Stereo Mic configuration

Anyone here have experience with recording stereo with 2 mics?

I have a Shure SM57 and I'm thinking about getting a second SM57 and a stand that supports a stereo config. any tips? will 2 SM57s get the job done?

is it cardiod? depends what you wanna do really...

  On 5/10/2010 at 4:11 PM, idrn said:

is it cardiod? depends what you wanna do really...

Yep.

http://www.shure.com/americas/products/microphones/sm/sm57-instrument-microphone

Depends what you want to do really. If you're recording something distant you'd probably want condensor mics of some sort but if the sound source is nearby you'll get along fine with the 57s, especially if you've got little or no background noise. Because the 57 is a dynamic mic it won't pick up as much detail as a condensor but the louder the source the better you'll do.

edit: just realized as well, because you're using dynamics you'll probably get better results having the two mics pointing parallel to each other (spaced pair configuration) as opposed to pointing at ninety degree angles (X/Y configuration) because the space pair technique will pick up more of the sound source and less of the room so you'll be able to get it sounding slightly clearer and stronger that way.

i highly recommend you do not try to make a stereo mic configuration with an sm-57. for reasons stated above. it will 'get the job done' but using one of the lower quality work-house microphones in existence.

what are you recording?

I cant imagine you many situations were you would actually get a desired stereo field with two sm-57s unless you were recording a chipmunks accepella at a miniature barber shop

sm-57's are great for live performances but i don't think ive ever had the desire to use one in a studio recording or at home. the only time i have is trying to get a very traditional rock band drum kit sound, but usually the parts recorded with the sm-57 (snare) need to be cleaned up a shit load to make the recording worth while.

if you want to record stereo on the cheap i think you would have better results with this -

sony-ecmms907

almost all the field recordings on my first electronic record 'lying on the floor' were done with this microphone and a minidisc recorder

amazon lists it currently for $66.71

  On 5/10/2010 at 4:01 PM, blicero said:

Anyone here have experience with recording stereo with 2 mics?

forgot to address your first question, i have a lot of experience experimenting with using high quality condenser mics as a stereo pair. The best results i ever had was for the mainly vocal mic the TLM-103, unbelievably lush stereo recordings but extremely susceptible to wind noise. (going price for a tlm-103 individually = $1200)

Good entry level affordable stereo mic pairs i would recommend -

AKG-C1000

Oktava MC012

the very nice thing about having 2 actual independent microphones to record stereo with is the ability to change the stereo pattern however you see fit. You can do really unorthodox micing, like putting each mic on opposite sides of the room or stick with the traditional X-Y configuration.

i can't vouch for the below but ill quote what the guy says about them... MXL 990

  Quote

These microphones are cheap - $179 for the pair - but you'd be surprised at how good they sound.

These mics are a little on the bright-sounding side, but don't let that fool you; these are powerful mics for the home recordist looking for a stereo pair of microphones to use for drum overheads or on acoustic guitar. You might find yourself rolling off the highs a little bit, but you'll like the overall sound, and for $179 it's hard to go wrong. If you can afford it, definitely step up to the Oktava MC012s I mentioned in this article; but if you're on a really tight budget, these work great.

I love sm57's, I'll regularly put them next to mics costing over 100 times as much for vocals, love them on guitar cabs and snares still as well, especially top snare. They really sing with a nice preamp.

Theres nothing intrinsically wrong with 2 57's as a stereo pair, its worth a go but it would probably not be the best choice for most things. Not because the 57 is a bad mic, but just that its natural characteristics are not the sort of thing you often want to get with the sort of things you record in stereo!

For example, as drum ambients the slightly hypercardiod esque pattern of a 57 (Its cardiod, but when measured it is a little tighter than a lot of other cardiond mics) may leave you with a hole in your stereo image and a bit of phasing when you try and close it down. Its peak in the upper mids will probably bring out things like the nasty clash of cymbals which is often the sort of thing you want to tame in your ambients. Also, its aggressive, focused sound will not do wonders for grabbing the sound of the kit in the room and the lack of bass will mean you can't get the low end working on the kit, which is often something you want on the drum room mics. You'll probably find that they take over the sound of the close mics too much, instead of fitting around the drums creating space and ambience on the close mics as they normally should.

The mics Awepittance posted above are all good suggestions, though I have to say I have no love for the c1000 except for occasional duties on toms or guitar cabs when you need something a bit different.

If you plan on recording 'real' instruments a bit then it pays to have a really good mic collection. That doesn't mean spending loads, just a few good choices in a few of the various different types of mics available.

Id start with a 57, so you have that covered, then I'd go for a nice LDC, then a pair of SDC's (plenty of good, affordable options there), then a ribbon or two, then a more high end dynamic like a 421 or re20, then shell out for a really decent LDC, then a few more 57's etc etc

Whats your budget? If its just as much as a 57 then I'd probably wait and save a bit more for the mxl's or something. Remember however that a stereo pair DOESN'T have to be two of the same mic! I'll often stereo mic an acoustic with a coles 4038 (ribbon) and a Schoepps CMC5 (sdc), or piano with a solidtube (LDC) and a 414 or Schoepps CMC5, for example. Chosen correctly different mics on stereo sources can widen the apparance of stereo and accentuate good qualities in each 'side' of an instrument.

Using the same mic is necessary when you just want to capture as close as possible to how the intruments stereo field sounds in the room, which is what recording used to be about (and still is of course for a lot of genres). But for alot of stuff its about creating a crazy sonic sculpture FROM the sounds you get in the room and all the sounds will be processed very heavily. In those cases un-matched stereo pairs can really help get things much much larger than life!

A matched pair of AKG C414s is my pick for stereo miking drums; hard and crunchy and detailed

For rooms for most other things (not including drums) I'd go AKG C451s; softer and warmer but still has all the detail

the most important things are:

1. what are you recording? (edit: and where?)

2. what is your budget?

if you're trying to record live music or sounds farther than a foot or so away i wouldn't go with the 57.

if it is all you can afford and you're psyched about it, please try it and post your recording! i have never thought of the 57 as a contender for a stereo setup, so i'd be interested to hear your results.

i ended up really disliking the sound of that AKG C1000S awepittance posted. matter of taste i guess.

yeah. let us know what you want to record!

  On 5/14/2010 at 12:08 AM, A/D said:

i have never thought of the 57 as a contender for a stereo setup, so i'd be interested to hear your results.

57's are a real big studio staple! They've made their way onto a large proportion of the biggest records of the last 20 or so years.

Red Hot Chili Peppers californication is pretty much all 57's, apart from a few things. And sufjan stevens' first album was just a 57 and a c1000, they are pretty capable mics! In the case of the chili peppers though, to get a recording like that you need some good pre's to plug the 57's into, and they had some prety crazy outboard too. Still, shows how useful they are.

We have 14 at work!

sure, i know they're pretty common. i like them for what they do. i just have never seen them in a stereo rig. do you use them like that?

  On 5/14/2010 at 2:13 AM, A/D said:

sure, i know they're pretty common. i like them for what they do. i just have never seen them in a stereo rig. do you use them like that?

Ah I see, sorry I misread your post as 'studio rig' for some reason!

No don't really use them for stereo stuff I have to say, they can sound great as mono crush mics for drums though. So I guess you could stereo pair them up, if the smashed sound was a big part of the drum sound. But I'd probably reach for something else first!

But I agree though, give it a go, you can make pretty much anything work with the right approach.

Would binaurals be out of the question?

  On 5/14/2010 at 2:30 AM, welcome to the machine said:

  On 5/14/2010 at 2:13 AM, A/D said:

sure, i know they're pretty common. i like them for what they do. i just have never seen them in a stereo rig. do you use them like that?

 

Ah I see, sorry I misread your post as 'studio rig' for some reason!

 

No don't really use them for stereo stuff I have to say, they can sound great as mono crush mics for drums though. So I guess you could stereo pair them up, if the smashed sound was a big part of the drum sound. But I'd probably reach for something else first!

 

But I agree though, give it a go, you can make pretty much anything work with the right approach.

yeah they don't seem like the most obvious choice; when i think 57 i think "less than 1 inch from guitar amp". someone - i think it was you - said their pattern is more like a hyper, and i agree, the falloff with distance is dramatic. i haven't tested them at a distance but i imagine the sound changes into something not classically called "good" in recording after about a foot.

now that i'm thinking about it, though, maybe you could get some cool ariel pink-like drums if you put a couple of 57's a few feet back from a drum set . . i wouldn't xy them, just put them up on stands a few feet apart pointing towards the drummer. it would probably be kind of muffled and weird.

p.s. have fun with the schoepses, those are gorgeous mics!

  On 5/14/2010 at 3:07 AM, A/D said:

  On 5/14/2010 at 2:30 AM, welcome to the machine said:

  On 5/14/2010 at 2:13 AM, A/D said:

sure, i know they're pretty common. i like them for what they do. i just have never seen them in a stereo rig. do you use them like that?

 

Ah I see, sorry I misread your post as 'studio rig' for some reason!

 

No don't really use them for stereo stuff I have to say, they can sound great as mono crush mics for drums though. So I guess you could stereo pair them up, if the smashed sound was a big part of the drum sound. But I'd probably reach for something else first!

 

But I agree though, give it a go, you can make pretty much anything work with the right approach.

 

yeah they don't seem like the most obvious choice; when i think 57 i think "less than 1 inch from guitar amp". someone - i think it was you - said their pattern is more like a hyper, and i agree, the falloff with distance is dramatic. i haven't tested them at a distance but i imagine the sound changes into something not classically called "good" in recording after about a foot.

 

now that i'm thinking about it, though, maybe you could get some cool ariel pink-like drums if you put a couple of 57's a few feet back from a drum set . . i wouldn't xy them, just put them up on stands a few feet apart pointing towards the drummer. it would probably be kind of muffled and weird.

 

p.s. have fun with the schoepses, those are gorgeous mics!

Yeah, the only thing I regulary use them for is distance micing drums as a mono character mic. Its a wierd approach, its one of those things that when you have a vocalist doing guide vocals in the main live room with the drums and the 'vox' fader on the desk has to be cranked so much to hear the vocals that it inevitably has loads of drums in it. But the vocalist is behind a screen and the only drums that make it to the mic are reflections so you get this wierd flappy crushed version of the ambience. I often end up getting the vocalist to move or not sing and leaving the 57 where it is to get that ambience as a thing to add later.

I worked with a crazy but awesome producer who insisted that if you put a 57 in a wierd place to try and get the same effect it wont work, it HAS to be a mic put up for the singer, and you have to go through that process of 'wow wheres THAT coming from? oh ok its the vox 57 :)' or it won't be the same. I think I kinda agree in a mad way, it is forcing the happy accident!

I might try a pair next to the close ambients next suitable session though, I'd like to hear what they do now! I'll post the results when it happens. I've become obsessed with getting the coolness of a well done bedroom macbook recording in a big studio, getting it working on both levels at once. I'm sure its possible, and I reckon the 57's may help.

The schoeps's are definately amazing, what a mic, one of those bits of gear that makes you realise how good it CAN be, we are lucky enough to have 4 at work, two of the silver cmc5's and 2 of the darker sounding grey ones. Awesome. That said, I have a akg 451 of my own, which isn't as 'posh' but does the same sort of job very well. Might be an option for the op for a really nice stereo pair of SDC's for about £400 ish!