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IS image height a function of the recording or ones system?
If it is the recording, how is the height info captured in a typical recording?
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This is a good reason for owning line source speakers instead of point source. Maggies behave more like a line source.
Let's say you are listening to a recording in a large reverberant hall on a small speaker and you imagine hearing the echoes coming from the ceiling of that hall, behind the musicians...from a position far above the speakers, and far above the ceiling of your own listening room.
Your ability to imagine the acoustic space that was recorded depends on the ability of the recording system and your playback device to faithfully render the reflections off the surfaces of the ceiling. The microphone has recorded an initial tone AND the delayed reflection from the ceiling. Of course, the mic can't "tell" the echo came from the ceiling. But when you listen back, you may project the presence of that ceiling, because echoes give information about the relative distances and positions of the reflecting surfaces.
A lot of this goes on in the mind. That's why they call it psycho-acoustics. But the better the system, the more likely you are to be able to hear this.
Read a few technical papers regarding psychoacoustics and our ability to identify the vertical position of sound sources.
When stereo first appeared in 1957, a number of people investigated stereo, Bell Labs, RCA, Western Electric. The techniques adopted for symphony orchestra largely settled on three equa-spaced omni directional mics across the front and maybe a stereo mic for a soloist. The techniques that Robert Fine and Lewis Layton among others used in the early era of stereo used minimal mixing because IMAGE and aural spacial cues can be messed up by mixing and processing. The channels have to stay separate and the audio engineer has to maintain this consistency throughout the recording process. Omni mics have the least amount of frequency sensitivity fall-off with degree offset. However they only work well in good acoustics that are not too long or not too short in reverb time. They also pick up everything in front and behind them; chair rustling, feet shuffling, the HVAC blower, musician page turning, birds chirping outside, wind howling outside. If you back the omni mics off from the group to get rid of some of these ill effects the ensemble starts to sound like they are in the next county. So it takes of lot of time investment of experimentation; different mics and their placement, bringing in deep valour drapes to cover seats, mirrors, flat wall surfaces to make a good recording that images depth. But simple/minimalist is much better than multi miking and mixing IMHO. Mixing is quick and dirty. Ray Hughes
You get this effect when a performance is recorded in the right kind of reverberant venue, with the mics placed a distance away form the performers, so the reflected sounds are up front in the mix.
Minimalist? Maybe. Though use two extra stereo mics back in the hall and you will get a huge effect of space. Generally, musicians don't really want to emphasize the room they are in when they are putting something on tape. It can be very distracting. They mic everything up close to maximise the s/n ratio. Some old classical records are just too echoey.
Also, you can do virtual space pretty easily with computers nowadays.
Its the recording.
In an un-messed with recording (ie no processing like reverb etc) it depends on mic placement.
In fact everything depends on mic placement; with a good room and the right mic placement any processing (eq, reverb, compression) can become unnecesary/detrimental to the end result.
(Note: You will need an exceptional vocalist and a very good bassplayer to get away with not using a compressor and almost all digital recordings require a limiter.)
Unfortunately these days not many record companies/artists are prepared to pay for a good sounding room and the hours it may take to find the mic placement to get the desired result.
So much quicker to 'fix it in the mix'...
It is in the recording process. It is done with mic placement, EQ and the mix, Period.
BUT, speaker system placement can play a part in reproducing it. There are some new rear channel/placement ideas being batted around in Nashville. I don't know if any of that will be standardized, but it supposedly makes the height dimension pop.
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