Spot Mics, Ex. C, Three Violinists

TOR / ODESSA Montreal / Subject 1 / Anatomy of a Mix / Spot Mics / Example C

There are now two spot microphones in this submix: one focused on the first stand, the other on the second. Similar to how the contact microphone sound inherently changes when more signals are summed, two spot microphones reproduce a different room characteristic than just one. Additionally, the individual tonalities of the first stand, previously so distinct in terms of spectral content, seem much more tonally coherent now when compared to the third performer. In this mix, the spot microphones have been panned how they would be typically in an orchestral mix, with the first stand to the left of center and the second stand just beyond them.

Because these two spot microphones are now laterally distant from each other, this mix has them panned away from each other. The first violin stand is on the right, while the third chair violinist is on the left. Again, this is for evaluation purposes and in a final mix both would be panned to the left of center because of their position within the body of the orchestra. However, this version decouples them slightly from that context in order to show their relationship with each other. Performance differences between the first and the second stand continue to be pronounced. Even when hard panned away from each other, the presence of the second microphone in the mix takes awareness away from non-musical sounds in the mix, such as the concertmaster's breathing or the errant pizzicato of the second chair violinist.