Just got a matched pair of omni-condensers: What do I do with them?

[mike.sartori]

I picked up a pair of these Karma Silver bullet condenser mics http://www.karmamics.com/shop/K-Micro-Matched-Pair.html

 

They got a good review on Sound on Sound, and they are only $35.

 

Now, what do I do with them? What are some good applications where the omni pattern or the small size comes in handy?

 

Any advice?

[Lee Knight]

You can do spaced pair / AB style stereo recording. Let's say you want a natural sounding acoustic guitar in a nice room. Try maybe 2 feet apart. Then experiment with distance from the guitarist. Listen for the hole in the middle. Spaced too far apart and you won't have the instrument in the middle but only an ambient pickup, hence the term "hole in the middle". Too close together and there's no stereo spread.

 

Try AB as drum overheads. AB more than any other technique, requires you to really listen for that hole in the middle. Space them tighter if you get the hole, space them wider if you require a wider soundfeild. Father away for more ambiance. Closer for a dryer sound.

 

You can record anything with spaced omnis where you're looking for a wide room sound. Even electric guitar ambiance. Stick a dynamic in the grill and place the AB out in the room.

[Phil O'Keefe]

Another thing that I'll add to Lee's excellent suggestions is close miking.

 

With omnis?

 

Yes!

 

They don't suffer from proximity effect, so you don't get a bass boost when you move in close with them. You might be amazed by some of the cool / interesting and even occasionally useful sounds you can get at near-contact distances from a sound source with an omnidirectional microphone.

 

One common-sense rule of thumb with omnis is - the closer to the source, the more "direct sound" you get - the further from the source, the more room ambience and reflected sound you get.

 

You can use that to your advantage as you're placing your mikes. As Lee said, you need to watch the relative "width" of your placements - too wide with an AB stereo set, and you get that "hole in the middle" he mentioned, and too narrow and you run into other problems. You might want to read up a bit about the 3 to 1 rule too if you're not already familiar with it. Anyway, in addition to how wide you place the mikes and how that affects stereo width and imaging, don't forget that how close / far you place them will have a similar affect on how close or far away the sound appears in the recording due to the levels of room ambience you capture.

[nice keetee]

Experiment with placement, use ears.

[UstadKhanAli]

I've used them for overheads, acoustic guitar, guitar cabinets, etc.

 

And sometimes, I can get away with using them for kicks, where they don't exhibit proximity effect. Sometimes. With me, I've found that it either works really great or it just sucks no matter what I do.

[Lee Knight]

Oh! Here's a good one for a little omni condenser. For a natural drum kit sound with a great drummer, try putting one of them between the snare and hat. The drummers got to be great and not a hat basher. But if you've got a guy who is smokin' on those hats like a Jeff Porcaro type, just embracing the hat instead of trying to reject it can be a beautiful thing.

 

This is to replace the separate Snare and Hat mikes. Just find the spot that gives you the balance you're looking for.

[mike.sartori]

Thanks for all the responses! Definitely some interesting ideas to try, especially next time I mic a drum kit.

[Phil O'Keefe]

Let us know what you think of those once you get more familiar with them please Mike - I'm interested in reading your thoughts, and maybe hearing a couple of demo clips if you find the time.