Music Blueprints - a comprehensive online guide to D audio recording

Music Blueprints - a comprehensive online guide to 3D audio recording posted: 19/11/2016

Sennheiser's AMBEO Music Blueprints website explores how to record, mix and deliver immersive 3D audio experiences

Audio specialist Sennheiser has today launched AMBEO Music Blueprints, a dedicated website that explores how to record, mix and deliver live music as an immersive 3D audio experience. At www.sennheiser.com/ambeo-blueprints, sound enthusiasts can learn about AMBEO 3D recording for 9.1 loudspeaker reproduction, AMBEO for binaural 3D playback on standard headphones, and about AMBEO 3D Ambisonics audio for VR applications. Complete with expert voices, equipment rental options, sound examples, video material and free plug-in downloads, the website gives seasoned engineers, aspiring recordists and streaming specialists guidance on how to record and mix immersive 3D sound.

Our greatest experiences of music are usually live moments in which we are completely immersed in sound and the situation - whether at a festival, a concert or even a party, says V ronique Larcher, Director AMBEO Immersive Audio. With AMBEO Music Blueprints, we are showing how to record and mix music with the same grandeur and natural, spatial sound as in the original performance.

Three Blueprints - AMBEO for Loudspeakers, AMBEO for Binaural and AMBEO for Virtual Reality - provide straightforward information on recording set-ups and microphone positioning, on mixing with additional spot microphones and on delivery and playback for a 3D listening experience.

AMBEO for Loudspeakers Blueprint

This blueprint takes a close look at the new main microphone set-ups that create truly immersive 3D audio recordings. The AMBEO Square, the AMBEO Cube and the Lean AMBEO Cube all introduce a height elevation that fully envelops the listeners in sound when a 9.1 loudspeaker set-up is used for playback.

The AMBEO Cube creates enveloping 3D audio for 9.1 loudspeaker playback

For a 3D audio recording, the usual stereo pair of main microphones is replaced by the AMBEO Cube or the AMBEO Square, says Gregor Zielinsky, tonmeister at Sennheiser. Just as with standard stereo recordings, the sound of the main microphones can of course be enhanced by employing spot microphones - the AMBEO Blueprints explain what aspects to pay attention to for best results.

An essential tool for 9.1 set-ups is the MKH 800 TWIN, an RF condenser, dual-diaphragm microphone that feeds the output of both of its capsules to the mixing desk or digital audio workstation (DAW). Thus, recordists can seamlessly adjust the desired pick-up pattern on the mixing desk/DAW during the recording or in post-production. To make the handling of up to nine main microphones easier, users can download the free MKH 800 TWIN Pattern plug-in, with a dedicated tutorial video showing how to work with the plug-in on a DAW.

Rounding off this section, recording experts Ma gorzata Albinska-Frank and Paul Geluso share their recording philosophy with the Blueprints visitors. Paul Geluso has been using the AMBEO Cube ever since the MKH 800 TWIN was released: The cube delivers a very exciting 3D sound image upon reproduction in an immersive listening environment. It has the potential to deliver larger-than-life virtual sound images, spaciousness, and sound quality.

AMBEO for Binaural Blueprint

An old recording friend' rediscovered: AMBEO for Binaural uses a dummy head such as the Neumann KU 100 for recording exciting 3D sound and enhances the audio with spatially processed spot microphones. This blueprint explains the new binaural mixing workflows.

AMBEO for Binaural is a straightforward way to produce 3D audio for immediate enjoyment by listeners. All they will need is their standard stereo pair of headphones - they will be utterly surprised to find what their headphones are capable of with AMBEO for Binaural' recordings, says V ronique Larcher.

The free MKH 800 TWIN Pattern plug-in makes the handling of up to nine main microphones much easier

Again experts share their knowledge with the Blueprint visitors: Radio France lets readers take a look behind the scenes, and Phonomatik Lab describes how they fell for the KU 100: The very first time I listened to the KU 100, the sound was so organic that I thought there was some kind of mistake and that my headphones had somehow blown off. Balanced tones, respect of the dynamic, musicians positioning - everything was there. I had finally found the secret weapon I had been looking for.

Studio and live sound engineer Aziz Berk Erten employed AMBEO for Binaural not only to make an incredibly spatial 3D live recording of an alternative rock band but also to give the band a natural sense of being together with their audience. Just as the recording contained the microphone signals from the band and those of the Neumann KU 100 dummy head, so did the monitor mix. He comments: Mixing the band's mics with AMBEO for Binaural' created a feeling of immersion that could not be achieved with typical ambiance mics. It was a nice surprise to see how using the KU 100 kept the musicians from taking off their in-ear monitors to listen to the ambience.

Aziz Berk Erten assessed that his binaural stereo mixes of the concert were 60% spot microphones and 40% KU 100. He adds: As with every piece of quality equipment, you only hear what the KU 100 is doing when you take it out, and what it is doing is very impressive. The AMBEO Music Blueprints are very good for people to understand the workflow and get started.

AMBEO for Virtual Reality Blueprint

Whether exploring immersive content on advanced VR goggles and apps, or with mobile VR goggles playing facebook 360 - the experience is truly immersive only when the audio is, too.

A video explains how to use the MKH 800 TWIN Pattern plug-in

This is where Sennheiser's

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