Storms are not fun. As much as we needed the rain here in Houston, the concomitant effects of the rain can be very taxing and undesirable. Due to unforeseen electrical issues caused by storm damage to the surrounding grid, our energy supply is experiencing intermittent glitches, causing us to need to reschedule sessions and contact electricians to ensure that our facility can run without risk of damage to equipment. And thus, we forge on. Yesterday, we had the privilege of entertaining one of the music industry’s top movers and shakers who gave us a little insight on the evolution of the the music publishing business. It was a fascinating meeting and very informative. The rest of this week is stocked with various sessions involving a variety of artists and continued preparation for Thomas Hultén’s album release.
Larry Murphy, staff engineer at Tierra Studios, begins his Mic’s With Murphy series with an overview of microphones. Watch the video and read more about mics below.
(This image is from the Wikipedia Blumlein entry)
The Blumlein pair recording technique is a type of stereo recording technique invented by Alan Blumlein designed to create recordings that replicate the spatial characteristics of the recorded signal.
A Blumlein pair consists of two matched microphones set to the bi-directional, or figure 8, pickup pattern and positioned 90° from each other. This configuration should allow the transducers of the microphones to occupy the same physical space, or at least as close to the same space as possible. The mics are then positioned so that the audio signal is in a line bisecting the angle between the two microphones. The pickup patterns of the pair, combined with their positioning, delivers a high degree of stereo separation in the source signal as well as the room ambiance.
Properly used, the Blumlein pair can produce a “true” stereo image.
The traditional microphone for Blumlein Pair recording is the ribbon microphone, although some microphones are purpose-built for the type of coincident arrangements that are required for the Blumlein pair.
There is a lot of stuff going on this week, and today is no exception. In addition to getting some quotes for the Thomas Hultén press release and finishing the final editing as well, I’ve got a lot of work on the website to do. Marla is coming by to get her hard drive, and the talented Patti Rabaza will be coming in this afternoon to track some piano and vocals on a couple songs.
The weather is changing (slowly), the leaves are browning (one at a time), and fall is upon us. In totally unrelated news, I am shipping Thomas Hultén’s master out to be pressed and manufactured today. This week promises a lot of prep work for Thomas’ album release, as well as upkeep for our finished and ongoing projects. We’ve got some good stuff in the works right now, and with Glenn in NYC helping keep the ball moving, we move forward into the new season with fresh goals and continued momentum.
Whilst compiling data for our web page, I found that there was a lack of information regarding what constitutes a matched pair and a stereo pair of microphones. So, I decided to address this topic in a blog post for all you readers out there in the blogosphere.
Using a stereo pair of microphones allows an audio engineer to capture a sound source in a stereo image. That is, using two of the same make and model mics placed to the left and right of the sound source allows the engineer to pan the signals left and right, giving the audience a true stereo perspective. Some of the benefits of using stereo miking include providing the left-to-right position of an instrument(s), the depth and/or distance of the instrument(s), the distance of the instrument(s) from the audience, the recording environment in a spatial or acoustic sense, as well as the timbres of the instrument(s) from the listeners point of view.
So what can you do to make a stereo pair sound even better? Try using a matched stereo pair. A matched stereo pair consists of 2 microphones of the same make and model that were manufactured at the same time in the same plant with the same parts. The easiest way to determine that little bit of information is by examining the serial numbers on the casings of the mics. Two mics with serial numbers that are generally consecutive are considered a matched pair of mics. When you use mics that are built adjacent to each other at the factory, you reduce the risk of slight differences in manufacturing that can change the tone of your audio signal. Some people might say that the difference is negligible, but a trained ear can hear those subtle nuances that make the difference between a good recording and a great recording.
