Mini-DV-Cameras with 5.1 surround?

I have been seeing Mini-DV-cameras that are advertised as having a "5.1 channel surround sound microphone". The Sony ECM-HQP has been around as an add-on. SonyStyle says: "It features the capability to record up to four channels of high quality audio for clear, distinct voices and life-like sounds. [...] Offers 3 modes for recording: 5.1 channel Surround mode; 4ch MIC mode;" --mode 3 is sadly missing in the description.

Well, let me tell you it just won't work ;-)

Getting stereo "right" is not trivial, and achieving a soundstage that corresponds with the repertoire, ensemble & performance space gets even more complicated. This can not be achieved by any suit-all clip-on solution--and this goes even more for an enveloping surround soundstage. Recording music & ambience well requires accurate planning, based on plenty of experience, and adapted to the specific situation.

It's like the old joke about how to get to Carnegie Hall. The answer is _not_ to just grab an instrument & a map. Why, even a GPS will only do you so much good.

The C-trilogy (Part 2) - Center, where are you?

[Continued from Part 1]

Like I said before: "What you want to do is find a spot where you'd place the one microphone required for a monophonic recording."

There are collegues that insist that the center is reserved for instruments that can be heard from the middle of the ensemble, but this makes sense primarily with small groupings. As soon as the ensemble is wide and deep it becomes difficult to determine--without examining the music in depth.

One possible creative idea would be to enhance transparency by placing various spot-miked sources in the center, delayed to let the original impression (from the space between the two front speakers) come first and steer the perceived source in that direction utilizing the Haas effect.

The single microphone used to derive the center will most likely be placed not far off the central axis, and rather close to the ensemble. Since we are dealing with a discrete channel Lou Burroughs' "3:1-rule" must not be taken into account--except for the situation in which you might want to experiment with adding some of that signal to a stereo mix.