Royer Labs R-122V - Manual (Page 18)

The “Blumlein” technique, named for A.D. Blumlein of England, involves the use of two figure-
eight microphones positioned as in the sketch (see Figure 1), so that one faces left and the other
right, at an angle of 90¼ (i.e. each displaced 45¼ from center).
Each microphone ultimately feeds one speaker in a stereo system, and due to the directionality of
the microphones, the result is a very well defined stereo effect on playback. For classical music,
particularly, the reproduction can be very satisfying.
Mid-Side (M-S) Technique
In the early days of stereo radio broadcasting, the mid-side recording technique was developed to
allow for 1) simultaneous stereo and mono feeds from the same mic array and 2) electronic
manipulation of the width of the stereo image.
In M-S recording, one mic faces sideways, one faces forward as shown in Figure 2, and they are
connected as shown in Figure 3.
If the outputs of the two microphones are equal (or made equal using gain controls), the stereo
pickup will be similar to that of two microphones placed as a Blumlein X-Y pair, delivering a
wide stereo image.
As you reduce the level of the “side” microphone, the width of the stereo image will narrow
until, with the side microphone turned all the way down, you have just the “mid” mic panned
center for a mono pickup.
Figure 2
Typical M-S miking technique
18