This came up yesterday... and we agreed it had to be one of the existential questions of our time... but then I blurted out, "But... it's not that mono..."

Here we were in a massively spacious stone church, and the orchestra and two (!) pianos smashed up against the space infront of the first pews (for a really nicely done "Carnival of the Animals" with dueling student piano players.)

Naturally I hung the set of CM4's high and wide above, furthest out on either side, and then the set of 441's (both in mono) closer in BUT OUT OF THE SIGHT LINES! in the blocked off first pew. (Actually: the first pew wasn't s'posed to be blocked off-- the mics ended up on the orchestra side of the little divider wall.)

Now-- these mono mics, mostly to get definition and clarity of the dueling pianos-- it has to be the case that with the membrane of the diaphragm facing the piano, that has to sound clearer than if it was turned to the side? With the vibrations either hitting the mic, or racing by on the side? It's not that mono... right?

Even omni mics are directional at high frequencies.

Yes, and this can be used to advantage:

...Like if you're using ambiance mics in a really nice room where the ceiling sounds well you can aim a couple of omnis straight up at the ceiling.

This does two things:

It enhances the ceiling while playing down the direct sound from the instruments.

I knew it! I knew it!

And the larger the diaphragm, the lower the frequency at which it starts to become directional; compare the pattern vs freq of a typical SDC omni with that of a typical LDC set to omni - big difference.

You seem to be confusing mono and omni.

The 441 is a supercardioid. I assume you mean you're not using them as stereo pairs, but as mono spots? In either case a supercard is highly directional.

But, yes, since it's has a large diaphragm, it will be even more directional in the top couple of octaves than the rest of the range, so off-axis sources will not only be lower in level, but duller as well.

Absolutely right, thanks for pointing that out.

These are Lewitt 441's, so they have the usual range of pick-up patterns to choose from, and I was using them in omni.

I guess, in my haste and enthusiasm, I was using the term "mono" in a highly personal and improper way.

Every mic is a mono mic, unless it's a stereo mic, jeez at times I can be a regular Idiot's Guide to, well, whatever.

Ah, I forgot about the Lewitts, I assumed Senn MD441 . . .

Here's the Lewitt in omni, showing 1kHz, 8kHz and 16kHz; at 16 it's full-on figure-8, so at 90 degrees you'll have nothing at the very top.

The Lewitt 441 Flex seems like a very versatile mic (eg those reverse patterns), although that ‘random’ 10 second-hold pattern select option seems less ‘sensible Viennese’ and more ‘dumb Musk-ovite’ in origin ? I guess you don’t have to use it….

See from 4:45 to 5:00 in video here:

https://youtu.be/uOAg_xP4sOI?si=EQFtzg2MfiD29hl8

So Joel, you now get to use reverse mono, via those extra pattern options….…and we’re still weeks away from April 1st !

The neighbors' kid, a seven year old, is mighty precocious, and something of a math whiz, already hip to negative numbers... so I tried to bring up the concept of "negative zero," which he dismissed as preposterous. (Preposterous and post-posterous!)

But ah, reverse omni, now there's an idea ripe for the implementing...

Reverse omni…it’s the ‘Dark Matter of terrestrial recording’

Imagine trying a Blumlein recording with your pair of 441 Flex….one mic set to omni, the other to reverse omni. Bang….instant Black Hole ! A similar thing happened last week when I accidentally allowed my antimacassar to make contact with a macassar…

C'mon, man. This is a parody thread, right? ...Right?

We’re expecting Neil deGrasse Tyson to post here very soon…

I guess you just invert polarity on a mono signal?

Hmmmm... more like reverse the pickup pattern, instead of capturing everything outside the mic, capture only what's inside...



I will say it's a sad day when you realize that your own mind is not the reliable partner it once was........

Well, your mind does work in interesting ways...

I found that when you point the omni mic backwards, record in mono and then in post use a MS plugin with infinite width, you extract a ambisonics 20 ch channel.