--- In Rob Danielson <> wrote:
> I think Gerzon also suggests that the spatial
> equalization settings required can vary from
> situation to situation so using a fixed setting
> (as I assume would have to be done within the
> electronics of LS-10) would prove less effective
> at times.
Absolutely. It has to be customised to the microphone array in order to
find the correct frequency where the lows begin to fold in to mono, and
it has to be customised to the stereo soundfield being captured in
order to determine the appropriate level of shuffling required. And if
you want it to really work well, you also have to customise it for the
intended listening situation (speakers or headphones).
I used to make a lot of direct-to-stereo acoustic music recordings with
Royer's SF12 and SF24 stereo ribbon microphones. They're Blumlein
technique and capable of excellent stereo imaging and depth
reproduction. But, as with all coincident microphone techniques, as the
frequency gets lower it folds progressively in to mono. So after
getting the microphone in the right position, I would always record
a 'shuffling' track. This involved sitting at the point of each
instrument and alternating between tapping a muted bongo drum and
shaking an 'egg' shaker. In mastering, I would then use shuffling to
align the stereo location of the muted bongo with the stereo location
of the shaker. It worked pretty well for string quartets and other
small ensembles, where a sense of stereo imaging is beneficial, and
created an imaging effect almost as if each instrument was close-miked.
A similar technique could be applied to nature recording, and the
results might be amazing. But it would only work if you were willing to
stand in the location of each individual caller with a bongo drum and a
shaker! And if you're recording sounds that don't have much low
frequency content, you're probably wasting your time and annoying the
callers. ;-)
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