The zoom msh6 midside microphone capsule for zoom h5 and h6 field recorders is an interchangeable component in zooms h5 and h6 modular recorder system. Before midside, ms recording usually looked like this. The two microphone elements in the iq7 include a directional mid mic that captures signal coming from directly in front of your ios device, and a bidirectional side mic that captures the audio. The midside ms stereo microphone technique by joseph lemmer this article will show you how to create a stereo microphone recording using the midside also called middleside, ms, ms, or ms technique. Beyerdynamic m double ribbon microphone, figure eight. Links to other web sites that give detailed explanations to the different names for each microphone arrangement are on the bottom of this page. Each technique has an advantage for particular applications. If the mics are very high, the capsules will point straight over the sides of the of the kit, essentially putting the entire instrument offaxis. Zoom msh6 midside microphone capsule for zoom h5 and. The mid sides ms stereo mic array should be familiar to most recording enthusiasts, but an interesting variation on it, often used in film and tv, is less often seen in music production. What is midside recording midside recording techniques use two microphones. Nov 16, 2017 vary microphone positions and distances until you achieve the monitored sound that you desire. For anyone who may not be familiar, you take a hypercardiod microphone and aim it right at your source. One of the most popular specialized microphone techniques is the stereo microphone technique i.
May 26, 2018 a short video about the mid side mic technique. Standard midside placement using two akg c414 microphones. With some very simple maths, its possible to encode standard. Ive used the midside technique in the studio before. I checked the documentation but it seems a bit brief with all the options that are available on the plugin. Youll need a pair of headphones for this process because youll be monitoring your input signal through them.
The midside technique works well whenever you need a variable amount of room sound. Alan blumlein, responsible for a host of audio innovations, patented the midside stereo microphone technique in 1933. The nos technique is by far my favorite name of a stereo microphone technique. Discussion in microphones live or studio started by cheryljosie, sep 1.
A primary benefit is that the perceived size of the space can be changed at mix time, by varying the amount of side channel in the mix. The ultimate guide to recording acoustic guitar black ghost. There are books written about acoustics and how to mathematically determine their. Replacement midside stereo microphone capsule for h6 recorder. Mid side microphone recording was devised by emi engineer alan blumlein, an early pioneer of stereophonic and surround sound. In conjunction with the hypercardioid m 160 sold separately, the m is ideal for creating an authentic stereo image through the use of the ms mid side technique.
Mid side microphone technique the art of stereo recording. Popular microphone techniques for vocals, guitars and drums. The second microphone is generally a variety of cardioid, although alan blumlein described the usage of an omnidirectional transducer in his original patent. I need the omni mid mic because the five figure8 side mics need to capture the entire sound field with decent separation between channels, including e.
In the case of poor room acoustics, place the microphone very close to the loudest part of the instrument being recorded or isolate the instrument. And i also agree that facing a limited budget you should use whatever you can borrow or steal in order to perfect your technique prior to upping the pay grade of the gear. The capsule features two microphone elements one mid unidirectional element that faces forward and one bidirectional side element positioned perpendicularly to the first. In my book this is no different in fact way more likely phase accurate. To do this, create a thor polysonic synthesizer in the mid side combinator and initialize its patch if not done already. Microphone technique is largely a matter of personal taste. You should also understand that there is an ongoing interaction between the mid and side portions of a stereo track.
With this technique, the stereo spread can be remote controlled by varying the ratio of the mid signal to the side signal. Ms miking is already a versatile technique, but it can be built upon to provide surroundsound recording and a whole lot more besides. The zoom msh6 ms capsule comes standard with the h6 handy recorder and can be used with the h5. The mid middle channel is typically a cardioid capsule however anything from dynamic mics to hypercardioid can be used. In practice, the diaphragms of two separate mics will probably be an inch or more apart, and they will pick up reflections and shadows from the body of the opposite mic, which has the potential to introduce some very minor comb filtering. Midside microphone recording was devised by emi engineer alan blumlein, an early pioneer of stereophonic and surround sound. Zoom msh6 midside microphone capsule for zoom h5 and h6 field recorders. This exaggerates the stereo field and can change the sound of the room because of the side rejection. Midside miking uses two microphones one set to a cardiod pattern and one set to. Mid side recording mid side is an advanced recording technique that allows the width of the stereo image to be varied, even in postproduction.
The ms microphone recording technique is used extensively in broadcast, largely because. First, select the type of microphone placement technique youd like to use. There are of course many other recording techniques available, and i. A way to place two mics very close together and still get a wonderful stereo image. Jun 23, 2011 mid side the ms technique, like xy, ensures mono compatibility. Mid side microphone technique the art of stereo recording ms. Ms, or midside, stereo has been used for many years as an alternative to standard leftright stereo. Mid side is an advanced recording technique that allows the width of the stereo image to be varied, even in postproduction. Then place the figure8 mic with its diaphragm at a 90degree angle to the diaphragm of the cardioid mic. I will try out the midside surround array anyway too because it seems relatively easy to upmix it. When youre ready to take your ios audio to the next level, plug in a zoom iq7.
This coincident technique employs a bidirectional microphone facing sideways and another microphone at an angle of 90, facing the sound source. To do this, create a thor polysonic synthesizer in the midside combinator and initialize its patch if not done already. The basic concept behind ms recording is that the mid microphone picks up signal coming from the center, while the side microphone creates ambience and directionality by adding or subtracting information from either side. Sep 01, 2017 i will try out the mid side surround array anyway too because it seems relatively easy to upmix it to 7 channels and i am curious what it sounds like on a home theater plus it is my own invention so i owe it to myself to investigate it further. Ms stands for midside and consists again of two microphones. Anywhere a stereo recording is appropriate, the ms technique will work.
Part of the springer topics in signal processing book series stsp, volume 19. The side microphone is always of the bidirectional pattern and angled perpendicular to the sound source traditionally with the positively phase front lobe pointing to the left. Figure8 is theoretically or mathematically the same as two cardioid mics with opposite polarity, facing in opposite directions. Replacement mid side stereo microphone capsule for h6 recorder. It is easy to setup and doesnt take much space, so easy to carry around. Acousticsmicrophone technique wikibooks, open books for an. Blumlein patented the technique in 1933 and used it on. The internal ibeam frame and bookend construction prevents premature. Then you take a figure 8 pattern microphone and position it perpendicular to the other mic.
Note that the combinator output signal is routed to the hardware device. A rather underutilized approach to stereo miking is ms, which stands for mid side. There exist a number of welldeveloped microphone techniques used for recording musical. Popular microphone techniques for vocals, guitars and.
Then you can take a copy of the mid and side and repeat the process only this time, invert the signal from the side microphone. It gives real different results than any other techniques. Dec 11, 2008 each technique has an advantage for particular applications. Acousticsmicrophone technique wikibooks, open books for. Zoom msh6 midside microphone capsule for zoom h5 and h6.
The nos technique is similar to the ortf except it has the microphones separated by 30cm 12inch instead of 17cm 6. At its most basic, the ms recording technique is actually not all that complicated. The same technique is used in ms midside overhead configurations, but thats another article. Stereo miking is a great way to increase the sense of depth in a mix, giving that more quality sound. A perfect mid side partner to the m160 the m s balanced, uncolored sound handles a wide variety of applications. The mid microphone can be of any pattern and is placed facing the sound source. The cardioid element takes the mid channel, and is pointed usually at the sound source. Midside uses a mid mic, which usually has a cardioid pattern, but can also be omni. Ive used the mid side technique in the studio before. Midsides or ms recording techniques are favoured by many engineers for a number of reasons during the recording, mixing and mastering stages, and its the last that well look at here. I am trying to apply midside to a stereo track and am confused about how to use the ms transform plugin. In the xy technique of intensity stereo recording, a pair of identical.
Despite all this, of all stereo microphone techniques, midside strikes fear into the hearts of most recordists. And like xy, it produces a relatively narrow stereo spread. If you are required to record as a team especially with trainees then each technique should be memorised with its correct name. The two microphone elements in the iq7 include a directional mid mic that captures signal coming from directly in front of your ios device, and a bidirectional side mic that captures the audio coming from both sides.
Mid side microphone recording technique can be used to great effect when recording choirs on location using a mobile recording studio. Midside recording can be done by using a pair of coincident. It was devised by emi engineer alan blumlein, an early pioneer of stereophonic and surround sound. The mid and side signals heard alone by themselves in isolation become an. Stereo microphone techniques tape op magazine longform. Zoom iq7 compact ios lightning midside condenser microphone. The ms or midside stereo technique involves a cardioid mic. Maybe i will start capturing some environmental sounds to see if anyone wants them for sound tracks.
Five techniques for stereo miking drums shure blog. I independently conceptualized the midside surround recording technique before i actually came across it online. Vary microphone positions and distances until you achieve the monitored sound that you desire. This phantom center is the mid portion of mid side mastering. The radial decoder is a microphone preamp and midside stereo matrix that. There are no rules or limitations when using the stereo microphone technique. Five techniques for stereo miking drums davida rochman june 23, 2011 by matt mcglynn. To set up a midside stereo configuration, place the cardioid mic where you would normally position it to capture direct sound from the source. It is an interesting approach, since correctly done, ms will give a variable width stereo image that is absolutely mono compatible. They added a little inphase crosstalk above 700 hz to better align the mid and treble phantom. If youre looking for a way to get a room sound no matter what size room you are in then mid side is the way to go.
Two microphone stereo configurations serve as the basis of technique for anyone involved with tonmeister recording. Its short for nederlandse omroep stichting, which basically just means holland radio. However, its important to have proper mic placement in any recording, because you cant. Mid side processors are very popular mixing and mastering tools. Overhead microphone height is an important consideration in this and every technique. Professional microphone techniques mix pro audio david mileshuber, philip williams on. Although the msh6 ms capsule appears to be just one microphone, it actually contains two mic elements, positioned directly on top of one another.
A mic facing the middle of the sound source is summed and differenced with a bidirectional mic aiming to the sides. There is also no one ideal microphone to use on any particular instrument. Jul 22, 2016 this is a video tutorial about mid side recording and decoding for the sae personal web page project. Jan 18, 2015 ms, or midside, stereo has been used for many years as an alternative to standard leftright stereo. The midsides ms stereo mic array should be familiar to most recording enthusiasts, but an interesting variation on it, often used in film and tv, is less often seen in music production. Whatever method sounds right for the particular sound, instrument, musician, and song is right. How to collect a nobel prize for literature books the. May 12, 2016 not really no as the mid microphone picks up the null space that is missed by the side microphones to give you the complete field of sound, needless to say that your technique would still pick up a recording of some kind which of course could work for your project. It sounds complicated, but its really a pretty simple process.
The ms microphone technique is extremely flexible and sounds great in lots of applications, but because of the complexity of creating an ms recording in most daws, its often incorrectly setup or avoided altogether. Midside miking is probably the most underused of stereo miking techniques. Mid side is a stereo miking technique in which a cardioid element is paired with a figureof8 element to produce a stereo recording. The ultimate guide to recording acoustic guitar black. Choose and place the microphone to get the sound you want. Mid side miking technique archive avid pro audio community. The zoom msh6 mid side microphone capsule for zoom h5 and h6 field recorders is an interchangeable component in zooms h5 and h6 modular recorder system. Personal taste is the most important component of microphone technique. Of these configurations, coincident pairs have been. I will discuss mid side processing in part ii of this series, but first, i will discuss how mid side stereo works so that i can give you a better understanding of the benefits, risks and limitations of mid side processing. Finding an appropriate microphone position is actually quite simple. This is a video tutorial about mid side recording and decoding for the sae personal web page project. In this configuration a cardoid microphone is put in coincidence with a bidirectional microphone. Zoom h6 midside mic capsule for h6 zoom recorder and.
Midside microphone recording is hardly a new concept. Also, putting an omnidirectional in the center with the two side microphone sporting a cardioid polar pattern can be a good choice. This compact yet fullfeatured midside stereo condenser mic is perfect for capturing music as well as video with outstanding audio. Midside is a coincident technique, meaning that both mics are placed as closely as possible to each other and the stereo image is created by differences in loudness rather than time delays, on which other stereo miking methods rely. It follows logically then that the side portion is everything but the phantom center. Zoom iq7 ms stereo microphone for ios musicians friend. A rather underutilized approach to stereo miking is ms, which stands for midside. Of course, like any other recording trick, the sound is what matters and if you like the sound that two cardioids. Mid side microphone recording is hardly a new concept. Blumlein patented the technique in 1933 and used it on some of the earliest stereophonic recordings.
Continuing our series of livestream sessions at nab 2014, we return to robert c. Ms stereo microphones exist but you can also create the effect with a good quality cardioid mic and condenser with a figure 8 polar pattern. Bigelow for a new discussion on midside microphone recording. Now inside your daw, route the mid mic to one channel. Now were going to create the device to split the signal into mid and side. The back of the figure 8 microphone will serve as a room mic since it only picks up reflections. A perfect midside partner to the m160 the m s balanced, uncolored sound handles a wide variety of applications. Akg c24, the top unit has a cosine or figure eight pattern. Its probably most familiar as a stereo microphone technique, but ms processing is and always has been commonly employed in mastering as well. Midside is an advanced recording technique that allows the width of the stereo image to be varied, even in postproduction.
In the ms system one of the microphones designated as a mid microphone has a cardioid pattern which is oriented toward the sound source. While hardly a new technique, many engineers shun midside because they dont know how to properly execute this technique. The xy technique dates back to blumleins patent from the 1930s 1 and his. Now the rear of the figure8 microphone is phasecorrect with nature while the front is wrong, or on your graph, the right side is positive and the left is negative. Jan 18, 2017 xy mic technique the mid side technique.