Qanun / kanun Middle Eastern zither multi-mic phase: courses + bridge vs room/OH and maqam ensemble fold
Close spots on the qanun (kanun) courses, bridge, and soundboard feel bright and huge in the booth and in cans. On phone speakers or YouTube mono fold, pluck attack, Mid, and sustained course body often thin or cancel against stereo OH and room paths that carry the same phrase a few milliseconds later. Middle Eastern ensemble beds (oud, ney, violin, percussion) stack the same problem. That is usually polarity and arrival time between course/bridge spots and shared beds, plus a stereo bed that was never folded before send. Fix polarity and small delays first. Frequency-aware phase repair belongs only after residual L/R fights remain on stereo beds before mono fold. Distinct from oud, guzheng, gayageum, and dulcimer: this page is about Arabic / Turkish / Persian qanun / kanun (and Middle Eastern companion beds) alone. Cross-links: oud, guzheng, gayageum, dulcimer, saz, field, livestream.
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PHIXER is free stereo phase-repair (VST3/CLAP/AU · Win/Mac/Linux) from Riverflux Audio. Frequency-aware phase rotation for leftover L/R fights on stereo material. It is not a compressor, not a widener, and not a substitute for mic placement or mono audition of the stream or mix bus. Polarity and timing first; PHIXER after residual spectral fights.
What qanun / kanun multi-mic phase failure sounds like
- Course attack huge in cans, thin on phones. Close course or bridge spots share the same pluck a few ms apart from stereo OH or room.
- Warm course body hollow on YouTube. Spot + stereo bed + room stack cancels Mid when the platform folds.
- Mandals / microtone shimmer present in booth, gone on phone. Hard L/R across course and soundboard paths collapse on mono fold.
- Qanun hero vs oud / ney / violin bed fight. Middle Eastern ensemble beds and zither spots share mid energy without polarity hygiene.
- Fine in headphones, broken for livestream viewers. Same destinations as YouTube / social mono, OBS livestream, oud, guzheng.
Fast mono audition (about 60 seconds)
- Solo the stream / mix bus (not only booth headphones). Flip a utility to mono.
- A/B qanun course/bridge spots muted vs open under stereo OH and room. Note what disappears: course bite, Mid, mandals shimmer, sustained body.
- Solo pairs: courses vs soundboard, qanun vs oud/ney bed, spot vs OH.
- Check correlation on the delivery bus, then with the full Middle Eastern ensemble bed muted vs open.
Order of operations (before spectral phase rotation)
1. Polarity between course/bridge spots and shared OH / room
Flip course or soundboard spots vs stereo OH, or qanun vs companion bed, when body or Mid return immediately on a clear pluck. Guide: polarity vs phase. Cousins: oud, guzheng, gayageum, dulcimer / zither.
2. Small delay align secondary paths to the hero qanun image
OH and room often arrive later than close course spots. A few samples of delay on the secondary often restores body better than EQ for "more kanun."
3. One hero qanun image to the stream or mix bus
Do not send every course, soundboard, room, and OH all hot into the livestream or print. Pick a hero Mid-safe bed (often a focused stereo OH plus selective course spot), keep extras muted or low. Parallel stacks are classic thin-qanun on phone fold. Related: overhead & room.
4. Prefer hero courses as the tone; quieter color spots
Secondary closes should color proximity and mandals identity, not replace the hero image for the stream mix. If every close sits at full level under a loud OH, mono fold almost always hollows the zither bed.
5. Skip wideners and Haas on qanun beds before fold
Short-delay width and stereo imagers make booth headphones shimmer and phones hollow. Keep critical low-mid and course body centered for stream and print.
6. Only then audition residual L/R spectral fights
If a stereo bed must stay stereo and fold still hollows a band after the steps above, gentle frequency-aware phase rotation can help. Prove it with mono A/B, rotator bypassed vs engaged.
Path types and typical failure modes
| Path | Common mono failure | First fix |
|---|---|---|
| Course/bridge spots + stereo OH | Body / Mid cancel on stream | Polarity; delay secondary; quieter secondary |
| Qanun spot + room / OH | Hollow pluck attack, thin mandals | Polarity + timing; hero Mid-safe path |
| Qanun + oud / ney / violin bed | Hero vs companion fight on phone | Polarity + delay; hero image |
| Stereo pair hard L/R across courses/soundboard | Huge in cans, thin on phone | Center critical lows; simplify width |
| Board / matrix → OBS / YouTube | Fine in booth, hollow for viewers | OBS livestream / YouTube mono |
Studio / livestream checklist (to send)
1. Label courses vs soundboard vs OH vs room vs companion bed
Name course spots, soundboard, oud/ney, stereo OH, and room so operators know what hits the livestream or print. Ambiguous stacks get left open and comb on fold.
2. Mono-check delivery bus alone, then with full Middle Eastern ensemble bed
Solo course body and Mid in mono. Then open mandals and course sustain in mono. Note fights between secondary color and hero bed.
3. Watch phone, YouTube, and social destinations
Most remote viewers hear mono or near-mono. Guides: YouTube / social mono, OBS livestream, TikTok / Reels / Shorts.
4. Re-check after stand / seating / bridge-angle moves
Instrument angle and mic height change distance and bleed. Flip polarity again after you move stands, change OH height, or re-seat the player.
When PHIXER helps
- The material is already stereo and must stay stereo (stereo OH, stereo room or board print), not a mono close you fake-widened.
- Polarity, delay align, and hero-path levels are cleaned up, but fold still hollows a band of the spectrum.
- You can A/B mono with the plugin bypassed and hear clearer body or Mid without wrecking the image.
- You are not using it to "fix" unaligned courses+OH under room, or to replace a time-align edit on the matrix.
Decision table
| You notice… | First try | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Body thins when OH opens under course spots | Polarity; delay secondary; quieter secondary | Arrival-time fight |
| Qanun + oud/ney harsh and hollow | Polarity; timing; hero Mid-safe path | Dual-path spot + companion |
| Fine in booth, thin on phone | Mono delivery bus; pull extras | Booth ≠ viewer fold |
| Stereo bed still cancels by band | PHIXER on that stereo bed | Residual spectral L/R fight |
| Mono qanun alone is dull | Tone / EQ / gain / mic choice | Not an L/R repair job |
When NOT to use PHIXER here
- You have not mono-auditioned the stream / mix bus yet.
- The fix is obviously polarity, delay, one hero image, or quieter secondary under courses/OH.
- You want PHIXER to make the qanun louder, wider, or "more kanun." Wrong job.
- The path is mono and the print problem is balance or EQ.
- See also when not to use PHIXER.
Quick path: Solo delivery bus in mono → polarity course/bridge spots vs OH/room → delay-align secondary → one hero image → quieter extras under hero → skip Haas/imagers → mono-check with full Middle Eastern ensemble bed → PHIXER only for leftover stereo cancellation on a stereo bed → fold again for stream / studio print.
Related guides
- Oud / Middle Eastern lute multi-mic phase
- Guzheng / Chinese zither multi-mic phase
- Gayageum / Korean zither multi-mic phase
- Hammered dulcimer / mountain dulcimer / zither multi-mic phase
- Saz / baglama Anatolian multi-mic phase
- Field recording / dual recorder outdoor phase
- Polarity vs phase rotation
- When not to use PHIXER
- YouTube / social mono fold checklist
- Twitch / OBS livestream mono fold
Watch
- PHIXER tutorial + how it sounds (walkthrough with audio examples)