Reproducing the auditory width of individual acoustic instruments in immersive audio productions using a three-channel spot-microphone arrangement - System description and anechoic test recording

This e-Brief proposes a spot-microphone arrangement in the context of immersive audio productions for recording acoustic instruments. The presented technique enables reproduction of a single instrument with control of its auditory width in the horizontal and vertical dimension during post production. The geometrical arrangement as well as the required post processing for immersive loudspeaker-based audio productions is discussed. Additionally, a recording of ten individual instruments and two singers with three spot-microphone positions each was carried out in an anechoic chamber using the new method. The audio files and detailed documentation are provided under CC BY-NC-ND license for evaluation, demonstration and further research. An overview of this database as well as the initial findings gathered throughout mixing the 100+ track production for a 7+4 loudspeaker setup are given.