on the upper mic.)

This might be used to pick up room reflections purposely, or it might be used for the opposite, i.e.: use the backward mic to pick up the reflections, reverse the phase, and apply that against the forward mic to iso the direct voice.

G.
Click to expand...

That's an interesting thought.
 
of course the engineer could have set this up for the photo just to get us all talking like we are here ha ha.

Cheers

Alan.
 
Looks like a Rode NTK and a K2 . Probably the K2 is set for figure 8, which will add room reflections. In the end, they may use one track, the other, or a mix of both.-Richie
 
SouthSIDE Glen said:
I'm not sure, but it looks like the two mics are facing in opposite directions (note the bottom mic looks to have a nameplate or similar on the collar below the grill that you can't see on the upper mic.)
Click to expand...

but if they were facing opposite directions and one was upside-down, the nameplate would be facing the same direction on both mics (?)
 
warble2 said:
Hey all,
Found this pic of an artist I like in the studio. One mic place right side up, the other upside down above the other mic:

http://img196.yfrog.com/i/f3nv.jpg/

Looks like the same mic?
Click to expand...


that's Mid/Side micing. Or M/S micing. One mic is set to figure 8 and the other (the one facing him directly) is probably set on cardiod, hyper cardiod...etc. It tends to work better when you have two matching microphones.

They do that to have the option to mix in more, or take away the "room" later during the mix.

Works really nice actually.
 
LeeRosario said:
that's Mid/Side micing. Or M/S micing. One mic is set to figure 8 and the other (the one facing him directly) is probably set on cardiod, hyper cardiod...etc. It tends to work better when you have two matching microphones.

They do that to have the option to mix in more, or take away the "room" later during the mix.

Works really nice actually.
Click to expand...

I don't think so. In MS, the figure 8 would be facing to the sides with the null toward the singer. And- if the mic is in figure 8 configuration, it doesn't matter which way the logo is facing. Both sides of the mic are the same.-Richie
 
actually slash that:

I look again and it looks like the mics are both placed facing towards him, or one's facing away and the other towards. That's NOT mid/side.



My bad.
 
Richard Monroe said:
I don't think so. In MS, the figure 8 would be facing to the sides with the null toward the singer. And- if the mic is in figure 8 configuration, it doesn't matter which way the logo is facing. Both sides of the mic are the same.-Richie
Click to expand...

you just got me...I was like 55 seconds too late :D
 
Maybe they just wanted to use two mics in order to have to identical tracks with each mic using a different pre (and/or processing going in)...
...and that was the best way to position the mics almost in the same spot.

:)


Ooops....

I just saw that Alan already said pretty much the same thing:

witzendoz said:
Through 2 different signal chains, pre-amps, processing.

so they could decide which one to use later when mixing.
Click to expand...

:D
 
fat_fleet said:
but if they were facing opposite directions and one was upside-down, the nameplate would be facing the same direction on both mics (?)
Click to expand...
Nope, rotating something upside down does not flip the front/back orientation. Hold up a CD in front of you so that the printing is facing you and right side up. Now rotate the cd so that it's upside-down; the print does not now face away from you. The front/back facing does not change. If you do the same thing with the mics, the plate would face the same way, and the mics would remain facing the same way.

Here - assuming we're seeing it correctly - the name plate (or whatever that is on the collar) appears to be facing opposite directions on the two mics, meaning that the capsules are also facing opposite.

Add that to the fact that the two mics are very carefully stacked to place the capsules in the same vertical position. This could simply be aesthetics, but I tend to think it's for more of a reason than that; they want them in more or less the same spacial location L/R and front/back. The two capsules will be getting the L/R and F/B reflections at the same time. This leads me to favor the room sound phase cancellation track idea.

Now, OTOH, if they are different types of mics (I originally thought they looked identical other than that plate, now I'm not 100% positive of that), then they could be facing the same way. If they are facing the same way, then I agree with and favor the different but simultaneous signal path idea.

G.
 
not to belabor the point or be some kind of spatial-relations cop but:

this is a microphone, right-side-up, facing you. let A designate the capsule side, B designate the back of the capsule, and * designate the placement of the nameplate. before rotation the nameplate appears on the LH side:

[|A|]
*|||]
[|||]


now rotate that microphone 180 degrees so that it is upside-down:

[|||]
[|||*
[|A|]

note the nameplate is now on the RH side, but the capsule still faces the same direction. now flip that same microphone so that the capsule faces the opposite direction:

[|||] ---------> [|||]
[|||* --------> *|||]
[|A|] ---------> [|B|]


note the nameplate once again appears on the LH side.
hopefully that's clear. i'm no michelangelo.

we may not be talking about the same thing but if we are, and the capsules are facing opposite directions with one mic upside-down, the side view should be symmetrically identical because you are in fact rotating the microphone twice: once laterally and once longitudinally.

PS: i feel like a gigantic douche hijacking this thread with all this useless information, but i opened my fat trap so now i'm obligated to follow-up.:o
 
now if the microphones were both right side up, but one was flipped to face the opposite direction, then the nameplate would only be visible on one.
sorry i'm such a dork.
 
oh. i see what you're talking about: the nameplate isn't exactly on the side.
for what it's worth, i think we're both right. however, that nameplate on the upside-down mic would be invisible from that camera angle regardless of which direction the capsule was facing.
welp, carry on gents!! :D
 
fat_fleet said:
now rotate that microphone 180 degrees so that it is upside-down:
Click to expand...

It depends how you rotate it 180 degrees...'cuz you can rotate it two different ways to get it upside-down. :)

1.)You can rotate it 180 degrees vertically...top-to-bottom.
2.)You can rotate it 180 degrees by spinning left-to-right (or right-to left).

Option 1.) The nameplate will end up facing backwards, option 2.) The nameplate stays facing forward.

;)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top