C7e Microphone Owners Manual

16
Stereo Miking Techniques
Recording instruments like acoustic guitar, piano and drums, or ensembles (especially in classical or jazz), in stereo
will provide a much more realistic experience for the listener. You can create a stereo recording by simply using your
mixer’s or DAW’s pan controls to place different instruments in between the left and right speakers. However, since
the recorded tracks were likely created with close miking, the stereo mix is void of a lot of information that the listener
would normally enjoy in a live performance. When you record live tracks in stereo, not only will you capture the left
and right position, but you can capture the perspective of depth and distance of each instrument. You’ll also capture an
image that translates the distance between the ensemble and the listener, and, you capture the sound of the acoustic
space surrounding the instrument or ensemble. When recording ensembles in stereo you have better chance of faithfully
reproducing the balance between the instruments that was originally intended by the composer. For most stereo
miking applications, you need to have two microphones with closely matching frequency responses and polar patterns.
Depending on which miking technique you use, the stereo image is created when the combination of microphones pickup
differences in level, time and frequency response.
There are several time-tested techniques for recording in stereo including coincidental or XY pairs, near coincidental or
AB, spaced pairs, and baffled. Following is a brief explanation of these common types of stereo miking set ups.
Stereo Miking Techniques