Proximity Effect Experiments

Doug Young · #1 10-21-2014, 11:20 PM

We started discussing proximity effect in Anton's stereo width thread, which got me thinking that I hadn't played around with mic placements in a long time, and had gotten used to micing pretty closely - maybe backing off was worth a try. I tried 4 short recordings, trying to be pretty extreme in my differences - I tried placing the mics 4 inches, 8, 18, and 30 inches away from the guitar. The mics were 20 inches apart on all takes except for the 30 inches away example - where I widened the spacing out to 36 inches.

At 4 inches the proximity effect is pretty clear, and I tried rolling a little low end off that, and boosting some highs, so there's an EQ'd version of that track. The 4 basic tracks don't have any EQ to compensate. I tried to match volumes as best I could, but they're far from perfectly matched, in part because I played a tad differently each time.

The results aren't too surprising, you can hear the increased bass from the proximity effect on the close tracks, and the 30 inch track sounds rather "stringy" comparatively, tho the room sound seems less noticeable than I expected.

Here's the tracks:

https://soundcloud.com/doug-young/se...ty-experiments

I don't know if this is helpful to anyone, but there's nothing like endlessly messing with mic placement to keep you from doing something more useful, practicing, etc!

ukejon · #2 10-22-2014, 05:24 AM

Terrific. Thanks for posting.

rick-slo · #3 10-22-2014, 07:56 AM

Thanks Doug.

To me the 18" recording sounds best - a little more detailed and fully developed guitar sound than closer up.

Even cardioid mikes vary in proximity response - some are even designed for use in the near field, such as my Gefell M295s. Please post the mikes you used and if available their proximity response graphs. Also where were the mikes pointed at?

Doug Young · #4 10-22-2014, 09:02 AM

The mics in this case are Brauner VM1's. Ive not seen a proximity graph for them. They were aimed fowatd, slighty turned inward. Spaced pairs, 20 inches apart, so not really pointed at anything

anton · #5 10-22-2014, 10:36 AM

Great stuff, i think 18" is best too. Its interesting to hear how much more stringy the sound gets 30" out.

Bob Womack · #6 10-22-2014, 12:05 PM

Very nice! I'd probably favor 18" and up in this application because you can really hear the transient material and top shine.

Bob

philjs · #7 10-22-2014, 12:19 PM

Thanks, Doug, for this demo. I'm going to go against the grain and say I prefer the 8" distance: a very nice balance between bass and treble and a sense of "immediacy" (including apparent stereo width) that I think gets lost at further distances. I find the 18" distance a bit too "shimmery" (and I'd be thinking of trying different strings to tone it down!). Maybe my preference is because my ears are never that far from my guitar when I play so I just don't hear a guitar that way...

Phil

mc1 · #8 10-22-2014, 05:06 PM

thanks for creating and posting these. i found that very interesting and useful. i'm glad you included the eq'd version of the close mic'd recording. btw, the flat close recording is at a lower bit rate than the rest.

i seemed to prefer the 18 inch version. could the proximity effect ever be put to good use, like with a bass-light parlour guitar? just thinking out loud.

Doug Young · #9 10-22-2014, 09:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mc1

thanks for creating and posting these. i found that very interesting and useful. i'm glad you included the eq'd version of the close mic'd recording. btw, the flat close recording is at a lower bit rate than the rest.

Good catch. I recorded these all at 96K. I intended to export them as 44.1 just to not be huge files for uploading. I exported the 4inch track first, and I guess the 44.1 export setting didn't stick, so the rest stayed at 96. I wondered why they took so long to upload!.

Quote:

i seemed to prefer the 18 inch version. could the proximity effect ever be put to good use, like with a bass-light parlour guitar? just thinking out loud.

Sure. People talk about lots of things like this as if they're bad; proximity, phase, impedance, etc, etc. To me, they're all just tone controls of one sort or another. Distance from the source is one of the controls we have in dialing in a sound without having to reach for EQ knobs.

I'm pleasantly surprised that 18 inches sounds ok in my room - nice to know. I still think I prefer a bit closer. Realistically, I'm probably around 10-12 inches with most of my recordings, which I skipped over here. So maybe between the 8 and 18. But it'd depend on the guitar. I have had to adjust the mic placement for different guitars at times,