[Gary Eickmeier]

ScottW wrote:

I've often wondered if a live event recording using mic's spaced ~10
ft. apart and 10 ft in front of the listeners position wouldn't yield
a reasonable recreation.
The concept being the mics/speakers acting as repeaters of the
original event and therefore being similarly placed.
Seems odd to use mics spaced only 7" apart to be replayed on speakers
positioned quite further apart.

ScottW

Quite an innocent question from one so knowledgeable! No, the one has
nothing to do with the other except maybe in the case of three spaced omnis.
For example, you can record an amazing perspective with the coincident
techniques of MS and XY microphones that have no spacing at all. You can do
almost as well with ORT-F, fairly closely spaced cardioids angled at about
120°.

One of my favorite techniques is 3 spaced omnis, positioned as you suggest
geometrically similar (that is, similar, not identical spacing) to the
positioning and spacing of the speakers at home. The main difference would
be positioning the mikes at a certain distance in front of the orchestra so
that their summing would image the instruments in between correctly and
there would be no hole in the middle. Care must be taken that you are not so
close to the front players that the rear of the orchestra sounds like they
are a mile away. Some elevation of the mikes can help even out these
loudnesses so that it sounds more natural when played back.

In general there is no direct relationship between the spacing of
microphones and speakers like you ask about. Recording is an art aimed at
the final result as heard on most playback systems. Nothing is off limits,
such as highlight mikes for the quieter instruments or the soloists, or
accent mikes such as the outboard omnis used by John Eargle. Several of my
friends get amazing results with Mid Side, including Audio Empire. I have
been trying two spaced omnis on a high bar, but I am not satisfied with the
separation at the distances that I am forced to record live performances, so
I will change something next season.

Gary Eickmeier