Stereo Microphone Workshop

In today’s lesson we had a workshop on the use of stereo microphones which we may use to creatively enhance the scope of our locative sound app. This equipment differs from using two microphone that are the same model because there is no need to sync the audio in post from two microphones. Also the width of the soundscape is significantly bigger with using a matched pair of headphones. In our sound app we will use two different modes of sound: mono and stereo. Today I learned that we should use mono sound for dialogue because unless it makes sense to the story the listener will not be able to understand why the dialogue is coming from one single position. We will be using stereo to record the atmosphere and environmental sounds that will be included in our apps. So that is the main difference between mono and stereo sound; mono is sound from a single position (right in front of you) and stereo is sound from all around you, left to right. There is a demarkation on the circumference of the stereo microphone which indicates left and right so when you record you are able to design your soundscape more accurately, which is very useful. I think this equipment is going to be really useful and vastly improve how immersive our app’s are.  Of course it comes down to the story we choose to tell in the location we pick however equipment like this will help us build upon the locations our app user is walking through or as Liao and Humphreys highlight ‘The ‘virtual’ enriches the physical environment’ (2015) which will come to great effect when we start recording for our locative sound app in the coming weeks.

BRANTNER, C., 2018. New Visualities of Space and Place: Mapping Theories, Concepts and Methodology of Visual Communication Research on Locative Media and Geomedia. , 16