Stereo Recording Techniques

Question 1

Name three microphone pick-up patterns.

Answer 1

Cardioid/Hyper-Cardioid, Omni-Directional, Bi-Directional/Figure of 8.

Question 2

Name two general types of stereo mic’ing techniques.

Answer 2

Co-incident/Near Co-incident, Spaced Pair

Question 3

Name 6 specific stereo mic’ing techniques.

Answer 3

X/Y Co-incident, A/B spaced pair, Mid-Side, Blumlein, Binaural, Decca Tree, ORTF, RAI, DIN, Baffled Stereo.

Question 4

What are the two factors that affect how we perceive the position of a source of sound?

Answer 4

Time - Time differences between each ear receiving the sound, Frequency - Our head will absorb some frequencies that are emitted and our ears can notice the difference.

Question 5

Is an XY technique a co-incident or near co-incident positioning?

Answer 5

Co-incident.

Question 6

Describe the Blumlein technique.

Answer 6

Two figure of 8 microphones are placed at 90 degrees to each other, one above the other.

Question 7

What are the advantages/dis-advantages of the blumlein technique?

Answer 7

A strong stereo image is gained, but the ambience is picked up a lot (which could be disruptive).

Question 8

What are the measurements/angles between microphones in a spaced pair?

Answer 8

40-80+cm at 0-90 degrees apart.

Question 9

Which technique has the microphones placed 17cm away from each other at 110 degrees apart?

Answer 9

ORTF/Near-Coincident.

Question 10

How is a Mid-Side setup positioned?

Answer 10

A cardioid microphone is placed above a figure of 8 microphone at 90 degrees.