> So here is a sample of the recording: https://soundcloud.com/australianna=
turesounds/gong-with-distortions
Eric,
This recording doesn't appear to be there, but I've listened to other gongs=
.
Bear in mind that our ears can also distort percussive sounds and it is
sometimes legitimate to recreate this affect. The commonest example is
gunshots which just go "pop" if not over-recorded.
You an check your mic distortion by recording the same level of bowl strike=
at varying distances and equalising the recordings. This will show up the
difference between HF overload, and various short-term resonances, includin=
g
from the striker.
Mic spec distortion figures are often misleading. The quotes given are
usually for 1KHz harmonic distortion, when what our ears are sensitive to i=
s
higher frequency enharmonic or intermodulation distortion which is very
rarely quoted.
We can hear a very small percentage of intermod distortion, but experiments=
have shown on a single violin, pure harmonic distortion can be acceptable u=
p
to about 50% (BBC Engineering Department)
David Brinicombe
|