two mic recording... phase issues??

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zilla

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Hi all.

I'm hoping that I can get some advice from you guys.

Up until recently I was using a Blue Yeti USB mic to record. I got some great tones out of it, but i couldn't turn the amp up too loud or it would overload.

I recently picked up an audio interface and an SM57 off of ebay and have started fooling around with it and I can get some good tones.

What I would like to do is use the yeti as a room mic and mix it in with the close mic 57.

So i recorded both streams and tried to mix them in reaper.. with utter disappointment. the 57 was recorded thru the audio interface and into reaper using the proper drivers. the usb mic was recorded into the software that i use to record video. I then extracted the audio stream from the video and imported it into reaper.

either of them by themselves sound pretty good, but when i mix them they sound hollow and out of phase. i've tried flipping the phase switch for the track in reaper and it only makes it worse.

I've tried putting both mics on the same speaker and putting them on different speakers with the same results. I've tried close micing with the yeti and moved it back about 6 or 7 feet and no difference.

Is there something fundamental that I'm doing wrong?

Thanks

Tim
 
Theres a timing problem here, if you record both mic, you need to have them in the same interface and never use delay. You need the natural room delay.

Get a cheap condencer mic, it will work better.
 
i know that there will be latency issues with them, but can't i just adjust that in reaper so that they will be in sync
 
you have to use your ears, and train them to recognize phase issues.
there really is no shortcut.

when it's wrong, it sounds wrong.
when it's right, it sounds right.

it takes a lot of time to get it right, and only experience will ever get you good at it.
 
gonzo said:
you have to use your ears, and train them to recognize phase issues.
there really is no shortcut.

when it's wrong, it sounds wrong.
when it's right, it sounds right.

it takes a lot of time to get it right, and only experience will ever get you good at it.

+1. Kind of like finding the "perfect blend" of preamp tubes for my Mesa's - longgggg time comin'

You may already know this, but here is a snippet from another site;

Code:
Two mics
 
In some cases, and especially for less aggressive music styles, adding a second microphone will help add “air” to the sound. Using the large-diaphragm MXL mic, I add a bit of the room sound so the cabinet is able to “speak” a little before the sound is captured. By balancing the close and distance mics you can get a variety of sounds that will help a guitar sit better in a mix, but it doesn’t take much. In a recent recording I found that having the ambient mic at –15 dB (while the close mic was at 0 dB) gave just the right amount of presence without adding an obvious roomy sound.
 
The use of a second, ambient mic is especially useful with jazzy guitar sounds, and almost a must when doing funky wa-wa tracks. However, you need to watch out for phase problems between the two mics; if the result of mono-summing the mics sounds like a phase-shifter stuck in one spot, you have to do a little more work on placement. Generally, moving the ambient mic a few inches in or out will greatly improve the sound.

And here is a link with some sound samples for multiple microphone techniques;

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/aug07/articles/guitaramprecording.htm

Hope this helps.

Dennis
 
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