Demonstration of Binaural in Music Production
A number of recordings were captured using the simple home built binaural head. Each can be heard below with an explanation of how each was recorded.
Please listen to all audio with headphones to hear the binaural characteristics of the sound.
Figure 17 Binaural Drum Ambience Audio
Figure 18 A Second by Donna Maria
In this first example, the binaural dummy head was used as a drum ambient mic. The first audio clip, Figure 17, demonstrates the raw audio recorded. The second, Figure 18, shows the audio in the final production.
The next example of binaural uses the dummy head instead of a standard drum overhead microphone setup, such as a spaced pair, XY or ORTF. As demonstrated in the image, Figure 19, the head was positioned facing down over the centre of the drum kit to capture its overall sound. Figure 20 is of the unprocessed audio recorded from the binaural head. Figure 21 is this mixed into the blues jam track the audio was recorded for.
Figure 20 Binaural Drum Overhead Audio
Figure 19 Binaural Drum Overhead Image
Figure 21 Blues Jam by Dean Parker
Figure 22 Binaural Acoustic Guitar Recording
Figure 23 Islands- The XX Acoustic Cover by Frames
Figure 22, demonstrates the recording of an acoustic cover of Islands by The XX which was recorded using only the binaural head. The acoustic guitar was recorded four times, each times placed in a difference position around the head; front left, front right, back left and back right. The vocals were then recorded directly in front of the head. When recording with binaural, all panning must be considered during the recording stage. As heard in figure 23, it appears the listener is surrounded by the acoustic guitar with the lead vocal directly in front of them. The tracks had slight EQ, compression and reverb applied to them to help them sit together and sound more appealing.
Figure 24 Binaural Live Acoustic Recording
Figure 25 Crazy (Acoustic) by Donna Maria
A live, acoustic cover of the song Crazy by Donna Maria was recorded using a the binaural head. For this, the musicians had to be placed around the head for the desired panning. As seen in Figure 24, vocals and cajon were placed in front, acoustic guitar to the left, keys amp to the right and bass amp to the rear. Spot mics were also captured and fed in slightly to help the overall balance of the mix without affecting the spatial characteristics of the recording. This recording can be heard in Figure 25.
As well as binaural recordings, a binaural mix was created of the song Good Time by Owl City and Carly Rae Jepson, Figure 26. This was achieved by taking the track stems and using simulated dummy head recording, where an algorithm was used to simulate how a humans ears would hear the sound. It enabled a more creative production as automation could be used to simulate instruments moving around the listener. However, the characteristics of binaural meant the tonal balance and volume of each track could vary as it was panned around as this is true to how humans hear.
Figure 26 Good Times Binaural Mix by Owl City & Carly Rae Jepson