Jecklin Disk

[Doug Young]

I got enamored with using a Jecklin Disk some years ago, but eventually stopped using it. For some reason I was motivated to dig mine out of the back of the garage tonight and revisit it. If you haven't come across this, it's basically a setup where you place a panel between 2 omni mics. The original Jecklin was a LP record covered with some material, if I recall. I tried making one of my own, which was easy enough, but I eventually bought a commercial one, which is nice in that it has the mic mounts and everything. One thing that's kind of cool is that the setup fits on a single mic stand.

Here's a photo of my disk from the top:



And the side. (Didn't quite clean all the dust bunnies off..)



One thing I used to struggle with using the Jecklin is the placement - the disk is kind of big and forces the mics to be some distance away, and I used to want to mic closer. This seemed to be less of an issue tonight. The mics (Schoeps CMC6/Mk2) end up being almost exactly 12 inches from the guitar, and I have about 5 inches from the edge of the disk to the guitar, close enough that I need to be careful not to hit it, but not cramping my playing really. I just put the disk front and center, with the edge of the disk basically pointing at the soundhole, mics spanning each side.

Here's a short clip of noodling with this setup. I'm curious if anyone else has used one and has any suggestions or thoughts

[Halcyon/Tinker]

I've seen that setup in quite a few high performance amphitheaters and wondered what it was. Thanks for the knowledge.

I strongly preferred the 2020 clips, and was quite surprised by how good the 57's sounded.

In any case, the guitar sounds like it's a real good one...

[ukejon]

Fascinating technique and the recording sounds great. This article was useful for understanding more about the Jecklin Disk:

http://www.josephson.com/tn5.html

Question: is the use of omni mics most important if you are recording a larger ensemble of instruments or singers in a room and trying to create more of a stereo effect? With a relatively close-mic approach on solo guitar, I wonder if there be a substantive difference between using omni and, for example, cardioid mics (other than the former capturing more of the room and reflections of the instrument in that space). Also, is this approach somewhat analogous to the ORTF technique in the sense that it seeks to emulate the position and directional relationship of our ears?

Thanks for posting, Doug.

[rick-slo]

Fun to play around with recording techniques. Regarding the Jecklin setup however I have not heard a recording I prefer to most other mike setups. I think there are some artifacts from barriers so close to the mikes (perhaps less so with omni mikes) and unless you listen to the recordings through headphones you are getting the "barrier" effect twice (the Jecklin disc and then your head).

[Doug Young]

Originally Posted by ukejon

Fascinating technique and the recording sounds great. This article was useful for understanding more about the Jecklin Disk:

http://www.josephson.com/tn5.html

Question: is the use of omni mics most important if you are recording a larger ensemble of instruments or singers in a room and trying to create more of a stereo effect? With a relatively close-mic approach on solo guitar, I wonder if there be a substantive difference between using omni and, for example, cardioid mics (other than the former capturing more of the room and reflections of the instrument in that space). Also, is this approach somewhat analogous to the ORTF technique in the sense that it seeks to emulate the position and directional relationship of our ears?

Thanks for posting, Doug.

I think I've tried cardiod mics with this in the past, tho I didn't try that last night. I don't recall how it worked. That article is the original definitive explanation of this technique, I think. The technique might indeed be more useful for larger ensembles. Most of the stereo micing techniques are meant for larger groups at a distance, and we sort of abuse them for close-micing guitars. Yeah, this is somewhat like ORTF, and it's also like bi-aural techniques. There's even a dummy head you can buy where you put the mics on the ears :-)

[Doug Young]

Originally Posted by rick-slo

Fun to play around with recording techniques. Regarding the Jecklin setup however I have not heard a recording I prefer to most other mike setups. I think there are some artifacts from barriers so close to the mikes (perhaps less so with omni mikes) and unless you listen to the recordings through headphones you are getting the "barrier" effect twice (the Jecklin disc and then your head).

The barrier artifacts from the disk itself, I guess are inherent in the sound - probably what makes it work, for better or worse. The binaural techniques are generally supposed to be better in headphones. I got one recording years ago when I last messed with the Jecklin that I really liked. This track sounds pretty decent to me, tho I think I still prefer my usual setup. It's hard to do a fair A-B compare because I can't place the Jecklin beside other mics without messing things up, even if I could jam everything together.

[Rudy4]

Originally Posted by Doug Young

I think I've tried cardiod mics with this in the past, tho I didn't try that last night. I don't recall how it worked. That article is the original definitive explanation of this technique, I think. The technique might indeed be more useful for larger ensembles. Most of the stereo micing techniques are meant for larger groups at a distance, and we sort of abuse them for close-micing guitars. Yeah, this is somewhat like ORTF, and it's also like bi-aural techniques. There's even a dummy head you can buy where you put the mics on the ears :-)

Here's a dummy head bin-aural recording setup from a company that knows a bit about mics:

https://www.neumann.com/?lang=en&id=...00_description

At $8000 a pop you have to be pretty serious about the technique.

[Doug Young]

That seems pretty intense. I think I'd try a pair of mics stuck onto an old mannequin first :-)

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by Doug Young

The barrier artifacts from the disk itself, I guess are inherent in the sound - probably what makes it work, for better or worse. The binaural techniques are generally supposed to be better in headphones. I got one recording years ago when I last messed with the Jecklin that I really liked. This track sounds pretty decent to me, tho I think I still prefer my usual setup. It's hard to do a fair A-B compare because I can't place the Jecklin beside other mics without messing things up, even if I could jam everything together.

Hi Doug

I have my DIY Jecklin in our studio and have used it quite effectively for recording single sources while creating/maintaining a stereo field.

Loved it on harmonica, conga (by an amazing player where it actually ended up isolating his hands L/R on the recording on a single head) and other places. I even like it on solo guitar, though placing it is a bit more fiddly.

I always wanted to try it on a choir…or perhaps a small jazz group.