Further Hints And Tips; Microphone Recordings; Half-Track Recording - uher 4000 REPORT MONITOR Bedienungsanleitung

9. Further Hints and Tips
9.1 Microphone recordings
Not even the world's finest microphone will bring satisfactory
results i1 it is placed tao far away
trom
the sound souree that
it is to pick up. B&ckground naises that the human ear WQuid
not notice will be recorded and will disturb subsequent play-
back. Room characteristics, tao, play an extremely important
role in achieving gnod recordings. Rooms with bare walls are
called "live" rooms and are not well-suited for recording with
microphones.
Needless to say, respectable recordings (although never 01
high quality) can be made even i1 the microphone is relatively
far away from its sound souree, but in such cases the ex-
planation lies totally in the accompaning circumstances, espe-
cially in terms of background noises present and room charac-
teristics.
It is advisable to use a wind shield for the microphone when
reeording in open air. If necessary, a light cloth (Iike a handker-
chief or a chiffon scarf) may be used to improvise a wind
shield. Recommended distances between sound souree and
mierophones (when special microphones are not used) for
various kinds of recording are:
Speech
approximately 30 to 50 cm (12" to 20") - with directional micro-
phones shorter distances result in muffled reeordings.
Vocal solos
approximately 1 m (3 1/3 ft) - shorter distances overemphasize
breathing sounds.
34
Pianos and other solo instruments
1 1/2 to 2 m (5 to 62/3 ft) - especially when recording the
piano, careful attention must be given to movingthe mierophone
around until the best placement is found.
Orchestras and choral groups
centered approximately 2 m (62/3 ft) above and 310 4 m (10
to 13 1/3 ft) in front 01 Ihe ensemble.
Small instrumental groups
approximately 5 ft from all instruments (arranged in a semi-
circle around the microphone).
Conferences
If possible, hang the microphone above the conference table
at equal distance from all participants. Bear in mind that intel-
Iigibility in recording is strongly impaired when several people
speak simultaneously.
Stands, extension leads, mixers, microphones, etc., are Iisted
in the brochure on UHER accessories.
9.2 Half-track recording
UHER 4000 REPORT MONITOR employs a half-track recording
system with internationally standard track width. This means
that, as the tape moves from left to right, only its upper half
is recorded. Thus when the tape is first wound onto the take-up
r~el,
the lower half of the tape is still unrecorded. Turning
the full reel overand loading it ontothe left spindie automatieally
brings the unused half into the upper position far recarding.