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My stereo technique has not changed

Posted by Michael Bishop (P) on August 16, 2005 at 07:15:59

In Reply to: Re: SA-CD SURROUND posted by cf@tiscali.se on August 15, 2005 at 01:50:42:

I have not changed my stereo orchestra mic-ing or mixing technique in any significant way in the past 15 years. Here's what you are listening to on most of my typical classical orchestra recordings:

STEREO: (L to R) L orch. omni; center L/R orch KU-100; R orch. omni. That's FOUR microphones going to 4-channels of preamps no further than 20' from the microphones and directly to (usually) a Millennia Media Mix Suite to the stereo tracks. The Mix Suite is a hot-rodded line-level mixer that allows passive and/or active mixing of mic preamps. Sometimes there is a bit of a stereo mic pair out in the hall mixed in as appropriate for the piece.

For the surround mix there are often different mics and more of them used in the various perspectives, i.e.: LF/RF; Center: and LS/RS. There are some mics that are mixed in a small way between the Front channels and the Rear channels in order to have a good connection of Front to Rear. I use the same preamp and mixer arrangement as the stereo setup, but it's a very different mix of course.

When you describe listening to the Front channels ONLY as being "leaner," - OF COURSE IT'S LEANER! The Front channels must have a somewhat closer perspective in order to mix well with the Rear channels. Otherwise the whole soundfield becomes a swamp of reverberation! No set of the surround channels were ever intended to be listened to without the rest of the channels - THEY ARE MEANT TO WORK TOGETHER AS ONE PRESENTATION.

IMO, for large orchestra, a single stereo mic pair does not give me the perspective that I want to achieve. Also, there is NO such thing as a "purist" approach to recording music, IMO. ALL recording of any kind is an interpretation of the live music. The ONLY purist approach is to sit and listen to the live music IN-PERSON. A stereo mic pair will never, ever reproduce accurately what the our ears hear, at least not with any technology currently available to us.

Best Regards,

Michael Bishop
Recording Engineer

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