Rick Sarson
Senior Engineer
In search of fidelity
Posts: 106
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Post by Rick Sarson on Jun 14, 2008 17:42:53 GMT 1
Has any one had a try at dummy head recording? I know the results are awesome on headphones, but the Pro setups are horribly expensive. I was thinking of cobbling something together with a couple of Maplin electrets and a polystyrene wig block just for curiosity. Any thoughts or pointers gratefully received.
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Post by jimthedrum on Jun 15, 2008 9:47:36 GMT 1
I'm not exactly sure, but i think these setups are designed with very flat frequency response microphones through the whole range, and any coloration (eq adjustments, stereo imaging, phase responses etc) comes from having the head part with the same acoustic properties as a real human head. It would be interesting to hear the results compared to a DPA model for example, but i feel you wouldn't get any decent results without having the same properties and dimensions that a real human head with the corect ear shapes.
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Post by sw2407 on Jun 15, 2008 17:20:18 GMT 1
Interesting - I've been working with an experienced recording engineer (he has owned his own studios in the past) and he is going back to 2 matched microphones in the centre of the studio - after extensive listening and re-mixing and re-listening he, like me, prefers the more natural sound of the 2 microphones to close miking & DI's. Good luck with your experiments.
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Rick Sarson
Senior Engineer
In search of fidelity
Posts: 106
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Post by Rick Sarson on Jun 16, 2008 10:47:47 GMT 1
You might like, if you don't know about it already, to check out the "Microphone University" at DPA www.dpamicrophones.com/
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Rick Sarson
Senior Engineer
In search of fidelity
Posts: 106
|
Post by Rick Sarson on Jun 16, 2008 10:56:54 GMT 1
About a billion years ago, when I was doing theatre touring, I borrowed a wig block from the Wig mistress and pinched a couple of KM84's from the pit to record a mates gig on a Sunday. Even though KM84's are completely the wrong sort of mic, the block had no 'ear flaps' and the recording medium was cassette (it was a loooong time ago) the results were still impressive on headphones. There was a real sense of being in the acoustic space of the room. This kind of stuff fascinates me, even though it has limited applications. Mind you, everyone listens to music via Ipod these days so maybe it could be a way forward for a really cool listening experience for your bands' next release?
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Rick Sarson
Senior Engineer
In search of fidelity
Posts: 106
|
Post by Rick Sarson on Aug 31, 2008 20:06:48 GMT 1
OK. Here is an update on the Dummy Head progress. This is what I started with. A polystyrene wig block rather stylishly modelling my sunnies, called the shortened version of Richard, obviously. My middle name is puerile. (The website won't let me write thingy) On the right are two AKG 417's, on the left is some silicone plus hardener. The silver bag in the middle is some alginate. It is the stuff dentists use for taking gum moulds and so is safe for gooping over my delicate lugs. Next is a snap of a mould being taken, I have felt more elegant I must say. A plastic pot is used as a dam to keep the alginate in place, which goes off incredibly quickly, making it difficult to get the stuff in all the little crevices. Here are some of the "negatives" of my pinnae And here are the positives made of the silicone All good so far, but the problems started. I thought the polystyrene head would be an simple starting point, but most glues and paints melt it easily. Silicone on the other hand has its' problems in that almost nothing will stick to it or paint it. The first attempt at sticking the ears on was not much of a success as they just fell off. I visited lots of do it yourself shops and arty craft shops for help, but was mostly met by teeth sucking and general tutting. A whole heap of experimentation and general cursing later I ended up with this First experiments in recording are encouraging, I have a level difference problem which I have yet to figure out and I think I need to apply an EQ dip somewhere in the 5 to 8KHZ range. The sense of space is remarkable, especially anything round the back of the head is really well defined. I have no idea how far the mics need to be pushed inside the head 'though, and once I push 'em in they ain't coming out in a hurry! I will let you know how I get on when I have something decent to record. If anyone has any handy hints or thoughts about the way forward then don't be shy!
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Post by wilflet on Sept 1, 2008 13:08:41 GMT 1
it looks quite menaceing
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Rick Sarson
Senior Engineer
In search of fidelity
Posts: 106
|
Post by Rick Sarson on Sept 2, 2008 17:37:43 GMT 1
If anyone is interested I have done a test recording. It is just shaking a matchbox around, above and below the head. I don't know how to post audio on the web, but I could ftp it to your email, if you are curious?
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Post by soundman on Oct 22, 2010 21:09:50 GMT 1
Dear Rick, look at www.soundman.de and you will see that pro setups of binaural microphones and dummy heads must not be expensive. You will find also on this pages an interesting thesis explaining how binaural microphones are working and a comparison of Neumann KU81i and Soundman OKM II Studio classic binaural microphones.
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