Crown 35246 User guide

126676-1
7/00
Crown International, Inc
P.O. Box 1000, Elkhart, Indiana 46515-1000
[phone] Fax [phone]
www.crownaudio.com
© 2000 Crown International, All rights
reserved PZM®, PCC®, SASS®and
DIFFEROID®,areregisteredtrademarksof
CrownInternational,Inc.Alsoexported
as Amcron®

SECTIONONE
MicrophoneTechniqueBasics3
Howto:
Reducereverberation3
Reducebackgroundnoiseandleakage3
Reducephasecancellationsbetweentwomics4
Reducephasecancellationsfromsurfacereflections4
Reducehandlingnoise4
Reduceproximityeffect4
Achieveanaturaltonequality4
Achieveabrighttonequality4
Achieveagoodbalance5
SECTIONTWO
NotesonCrownMicModels
CM-200A5
CM-7005
CM-1505
GLM-1005
PZM-6D5
PZM-30D5
SASS5
SECTIONTHREE
SpecificApplications5-10

INTRODUCTION
Inthisguideyou’llfindsuggestionsonusingCrown
microphonestorecordmusiceffectively.Whetheryou
runalargeprofessionalfacility,or a projectstudio,
you’llfindusefultipshere.We’llcoversomebasicsof
miking,Crownmicmodelsforstudiouse,and
specificapplications.
AtCrownwe’vedesignedseveralmicsspecificallyfor
studioapplications.Allthesemicswerefield-testedin
studios.Somewereapprovedasis;otherswere
enhancedwithsuggestedimprovements.Weknow
you’lllikehowtheysound,andwillappreciatetheir
value.
MICROPHONE
TECHNIQUEBASICS
Howtoreducereverberation
Reverberationissometimeslooselycalled“room
acoustics”or“ambience.”Itisapatternofsound
reflectionsoffthewalls,ceiling,andfloor.Forex-
ample,reverberationisthesoundyouhearjustafter
youshoutinanemptygymnasium.Toomuchrever-
berationinarecordingcanmaketherecorded
instrumentsounddistantormuddy.Toreduce
reverberation:
•Placethemicclosertothesoundsource.
•Pickupelectricinstrumentswithdirectboxesor
cables.
•Usearoomorstudiowithdeadacoustics.Thewalls,
ceiling,andfloorshouldbecoveredwithasound-
absorbingmaterial.
•Usedirectionalmicrophones.Hypercardioidand
supercardioidpatternsrejectreverb morethan
cardioid.Cardioidandbidirectionalpatternsreject
reverb equallywell.Cardioidrejectsreverb more
thantheomnidirectionalpatternatthesame
distance:
Omnidirectional0.0dB
Cardioid-4.8dB
Bidirectional-4.8dB
Supercardioid-5.7dB
Hypercardioid-6.0dB
Howtoreducebackgroundnoise
•Stopthenoiseatitssource:turnoffappliancesand
airconditioning;waitfor airplanestopass;closeand
sealdoorsandwindows;useaquietroom.
•Mikeclosewithdirectionalmics.
•Pickupelectricinstrumentswithdirectboxesor
cables.
•Aimthenullofthepolarpatternattheoffending
noisesource.Thenullistheangleoff-axiswherethe
micisleastsensitive.Differentpolarpatternshave
nullsatdifferentangles.Shownbelowarethenull
anglesforvariouspolar patterns(Figure1):
Cardioid180degrees
Supercardioid125degrees
Hypercardioid110degrees
Bidirectional90degrees
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Howtoreduceleakage
Leakage (also called bleed orspill) is the overlap of
sound from one instrumentinto another instrument’s
microphone.For example,if you’re miking drums and
piano eachwithitsown microphone,any drum sound
picked up by the piano mic is leakage.To reduce
leakage:
• Mike close with directional microphones.
•When recording,overdub instruments one at a time
oneach track of a multitrack recorder.
• Pick up electric instruments with direct boxes or
cables.
• Use a room or studio withdead acoustics.The walls,
ceiling,and floor should becovered with sound
absorbingmaterial.
•Aim the null of the polar pattern at the undesired
sound source.For example,suppose you’re miking
two adjacenttom-toms with two hypercardioid mics.
The null of the hypercardioid is 110 degrees off-axis.
Angleeach mic so that its null aimsat the adjacent
tom-tom.

Howtoreducephasecancellations
betweentwomics
Iftwomicrophonespickupthesamesoundsourceat
differentdistancesandtheirsignalsarefedtothe
samechannel,thismightcausephasecancellations.
Thesearepeaksanddipsinthefrequencyresponse
causedbyvariousfrequenciescombiningout-of-
phase.Theresultisacolored,filteredtonequality.
Toreducephasecancellationsbetweentwomicro-
phones:
•Mikeclose.
•Spreadinstrumentsfartherapart.
•Followthe3to1rule:Thedistancebetweenmics
shouldbeatleastthreetimesthemic-to-sound
distance.Forexample,iftwomicrophonesare each1
footfromtheirsoundsources,themicsshouldbeat
least3feetaparttopreventphasecancellations
(Figure2).
Howtoreducephasecancellations
fromsurfacereflections
Sometimesyoumustplaceamicrophonenear a hard
reflectivesurface.Situationswherethismightoccur
arerecordingdrama,musicals,oropera withthe
microphonesnearthestagefloor,recordingapiano
withthemicneartheraisedlid,orrecordingan
instrumentsurroundedbyreflectivebaffles.
AsdescribedintheCrownBoundaryMicApplication
Guide,thesesituationscancausephasecancellations
whichgiveastrangetonequality.Solvetheproblem
byusingCrownPZMorPCCmicrophonesmounted
tothepianolid,wall,floor,orotherlargeflatsurface.
Howtoreducehandlingandstand
noise
•UseanomnidirectionalmicrophonesuchasaGLM-
100,CM-150,oranyPZM.
•Useadirectionalmicrophonewhichisrelatively
insensitivetohandlingnoise,suchastheCM-200A
orCM-700.
•Useadirectionalmicrophonewithaninternalshock
mount.
•Useashock-mountstandadapteronamicstand,
suchastheCMSM.
•Placethemicstandonfoamorsponges.
Howtoreduceproximityeffect
Proximityeffectisthebassboostyouhearwhenyou
mikeclosewithadirectionalmicrophone.Thecloser
themicistothesoundsource,themorebassyouhear.
Toreduceproximityeffect:
•Useanomnidirectionalmicrophone.
•Turndowntheexcessbasswithyourmixer’sEQ.
Howtoachieveanatural
tonequality
•Useamicrophonewithaflatfrequencyresponse,
suchas:CM-700,CM-150,GLM-100,oraPZM-
30DorPZM-6Dsetto“flat”response.
•Movethemicarounduntilyoufindaspotwherethe
monitoredsoundisnatural.
•Placethemicrophonesasfarfromthesoundsource
asthesourceisbig.Forexample,thesoundboard of
aguitarisabout18incheslong.Placethemicatleast
18inchesawaytopickupallthepartsoftheguitar
aboutequally.
•Ifyoumustmikeclosetoreducefeedbackorleakage,
useyourmixer’sEQtorestoreanaturaltonal
balance.
Howtoachieveabrighttone
quality
A“bright”sound iscrisp,clear,trebley,and articulate.
To achieve a bright sound,use a microphone with a
risinghigh-frequencyresponse,such as a Crown
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CM-200A,oraPZM-30D/PZM-6Dsetto“rising”
response.Also,movethemicarounduntilyoufinda
spotwherethemonitoredsoundisbright.
Howtoachieveagoodbalance
Agoodbalanceisagoodloudnessrelationshipamong
instrumentsandvoiceinamix.Whenthebalanceis
good,noinstrumentistooloudortoosoft.Toachieve
agoodbalancewhenrecordingalargeensemblewith
oneortwomicrophones:
•Moveinstrumentsthatare tooquietclosertothe
mics,andviceversa.
•Placethemic(s)farenoughawaysothatyoudon’t
emphasizetheinstrumentsinthecenterofthe
ensemble.
•Ifyou’reusingtwomicstorecordstereo,adjustthe
microphoneanglingorspacingforagoodbalance.If
youhear a holeinthemiddlewhenusingwidely
spacedmics,addathirdmicinthecenter,pannedto
thecenter.
•Ifasoloistisperforminginfrontofanorchestra,
raiseorlowertheorchestra’smicstandtovarythe
balancebetweensoloistandorchestra.
NOTESONCROWN
MICROPHONEMODELS
CM-200A
TheCM-200Aisahandheldcondensermicrophone
withasmooth,articulatesoundquality.It’sgreatfor
drums,guitaramps,andsingingguitarists.Becauseof
itscardioidpickuppattern,theCM-200Arejects
soundsapproachingtherearofthemicrophone.
CM-700
TheCM-700isasuperb,cardioidcondensermicfor
proorsemi-prorecordingandhigh-qualitysound
reinforcement.Ruggedenoughfortheroad,the
CM-700worksequallywellforpopular music(multi-
miking)orclassicalmusic(stereoandspot-miking).
TheCM-700hasaclear,naturalsound.Self-noiseis
verylow,andthemiccanhandleextremelyloud
soundswithoutdistortion.Abassroll-offswitch,pop
filterandwindscreenareincluded.
CM-150
TheCM-150isa1⁄2-inchdiameter,omnidirectional
electret-condensermicrophone.Ithasaveryflat
responsefrom20Hzto20kHz,soitsoundsaccurate
andnatural.Itpreservesthedelicatetimbreofacous-
ticinstrumentsyetcanreproduceallthepowerofa
pipeorgan.
GLM-100
Thisminiatureomnimicoffersallthequalityand
wide-rangeresponseoflargerstudiomicrophones.
SincetheGLMissmall,itcanbeattachedtoinstru-
mentstoimproveisolationandrejectoff-micsound.
PZM-6D
ThePZM-6DisaPressureZoneMicrophone.When
suspendedoveranorchestraonaclear panel,the
PZMpracticallydisappears.Itsminiature,perma-
nentlyattachedcablealsoreducesvisualclutter.
ThePZM-6Dhasaswitchable,dualfrequencyre-
sponse:risingorflat.The“rising”positionadds
brilliance.Thismakesitusefulwherevercrispattackis
desired,suchasonpercussion,drumsorpiano.The
usercangetabrightsoundwithoutboostinghigh
frequenciesontherecordingconsole;thebenefitis
lowernoise.The“flat”positionprovidesasmooth,flat
highfrequencyresponsefornaturalsoundreproduc-
tion.
LikeotherPressureZoneMicrophones,thePZM-6D
usesthePressure RecordingProcessinwhicha
miniaturecondensermiccapsuleismountedvery
closetoasound-reflectingplateorboundary.The
capsuleisinthe“Pressure Zone”wheresoundcoming
directlyfromthesoundsourcecombinesinphase
withsoundreflectedofftheboundary.Thebenefits
areawide,smoothfrequencyresponsefreeofphase
interference,excellentclarityand“reach,”ahemi-
sphericalpolarpatternanduncoloredoff-axisre-
sponse.
PZM-30D
SameasthePZM-6Dbutlarger.Itacceptsarugged
detachablecable.
SASS-PMKII
TheSASS-P MKIIisastereomicrophoneusingPZM
technology.Theunitmakesexcellentstereorecord-
ings,hasanaturaltonalbalance,ismono-compatible
andeasytouse,andcostslessthanthecompetition.It
comeswithacarryingcaseandafulllineofaccesso-
ries.ModelSASS-P HCisthemicaloneandcostsless.
SPECIFICAPPLICATIONS
This section suggests some ways to place Crown
microphones to record various musicalinstruments.
These are just starting points to reduce the time
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