Classic stereo microphone recording techniques were developed decades ago. These techniques fall within three categories: coincident (XY, Blumlein, M-S), near-coincident (ORTF, NOS, DIN), and spaced (AB, Decca, etc.). All these methodologies rely on the pickup pattern of the microphones used. In fact, the pickup pattern of the microphone is critical for the specific recording technique selected. Recording engineers are well-acquainted with Omni, Cardioid, its variants, and Figure-8 polar patterns. The author hypothesizes that variations in response patterns between different models of microphones, and even among individual microphones themselves, can impact the selection of microphones for stereo recording. Data or spec sheets typically publish the response pattern for a given microphone either at one frequency, or multiple responses for a few selected frequencies. This paper will revisit the traditional stereo microphone techniques, but with the use of dual output microphones, allowing the pickup pattern of each microphone to be determined in post-production. The focus is on near-coincident and coincident pairs as these make the most use of level differences due to the pickup pattern used. The resulting workflow is like that of M-S recording where the level of the Side signal is brought up in the mix. In this case, the levels of the rear capsules are raised until the desired sound is achieved.
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