Recordings that can demonstrate Stereo Imaging

[FrantzM]

Thanks Guys..

Very open to..open my musical horizons...
I like Anna Von Hausswolff... so far.. never heard of her before reading this thread...
The "Truth, the Glow, the Fall" from the "Live at Montreux Album" shook my skull with low bass .. Listening on the HifiMan HE6SEv2 .. Damn..

 

[goat76]

Amazing list in the opening post, as well as recommendations from other posters. Thank you very much!
Should these stereo effects be observable to a good degree in headphones / IEMs? Or speakers only for real amusement?

My contribution: Roger Waters - Amused to death. Very interesting ambient sounds at the very beginning of the track. The rest of the track is nothing special in my humble opinion, but the opening is amazing. There are sounds seemingly coming from behind you, and I was stunned that this effect is reproduced in my awful, totally untreated room in stereo just as well as it is with 5.0 upmixing (Dolby). The effects is not nearly as stunning with IEMs.

What Qsound does is just a stereo phase trick. I had a plugin in my DAW that could be used for a similar effect, I think it was called "MSED" by Voxengo.

It will most likely not work with headphones, I think the acoustic crosstalk between the left and right channels is needed for the effect to occur.

 

[SoundGuy]

Sheffield Labs Drum Track.

 

[Fahzz]

Bebel Gilberto - August Day Song from Tanto Tempo. At the beginning of the track vocal is from one channel, then the other, then both (so centered).

 

[Midnight Audiophile]

This is the song I always check my left and right channels with. 19 year-old Angus on the left, 21 year-old Malcolm on the right. Tony Currenti on drums, I’ve seen both George Young and Rob Bailey credited on bass, and of course Bon Scott on vocals.

One the few recordings where Malcolm plays lead and it shows that he’s just as adept as Angus (Angus is quoted as saying “Malcolm could do a solo probably even better than me” - Guitar World, 2020).

 

[Robin L]

Joan Armatrading's "Down to Zero" is a studio creation but generates a fair illusion of performers on either side of the singer having clear lateral placement and a sense of everybody playing in the same---big---room at the same time.

 

[Robin L]

Just two microphones in an old church and a 31 string lute playing music of an obscure but remarkably influential composer. Vieux Gualtier as performed by Hopkinson Smith:

 

[Holmz]

I'm on headphones atm although this seems to be pretty open sounding and have imaging.

The look on her face makes we wonder a bit about the organ.
I’m imaging something a bit different just looking at the cover.

 

[mglobe]

Hi - Bill Evans Trio Sunday at the Village Vanguard / Waltz for Debbie recorded live in 1961 have a super club vibe - complete with chinking glasses, waitresses and audience chatter .

The Vanguard is tiny and intimate and this captures it perfectly

I was pretty sure that was what he was talking about too. Fantastic album and recording. I remain in awe of how well recordings from that era stand the test of time.

 

[diddley]

All the music from DEAD CAN DANCE

 

[tuga]

Cool Recording! The spaciousness reminds me of the original Trinity (church) Session recording of the Cowboy Junkies - a group that I have seen/heard live several times. In the original Trinity recording they used the simple "figure of eight" aka "Blumlein" microphone arrangement. The subsequent revisited version had everyone miked separately but brought even more talent to the album.

Actually they used a 4-diaphragm Calrec SoundField ambisonic mic similar to the one below:

This description of the recording is very interesting:

November 27, 1987

The pews and all seating had previously been removed so we had a choice of where to set up our equipment and recording gear, but since Peter had done some recording in the church he had a general idea of where he felt was the most acoustically sound spot. This was at the far end of the church hall away from the altar which would act as an enormous bass trap if we got too close to it.

The first order of the day was to set up all the gear and try and get a balance between the four of us, that would be the ultimate key to the recording. Once we were balanced properly the other instruments could be layered on top with a lot more ease. Peter set up the mic and we set up as we had for the Whites session in our garage with drums on one side facing the bass and guitar off to the side. As fate would have it we had a great stroke of luck that day. Whoever had been using the church before us had had the need of a PA system which they had left behind. It was head and shoulders above the one that we had brought from our rehearsal space and meant a huge difference in the final recording. Margo's vocals, like during the Whites session, had to be run through a PA speaker and some guardian angel had seen fit to leave us a high quality system. The "vocal" or speaker was placed on top of the bass cabinet, Margo then stood about six feet outside the circle and sang through a separate mic.

It took us about six hours of fussing to finally capture a sound that we were all happy with. This time was spent readjusting the microphone, moving an instrument five inches closer and then another instrument five inches further, turning one thing up and another down etc.. The process was far from simple and for a while it looked like we weren't going to be able to reign in the acoustics of the church. The natural reverb of the hall was overpowering our instruments. Finally after a few more adjustments we ran through a version of a song and adjourned to the small office (maybe it was one of the confessionals) where Peter had his playback equipment set up. The playback revealed Petes drums simmering softly in the background, Alan's bass rumbling underneath, my guitar airily chiming and Margo's voice floating easily above it all. We had found our sound.

The PA speaker mentioned above was a Klipsch Heresy (top right):

You can read more about it here:

Cowboy Junkies ‘Sweet Jane’

In 1987, swimming against the tide of MIDI–powered pop records, Cowboy Junkies went into a church to record an album into a single microphone in a single day.

www.soundonsound.com

 

[Doodski]

Actually they used a 4-diaphragm Calrec SoundField ambisonic mic similar to the one below:

This description of the recording is very interesting:

November 27, 1987

The pews and all seating had previously been removed so we had a choice of where to set up our equipment and recording gear, but since Peter had done some recording in the church he had a general idea of where he felt was the most acoustically sound spot. This was at the far end of the church hall away from the altar which would act as an enormous bass trap if we got too close to it.

The first order of the day was to set up all the gear and try and get a balance between the four of us, that would be the ultimate key to the recording. Once we were balanced properly the other instruments could be layered on top with a lot more ease. Peter set up the mic and we set up as we had for the Whites session in our garage with drums on one side facing the bass and guitar off to the side. As fate would have it we had a great stroke of luck that day. Whoever had been using the church before us had had the need of a PA system which they had left behind. It was head and shoulders above the one that we had brought from our rehearsal space and meant a huge difference in the final recording. Margo's vocals, like during the Whites session, had to be run through a PA speaker and some guardian angel had seen fit to leave us a high quality system. The "vocal" or speaker was placed on top of the bass cabinet, Margo then stood about six feet outside the circle and sang through a separate mic.

It took us about six hours of fussing to finally capture a sound that we were all happy with. This time was spent readjusting the microphone, moving an instrument five inches closer and then another instrument five inches further, turning one thing up and another down etc.. The process was far from simple and for a while it looked like we weren't going to be able to reign in the acoustics of the church. The natural reverb of the hall was overpowering our instruments. Finally after a few more adjustments we ran through a version of a song and adjourned to the small office (maybe it was one of the confessionals) where Peter had his playback equipment set up. The playback revealed Petes drums simmering softly in the background, Alan's bass rumbling underneath, my guitar airily chiming and Margo's voice floating easily above it all. We had found our sound.

The PA speaker mentioned above was a Klipsch Heresy (top right):

You can read more about it here:

Cowboy Junkies ‘Sweet Jane’

In 1987, swimming against the tide of MIDI–powered pop records, Cowboy Junkies went into a church to record an album into a single microphone in a single day.

www.soundonsound.com

What does a mic like this cost to buy? What is a average range of prices for studio mics?

 

[tuga]

What does a mic like this cost to buy? What is a average range of prices for studio mics?

I am not the right person to ask but as far as I know this is a specialist mic, not sure they still make it. According to the SoS piece it cost USD14k in the late '80s.

 

[tuga]

For Jazz at the Pawnshop the engineer used a pair of Neumann U47s as mains:

https://www.thomann.de/gb/neumann_large_diaphragm_mics.html

 

[Doodski]

I am not the right person to ask but as far as I know this is a specialist mic, not sure they still make it. According to the SoS piece it cost USD14k in the late '80s.

Wow! $14K is a lotta microphone. Probably be maybe $30K+ today. According to the local & Canada wide retailer/etailer Long and McQuade's website they maybe sell many expensive mics. Check out the mic section from most expensive and downwards.

Microphones, Condenser Mic, Portable Microphones - Long & McQuade

Discover our range of microphones, condenser mic, portable microphones. Shop today at Long & McQuade, the largest musical instrument retailer in Canada.

www.long-mcquade.com

 

[Doodski]

For Jazz at the Pawnshop the engineer used a pair of Neumann U47s as mains:

https://www.thomann.de/gb/neumann_large_diaphragm_mics.html

Neumann - U47 FET Large Diaphragm Condenser Mic

Neumann - U47 FET Large Diaphragm Condenser Mic

www.long-mcquade.com

 

[prerich]

Well it may not be to the taste of many here - but it's very good for stereo panning and imaging

Drummer's Dream