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Should I record vox, guitar, bass in stereo?
- Thread starter keano
- Start date
I'd say you stand to lose more in the name of phasing issues unless you are REALLY careful and understand the nuances of micing...
For bass -- I'd say not worth it, on the premise that when reproduced through speakers, the \"ummmmph\" in bass tone below 100hz or so is largely non-directional (the ear can't really pinpoint its location), and recording it in stereo comes at the risk of unevenly ducking other mid-range/high frequencies in your mix when it comes time for buss compression/limiting. While the majority of the \"tone\" of a bass weighs in aroun 200-500hz, and these are direcitonal, I'd say the extra \"width\" in soundfield you may gain will more than likely just clutter the mix, instead of enhancing it. Maybe a real sparse arrangement could benefit, but I've never done it.
For guitar -- yes and no. If ya' just throw mics up without having a real critical monitoring situation, you could run into phase issues and the like. Again the extra \"width\" in the soundfield may just clutter the mix. But... if you're real careful and have a nice room tone, you may be able to do some interesting things with space and dimension. There's a great little section on the \"Haas Effect\" in bob Katz's book that explains what it is, and how two mics can be used to capture reflections in such a way that you can create a true stereo image in a very natural manner. Note this isn't for use in a little vocal booth -- you really need a good room with pleasing ambience to benefit. Another option is two record two channels, though not necessarily for stereo use. You can mix the two mics to a mono channel, and by adjusting each one's level and position change the tone drastically. Sometimes \"phasing\" issues will work for the better in this scenario, acting like a natural eq filter. But again -- more times than not this is a long road filled with trial and error, so give it a shot, but don't expect it to sound better just cause you're throwing a second mic at it...
The same rule applies for vocals. If it was a sparse vocal or chior arrangement, and you have a nice room, and want a very roomy laid back sound... maybe it would work. I've never had a vocal situation that warranted it, and therefore never tried. More times than not, you want the proximity effect that a single close mic can deliver, and you want minimal room tone so you can compress freely without bringing up the natural ambience (this want you can add the flavor you want later.) So I'm thinkin when recording your average, dense Pop music arrangement, record \"lead\" or up-front sounds in mono 99% of the time. When it comes to little classical, bluegrass or jazz groups, or very sparse vibey arrangements (like piano and vocal) -- that's where I'd try puttin stereo micing techniques to work (if you have a nice sounding room.)
For bass -- I'd say not worth it, on the premise that when reproduced through speakers, the \"ummmmph\" in bass tone below 100hz or so is largely non-directional (the ear can't really pinpoint its location), and recording it in stereo comes at the risk of unevenly ducking other mid-range/high frequencies in your mix when it comes time for buss compression/limiting. While the majority of the \"tone\" of a bass weighs in aroun 200-500hz, and these are direcitonal, I'd say the extra \"width\" in soundfield you may gain will more than likely just clutter the mix, instead of enhancing it. Maybe a real sparse arrangement could benefit, but I've never done it.
For guitar -- yes and no. If ya' just throw mics up without having a real critical monitoring situation, you could run into phase issues and the like. Again the extra \"width\" in the soundfield may just clutter the mix. But... if you're real careful and have a nice room tone, you may be able to do some interesting things with space and dimension. There's a great little section on the \"Haas Effect\" in bob Katz's book that explains what it is, and how two mics can be used to capture reflections in such a way that you can create a true stereo image in a very natural manner. Note this isn't for use in a little vocal booth -- you really need a good room with pleasing ambience to benefit. Another option is two record two channels, though not necessarily for stereo use. You can mix the two mics to a mono channel, and by adjusting each one's level and position change the tone drastically. Sometimes \"phasing\" issues will work for the better in this scenario, acting like a natural eq filter. But again -- more times than not this is a long road filled with trial and error, so give it a shot, but don't expect it to sound better just cause you're throwing a second mic at it...
The same rule applies for vocals. If it was a sparse vocal or chior arrangement, and you have a nice room, and want a very roomy laid back sound... maybe it would work. I've never had a vocal situation that warranted it, and therefore never tried. More times than not, you want the proximity effect that a single close mic can deliver, and you want minimal room tone so you can compress freely without bringing up the natural ambience (this want you can add the flavor you want later.) So I'm thinkin when recording your average, dense Pop music arrangement, record \"lead\" or up-front sounds in mono 99% of the time. When it comes to little classical, bluegrass or jazz groups, or very sparse vibey arrangements (like piano and vocal) -- that's where I'd try puttin stereo micing techniques to work (if you have a nice sounding room.)
This whole thing actually bring up a good point about what \"stereo\" really is in terms of width. If I take two mics, point each one in the center of two different speakers in a 4x12 Marshall cab, and record them to two channels, I'm not really recording stereo in the \"acoustical\" sense of trying to create a wide left to right image. At best, I might gain some phase problems that could change the sound for the better, but I'm not creating a sense of space and dimension. A wide image -- what most people think of as \"stereo\", is not gained from putting two sources left and right, but rather the delay between these two sources hitting my two different ears... More importantly, it the ambient early reflections that keep on hitting my ear after the initial sound, that tell my brain how far away each source is, and it's this that truly gives a stereo image and a sense of depth.
Back to those two close mics on the 4x12 cabenet -- I'm not recording any ambient reflections, just two similar versions the direct source, and therefore not adding depth to an already similar stereo image. This is all why room tone and ambience really plays a strong role in adding space to a mix. If you don't have that pretty sounding room to record in, you can try to apply these techniques to a mono source using a reverb or ambience effect, although of course nothing beats the real thing if you're lucky enough to have it. Just something to think about...
Back to those two close mics on the 4x12 cabenet -- I'm not recording any ambient reflections, just two similar versions the direct source, and therefore not adding depth to an already similar stereo image. This is all why room tone and ambience really plays a strong role in adding space to a mix. If you don't have that pretty sounding room to record in, you can try to apply these techniques to a mono source using a reverb or ambience effect, although of course nothing beats the real thing if you're lucky enough to have it. Just something to think about...