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TheAudioMasterclassMusicProductionandSoundEngineeringCourse

MODULE03PRACTICALASSIGNMENTNOTES:Stereomicrophonetechniques

RefertotheAssignmentNotesAudiofolder

NotesonAssignment03

Beingabletomakeasimplestereorecordingwithtwomicrophonesisasbasictothecraftofthe
recordingengineerasmakingaplainwhitesauceistoachef.Untilyouareabletodothiswell,then
thereislittlehopeofbeingabletoaccomplishanythingmorecomplextoanacceptablestandard.

RefertotheAssignmentNotesAudioexamplefilesforthisassignment.Thesecompriserecordings
madebyformerAudioMasterclassstudentsatthebeginningoftheircourse.Therecordingsdisplay
severalfaultsveryclearly.Buttheyalsodemonstrateveryclearlythedifferencesbetweenthe
variousstereomicrophonetechniques.

Firstofall,listentooneexamplefromeachset,ofthecoincidentpairtechniquewiththe
microphonessetat90degrees...

Examplefile:1coincident.wav
Examplefile:2coincident.wav
Examplefile:3coincident.wav

Inthefirstexampleyouwillhearconsiderablebackgroundnoiseandambiance.Thisisdueinpartto
thedistancebetweenthespeakerandthemicrophones.Astereopairofmicrophonesisveryrarely
usedintheclosemicpositionforspeech.Sincetheobjectistocaptureaconvincingsoundimage,
thenthemicrophonemustbeplacedatadistancethatcapturesarealisticandbelievable
perspective.

Thisstudentwasabletomakeclosemicmonorecordingsofspeechverywell.Butclearlyhisstudio
lacksacoustictreatment,andnoisyequipmentisintherecordingroomwhereitshouldideallybe
locatedinamachineroomofitsown.

Inthesecondexampletheacousticsoftheroomareverymuchbettercontrolled.Butstillthereis
machinenoiseinthebackground.Althoughthefirstandsecondexamplesareusefulasstudent
work,theywouldnotbeacceptableinaprofessionalcontext.

Thethirdexampleisaltogetherbetter.Theacousticsoftheroomareperfectlyacceptable.Thereis
stillsomebackgroundnoise.Itshouldbeeliminated,butatleasthereitisatalowlevel.Asyou
listentofurtherexamplesfromthethirdset,youwillnoticethatitstartstorainoutside.Thisisa
commonprobleminlocationrecording.Avenuethatisacousticallyperfectnormallybecomes
totallyunusablewhenitrains.Thereisevenone(andperhapsmorethanone)exampleofan
auditoriumwherethearchitecthadcleverlyinstalledthedrainpipesontheinside!

Havingdealtwiththeproblemsintheserecordings,wecanmoveontotheaudibledifferences
betweenthevariousstereotechniques.

Module03PracticalAssignmentNotes
Thesearethepointsyoushouldlistenoutfor...

Inthecoincidentconfigurationsetat120degrees,thecentersoundisnotquiteasbrightas
thesameconfigurationat90degrees.Thisistheoreticallytrue;itismeasurablytrue.
Howeveritisoftendifficulttohearinpractice.(Examplefiles1coincident.wav&1
coincident120.wav,2coincident.wav&2coincident120.wav,3coincident.wav&3
coincident120.wav).
Forcardioidmicrophonesinthecoincidentconfiguration,ifthemicrophonesaresetat120
degrees,thenthelevelshouldbeconsistentallofthewayaroundthefrontofthepair.If
theyaresetatanarrowerangle,theywillbelouderatthecenterposition.Onceagainthisis
theoreticallytrue,measurablytrue,butdifficulttohearinpractice.Listentothesame
examplesasabove.
Whenthenearcoincidentconfigurationisusedratherthanthecoincidentconfiguration,
thereshouldbeabettersenseofspaceintheacousticsoftheroom.Howevertheimageof
thedirectsounditselfwillbealittlelessfocussed.(Examplefiles:1coincident.wav&1near
coincident.wav,2coincident.wav&2nearcoincident.wav,3coincident.wav&3near
coincident.wav).
SincetheORTFconfigurationismorewidelyspacedthanthenearcoincidentconfiguration,
thesameeffectasaboveapplies,butmoreso.(Examplefiles:1coincident.wav&1
ortf.wav,2coincident.wav&2ortf.wav,3coincident.wav&3ortf.wav).
Inthespacedconfigurationthepositioningofthesoundsourceisquitevaguewhencentral
betweenthemicrophones,bothatfrontandrear.Howeverwhenthesoundsource
approachesonemicrophonemoreclosely,thesoundimageswingsstronglytothatside.
Thereisagoodsenseofacousticspaceinrecordingsusingthisconfiguration.(Examplefiles:
1spaced,2spaced,3spaced).

Summary

Thesethreesetsofrecordingsgiveagoodbenchmarkforwhatisachievableatthislevel.Youare
advisedtoattemptrecordingsthatarebetterintermsofbackgroundnoiseandambiance,andalso
demonstratethedifferencesbetweenthevariousstereoconfigurationsveryclearly.

Endofassignmentnotes.

Module03PracticalAssignmentNotes

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