Microphone phase issue question

The phase problems occur where the blending occurs.

If it's going to happen it happens right where you blend them.

If you do dual mono, or stereo tracks and output two tracks then the blending occurs in the air.

If you collapse to mono electronically, or with digital mathematics then the blending occurs there.



Many multi mic recordings of acoustic guitars, technically speaking, exhibit imperfections caused by phase cancellation... but the overall effect makes it a non issue.


Personally I've grown to like using one good mic about 3 feet back... but there is a 40 year legacy of sticking mics all around acoustic guitars and dialing up personal "recorded guitar" tones and learning the techniques seems useful.

Try out stuff and monitor it in mono... if it doesn't sound *phasy* in a bad way... then you are good to go... feel free to sculpt the tone to your taste.


best regards,
mike

Well, I guess what I meant is that you should be aware of it and that problems will be so obvious once you try to mix the mics... that you just move the mics around and listen and figure out a good place. If it sounds ok then you shouldn't worry to much about the last few percent.

best,
mike

I think I will stick with one mic for now.

Thanks!
Julien

Another trick along the same lines is to use a graphic equalizer on the left and right copies. You use a graphic, rather than a parametric, EQ because it's easy to set up mirror images. Still no substitute for double-tracking, though, but if you do use it on double-tracked guitars it can make up for not having two different guitars to do it with.

He shows this brilliant technique whereby you record say a acoustic guitar with one mic, then clone the track 3 times.

 
You know I did see that and I completely forgot about it. I need to watch the whole vid again I think.
 
Thanks.. and thanks Bitflipper I will stick with one mic for now and try this trick. I'm sure either will work well.
 
Julien

Hey Julien, don't give up on multi mic.... just try it.

I prefer the single or X/Y mic choices... simply because I like that style of singular sound.

You should give your self the opportunity to work with a few mics and mix them together... you can always just use the one you like and throw the other tracks away... or you may find something you really enjoy.

Don't be shy about it!!!!


all the best,
mike

In honor of mailman-Cliff from the old Cheers TV show ....
Signal mixing also takes place in the brain (as well as the air). If you run two oscillators at the same frequency through separate stereo speakers and then detune one oscillator slightly you should hear a beat-frequency as the two sounds add and subtract from each other due to mixing in the air. The beat frequency should be at the rate of the difference of the two frequencies. However if you take those same signals and run them into headphones (each oscillator panned hard to individual side channels) you will still hear the beat frequency, as the two signals combine in the brain (no air-mixing involved).