From: "David Kuhn" <>
>
> Hi Bernie and all,
> Thanks Bernie, I'll try the h-phones-attached-to-log method next
> time, as recent developments indicate I may need to do it
> differently:=20
> I hear from the studio engineer in Hilo that "All sources [of log-
> moving audio] should be done raw mono 48 khz; in the mix, we can
> determine pan scenerios, levels, effects, and so on..."
>=20
> I'm up against my lack of studio experience here, whereas this
> engineer has wide experience in studio mixing, but only for music.
> I'll likely give it over to him to make the most of it his way, but
> also do the mixing here in my studio and compare the results to his.
> I guess one question is: If I record in stereo as planned and save
> the file in mono to send to the engineer, is the result the same (to
> him) as recording in mono originally?
>
> Wouldn't a studio engineer have more flexibility if he starts with
> stereo? Isn't the use of extensive panning to create "fake" stereo?
>
> Thanks for any guidance that would put me on a better footing in
> these "negotiations"--most important to me is to create the best,
> most credible illusion for the exhibit, and to represent my work in
> the best light. Manipulating mono to sound like stereo aint it.
Virtually all music is now recorded as multichannel mono, then mixed to
fake stereo. The label may say stereo, but it's not. Your studio
engineer is obviously steeped in this method. He may not be able to
handle natural stereo well.
To be fair, mixing a bunch of stereo fields together to form one
accurate field would be quite a task. Stereo is best recorded with a
single stereo mic setup in one pass. If a sound must be recorded
separately, it should be just the sound and that panned through the
complete stereo field. Get your ambiance from one stereo mic setup, even
if you record in several passes from the same spot.
The multi-mono stereo lacks a proper ambiance field, each mono mic will
pick up some resonance, some ambiance, but it does not mix to a single
field, just a jumble all pointing odd directions. At least not without a
huge amount of computing power, far more than is used. You'd have to
extract the ambiance from each mono mic separately and join that into a
single volume of ambiance. Then extract just the main players from each
mic and pan them into that field. That's why engineers try to not pick
up ambiance.
Your engineer will simply pan the log sound where he wants it located.
Regardless of any ambiance the recording contains. In fact he'd probably
prefer no ambiance. I don't know how much is to be mixed in this
soundfield, so hard to comment more.
For most folks this multi-mono mix is what they think stereo is. No
wonder even very crude mic arrangements are thought to be stereo setups.
People are simply not used to more than the main sounds having
believable directionality, if even that. It took me a while to learn to
listen to the ambiance in a stereo field as well as the main players. To
evaluate the structure of the field as a whole. The echoes of the main
callers should be believable, for instance. And the main echo sources
for all callers should be the same. Like, for instance, there's a rock
that's a echo source, it's direction should be as firm as the direct
calls, pointed out consistently by all the echoes. Only happens with
real stereo.
The SASS, for instance, I might be recording frogs calling in and around
a pond in the woods. The reflections of the calls from the tree trunks
will form a audio image of the forest, which is a result of the echoes.
On good days even each tree will image. Just as I would hear it at the
site with my eyes closed. It does not require a SASS for this, other
well designed stereo setups can do this to a varying degree.
Or listen to the Death Valley recording I put up. Hear the image of the
back pit wall in the echoes? Encoding to mp3 blurred it a bit, but it's
still there. It's faint and takes some listening to hear separately, but
it's part of what makes the recording stereo. Or just how most of the
flying birds are headed toward the water? That's in faint wing noises
mostly.
Multi-mono is like a picture album on one subject, the pictures only
somewhat related. Stereo is like a single picture.
Walt
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