Hi again.
I'm using stereo-paired SE1a small membrane condenser microphones in an ORTF configuration.
The reason why you're hearing these distortions is because I have the gear, but not the firsthand knowledge or skill with recording. I'm basically just learning as I go. I was under the impression that the ORTF setup was supposed to help, but I'm going to look into the OSS setup you mentioned. and definitely get more distance from the piano.
Thanks for your feedback :-)
-Alvis
Ok, so your microphones are 17 cm (~7 inches) apart and and angled 110 degrees?
Such configuration ensures that time difference between channels is less than 0.6 ms (that's good). However, since cardioid mics are used, the amplitude difference gets easily too large for headphone listening, especially when the recording is acoustically dry.
What to do?
- Keep the distance of your mics at 17 cm, but reduce the angle between them (for example use 70 degrees or even less). The wider orchestra you record, the bigger angle between mics in ORTF. Now you are recording piano only. That's something narrow. The direct sound of a piano should be almost monophonic (sound comes from a narrow angle). The diffuse reverberant sound field gives ambience. We are now half a century after the early stereophonic recordings. There's no need to overblow left and right. People expect natural sound.
- Increase the distance to sound source as mentioned already. Cardioid mics cut bass frequencies and more reverberant sound will compensate that a little. The acoustics is part of the sound (that's why music halls have acoustics!). Don't be afraid to include it to your recording, but too much is always too much (here you are very far from too much imo).
I think OSS is one of the best set ups there is. You need the "Jecklin" disc between two omnidirectional mics. Since omnidirectional mics are flat down to the lowest frequencies of human hearing, there's no loss of bass. Thanks for your feedback :-)
-Alvis
You are welcome Alvis. Hopefully you don't feel I was harsh. It's just that "it's nice" comments don't help at all went you need advice. I am talking about the sound with headphones because:
- Spatial distortion is a real problem and a nasty one
- I believe getting the sound "right" for headphones means you are on the right track. Headphone sound is a good indicator of how healthy the spatial attributes of the recorded sound are.
- Headphone listening is popular these days, thanks to portable mp3 players and smartphones.