So many microphones to choose from. How do I know which one is best for my venue?

[nektarios]

The selection of microphones is big, and I always wonder, how do I know which one is best for the particular venue I am using? Most of the time I am guessing, and it's tough to tell the difference, really. Using Wikipedia, I figured the Blumlein may be the best choice, but how do I know when to use the other ones? Any rule of thumbs to consider?

[Dietz]

That's a BIG question which defies a quick answer. 8-) I'll try to come up with a somewhat elaborated tutorial in the near future, but please allow for a day or two.

.... one thing is for sure, though: There's not one "best" setup for any Venue. :-) Everything depends on the musical and technical context. The "rule of thumb" is: "Trust your ears!" (like always ....).

Thanks for your patience!

[nektarios]

 Thank you Dietz!

The more I know what the particular microphone does, the better I am able to determine if it's for me. It's helpful to know why some would choose one over the other. So far Wikipedia has been very helpful on this... [:)]

[Dietz]

My students (and other people who asked me for advice) found this book to be quite helpful when it came to the understanding of signals and microphones:

-> http://www.stereosoundbook.com/

Disclaimer: I'm neither affiliated with the authors nor the publishers of this book.

[nektarios]

 Great! Thanks for this!

[Dietz]

MIR Pro Output Formats – A Little Technical Background

The following sketches give an overview of how the Output Format Editor “thinks” and what the interactive Polar Pattern Diagrams for the Microphones' individual capsules able to tell you.

(to be continued ....) 

[nektarios]

 Wow, great info! Thank you so much! My logic in picking microphones for my string ensemble:

1. Use a Blumlein microphone as the main microphone as I care for the sound in all directions (i.e. it's not a vocal performance). This microphone is placed at the closest position I can put it. For example, conductor position.

2. For my rear microphone, just use a Cardioid/HyperCardioid at the farthest position, as I care mainly to record the "room" sound that is coming from the front.

Is this logic flawed (in terms of chosing)?

[Dietz]

(... continued ...)

Understanding MIR Pro's Output Formats

A MIR Pro Output Format is defined by the setup of virtual microphone capsules, decoded from the Ambisonic signals which are used throughout MIR Pro's engine.

A click on the Edit Button “E” on the left of the Output Format pull-down will open the Output Format Editor window. This is one of the crucial steps towards sculpting the room sound generated by MIR Pro.

HINT: An example would be a slightly asymmetrical room which can be “trimmed” to symmetry using this fader to increase the “wet” volume for a channel while lowering the dry signal by the same amount. Another scenario would be a surround setup where the dry signals might seem too obvious in the rear channels (which may happen due to the Ambisonics-inherent logic).

(.... to be continued ...) 

[Dietz]

(... continued ...)

I tried to do my best to supply meaningful descriptions for all Factory Presets:

[img]http://s28.postimg.org/jxgbuj2gt/MIR_Pro_Output_Format_Descriptions.png[/img]

Hopefully, the visual feedback from the Main (and Secondary) Microphones' icons combined with these short descriptions will help you to make an educated guess which setup will fit your needs and artistic vision.

(... to be continued ...) 

[nektarios]

 Thanks man. Damn this is complicated stuff. Will do my best to understand... [:S]

[nektarios]

 Presets are extremely helpful! Thanks so much.

[Dietz]

(... continued ...)

The popular "Blumlein"-setup of two crossed figure-8 microphones is able to achieve great spatiousness from most rooms. But there's a big caveat. Just read what the description in MIR Pro's Output Format Editor tells you:

@Another User said:

Since almost 80 years this has been one of the most classical stereo setups: It consists of an array of two coincident figure-8 microphones, positioned at a 90° angle towards each other. The array is oriented so that the line bisecting the angle between the two microphones points towards the sound source.

A Blumlein pair delivers a high degree of stereo separation in the source signal as well as the room ambience.

CAUTION: Sources behind the microphone's position will appear on the opposite channels!

.. this last sentence is the important one: It's quite easy to misuse a Blumlein array! Here's why:

[img]http://s9.postimg.org/qyc4mwf73/Blumlein_explained.png[/img]

Signals sources within the green area (+/- 45° left and right of the the symmetry axis) will sound as expected. Signals within the orange area (between 45° and 90° of the symmetry axis) will sound more and more out-of-phase until a point where they seem to be behind the listener. Signal sources in the red area (behind the base like of the array) will appear in the wrong output channel!

(.... to be continued ....) 

[Dietz]

(... continued ...)

If your want to see (and hear) a bunch of examples how _I_ thought that MIR Pro's virtual microphones could be set up, then please feel invited to download all the so-called "Venue Presets" I created for all available MIR Venues. Many of them are based on hand-tuned microphone arrays.

->  http://www.vsl.co.at/en/68/428/1957/1622.htm

Hope that helped,

[nektarios]

 Wow, thanks! Great stuff. Damn now I see the disadvantage of Blumlein (so long all instruments are place in front). Will give the presets a shot! Thank you!

[BachRules]

@nektarios said:

The selection of microphones is big, and I always wonder, how do I know which one is best for the particular venue I am using?... Any rule of thumbs to consider?

The question is interesting to me too. It's not specific to MIR; it's a question audio engineers face when choosing which mics to use in the real physical world. If there were clear-cut answers, the Decca-v-Blumlein contest wouldn't have persisted for decades without resolution, as it has. If you don't have time to become a master of audio engineering (I wish I did), maybe find some real-world recordings which sound good to you, and study the mic techniques used for those specific recordings.

[nektarios]

I wish too I had the time! But will study as much as I can. How do I know what mic techniques were done for a recording? [:^)] Below is an example of a recording I like, done in 1993 outdoors. I wouldn't say it's the best, but my ears like it...

[nektarios]

Found this document:

http://cdn.audioimpressions.com/OrchestralRecordingTechniques_R4.pdf

I see here they go over multiple mic placements, but in MIR Pro we have two mics. Am I missing something?

Probably because we have the dry signal already at our disposal?

[LAJ]

I'm happy that someone started this topic, cause I think most MIR users have no idea when to use which mic.

There is a question I was wondering when i worked with your Jazzdrums. Would it be possible to create overheads in MIR or is this something that is now impossible because it was not planned from the Start?

BR Lars

[Dietz]

@LAJ said:

I'm happy that someone started this topic, cause I think most MIR users have no idea when to use which mic.

There is a question I was wondering when i worked with your Jazzdrums. Would it be possible to create overheads in MIR or is this something that is now impossible because it was not planned from the Start?

BR Lars

I would prefer to discuss this in a thread of its own, because it will take us completely off-topic - but what makes you think that there are no overheads in the Vienna Instrument Jazz Drumset ...? .... 😕

[img]http://s27.postimg.org/53afdxuwj/Vienna_Jazz_Drumset.png[/img]

Best,

[LAJ]

Hi Dietz,

I know that there are Samples for the Jazzdrums. But I would like to use Overheads for your orchestral drums and for example 3rd Party Drums from another firm.

And maybe for orchestral instruments as well. Even when the use of Overheads is not the common Way for Orchestral drums and instruments.  I am very experimental in mixing and I like BIGSOUND...

But your right ... This is another topic.

Thanks an greetings

Lars