How are binaural recordings made now?
Most binaural recording today is done with an artificial or “dummy” head replicating the human head not only in average dimensions and details but also in approximate hardness and softness of skin and bone. One researcher even worked for a time with actual human skulls, but eventually found synthetic materials to be easier to use. Some of the recording heads also model the shoulders and many have hair on the head, because all of these details have an effect on the sound picked up by the two mikes. These mikes are usually tiny omnidirectional condensers mounted at or near the entrance to the ear canals. Some designs have placed the mikes at the same location as the eardrums, with special equalization to correct for the double traversal of the ear canal (first in recording and again in playback). At any rate, placement of the mikes somewhere inside the pinna or outer ears allows them to preserve the Head Related Transfer Functions or HRTFs. For more details on the Neumann KU-100 binaural
Most binaural recording today is done with an artificial or “dummy” head replicating the human head not only in average dimensions and details but also in approximate hardness and softness of skin and bone. One researcher even worked for a time with actual human skulls, but eventually found synthetic materials to be easier to use. Some of the recording heads also model the shoulders and many have hair on the head, because all of these details have an effect on the sound picked up by the two mikes. These mikes are usually tiny omnidirectional condensers mounted at or near the entrance to the ear canals. Some designs have placed the mikes at the same location as the eardrums, with special equalization to correct for the double traversal of the ear canal (first in recording and again in playback). At any rate, placement of the mikes somewhere inside the pinna or outer ears allows them to preserve the Head Related Transfer Functions or HRTFs.
