Hi there,

I've just done some mid-side recording and thought I'd see if anyone has any mixing suggestions. It was for my own blues/rock n roll trio - so was just guitar / vocals / bass / drums.

Here's the set up:

Rode k2 (omni) - mid
Akg 414 (figure 8) - sides

Also had: overhead on the kit (an old akg pencil mic) / sm57 on the Electric guitar amp / the vocals and bass were amped but we just let the rode and akg pick them up as they were also DI'd.

Now I'm mixing it, I've duplicated the 414 and inverted the phase and am balancing out the 3 signals. Does anyone have any tips for things you like/ dislike working with this method?

So that's one option. Does anyone have any other techniques they like to use!? Plugins that you can use with the mid and side on one output bus (without the duplicated side channel) that give you greater control over the sound and stereo image?

I really like mid-side recording - it seems you can get loads of flexibility and stereo width and you don't need a matched pair too!


Thanks very much,

Martin

Edited by zaphin (07/12/11 08:37 PM)

'Sounds like you're doing well.

You may find that using an MS plugin saves time rather duplicating, inverting phase, mixing, etc. It does it all in one step.

Edit: Just saw you mentioned this. Voxengo offers a free MS plugin. There's an older mda plugin (also rewrapped by others to work with some more recent OS) called "Image," which lets you independently apply positive and negative gain within the plugin, as well as allowing the center channel and side channel to be independently panned. I've found those features to be useful in rescuing badly made recordings (by others, of course!).

Most MS plugins, including the two mentioned here, also work "in line," meaning that you can apply MS processing to existing stereo files. And, not surprisingly, they can "encode" as well, meaning splitting a stereo recording into its mid and side components.

Don't forget you can use any pattern for your center mic.

And you can EQ or apply other processing to either element, if desired.

"BitterSweet" by Flux, can apply a variety of compression effects to either mid, side, or both components of a file.

The plugins mentioned here are freebies.

Find another another plugin (or a DAW with the feature) that offers a scope so you know if you're overdoing things with the side level. There's always StTool, though there are far more elegant solutions for some sort of scope.

BitterSweet and StTool are intended to work on stereo files.

Quote zaphin:

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Here's the set up:

Rode k2 (omni) - mid
Akg 414 (figure 8) - sides

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Fair enough. I rarely use an omni mid myself because normally the 'band' is in front of the mics, but it can be useful if you are recording 'in the round' with important sources in front and behind the mics. The Omni mid produces what is, in effect, a stereo pair of back-to-back cardioids, and you obviously capture a lot of the room ambience with this technique.

Quote:

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I really like mid-side recording - it seems you can get loads of flexibility and stereo width and you don't need a matched pair too!

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Not matched exactly, but technically, the frequency responses of the two mics should be very similar. If they're not you'll get spectral blurring across the image, where different frequency components of a given source will appear to be in slightly different places in the image. Probably not so critical in your situation where you're using spot mics too, but can be distracting in a more critical situation where the MS array is the only source.

Be wary of raising the side mic levels too far as this will produce a hole in the middle and a lot of phasiness in the image with poor mono compatibility -- and the same goes for independent processing of the mid and side channels -- always keep in mind the relative levels of the two. Working with a phase meter or a Goniometer (vectorscope) meter is very helpful at revealing potential problems !

Hugh

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Technical Editor, Sound On Sound