Manual

summed to mono with no comb filter effects, and room reverberation (undesirable in mono) is
cancelled to a surprising degree.
For the sake of clarity, engineers commonly refer to similar stereo miking with cardioid mics as
“X-Y.” When figure-8’s are used, it is more commonly referred to as “Blumlein” recording.
Mid-Side (M-S) Technique
In the early days of stereo radio broadcasting, the Mid-Side recording technique was developed
to allow for 1) simultaneous stereo and mono feeds
from the same mic array and 2) electronic
manipulation of the width of the stereo image. In
M-S recording, one mic faces sideways, one faces
forward as shown in Figure 2, and they are
connected as shown in Figure 3.
With the SF-12's logo facing the center of the
performance, the mic is positioned for X-Y
recording. Rotating the SF-12 counter-clockwise
by 45¼ positions it for M-S recording.
With the SF-12 in a vertical position, cable end
down, the upper ribbon element faces the center of
the performance and is the ‘mid’ microphone, and
the lower ribbon element is at 90¼ to the
performance and is the ‘side’ microphone. If the
microphone is to be mounted upside down, make
the proper adjustments in your wiring orientation.
If the outputs of the mid and side elements are made equal using gain controls, the stereo pickup
will be similar to that of two microphones placed as a Blumlein X-Y pair, delivering a wide
stereo image. As you reduce the level of the side element, the width of the stereo image will
narrow until, with the side element turned all the way down, you have just the “mid” element
panned center and giving a mono pickup.
If the outputs of the mid and side elements are recorded on separate tracks, the electrical
connections shown in Figure 3 can be made at the mixer outputs and the adjustment of the stereo
separation can be done during mixdown, rather than during the actual recording.
Space does not permit a fuller discussion of the M-S intensity stereo format, first described by
Alan D. Blumlein over 50 years ago. We suggest the following reading on the subject:
W. Dooley & R. Streicher
“M-S Stereo: A Powerful Technique for Working in Stereo”
J. Audio Eng. Soc., Vol. 30 pp.707 (1982 Oct.)
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Figure 2