Gayageum / Korean zither multi-mic phase: bridges, soundboard, and companion beds vs OH and room fold
Close spots on gayageum movable bridges, paulownia soundboard, and silk or nylon courses feel huge and detailed in the booth and in cans. On phone speakers or YouTube mono fold, body, Mid, and left-hand pitch bends often thin or cancel against stereo OH and room paths that carry the same pluck a few milliseconds later. That is usually polarity and arrival time between 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 erhu bowed and hammered dulcimer: this page is about Korean gayageum zither (and geomungo/daegeum companion beds) alone. Cross-links: dulcimer/zither, erhu, shakuhachi, harp, kora, acoustic guitar, percussion.
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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 gayageum / Korean zither multi-mic phase failure sounds like
- Course attack huge in cans, thin on phones. Close bridge/soundboard spots share the same pluck a few ms apart from stereo OH or room.
- Nonghyeon vibrato and pitch bends hollow on YouTube. Spot + stereo bed + room stack cancels Mid when the platform folds.
- Paulownia body present in booth, gone on phone. Hard L/R across left and right bridge banks collapse on mono fold.
- Gayageum hero vs geomungo / daegeum / janggu bed fight. Companion beds and zither spots share low-mid energy without polarity hygiene.
- Fine in headphones, broken for livestream viewers. Same destinations as YouTube / social mono, OBS livestream, dulcimer / zither, erhu.
Fast mono audition (about 60 seconds)
- Solo the stream / mix bus (not only booth headphones). Flip a utility to mono.
- A/B gayageum bridge/soundboard spots muted vs open under stereo OH and room. Note what disappears: body, Mid, course attack, nonghyeon sustain.
- Solo pairs: left vs right bridge bank, gayageum vs geomungo/daegeum bed, spot vs OH.
- Check correlation on the delivery bus, then with the full Korean ensemble bed muted vs open.
Order of operations (before spectral phase rotation)
1. Polarity between spots and shared OH / room
Flip bridge or soundboard spots vs stereo OH, or gayageum vs companion bed, when body or Mid return immediately on a clear pluck. Guide: polarity vs phase. Cousins: dulcimer / zither, erhu, harp.
2. Small delay align secondary paths to the hero pluck image
OH and room often arrive later than close bridge or soundboard spots. A few samples of delay on the secondary often restores body better than EQ for "more silk."
3. One hero gayageum image to the stream or mix bus
Do not send every left bank, right bank, soundboard, and OH all hot into the livestream or print. Pick a hero Mid-safe bed (often a focused stereo OH plus selective spots), keep extras muted or low. Parallel stacks are classic thin-gayageum on phone fold. Related: overhead & room.
4. Prefer hero bridge / soundboard as the tone; quieter color spots
Secondary closes should color proximity and course 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 gayageum beds before fold
Short-delay width and stereo imagers make booth headphones shimmer and phones hollow. Keep critical low-mid and soundboard 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Bridge/soundboard spots + stereo OH | Body / Mid cancel on stream | Polarity; delay secondary; quieter secondary |
| Gayageum spot + room / OH | Hollow course attack, thin nonghyeon | Polarity + timing; hero Mid-safe path |
| Gayageum + geomungo / daegeum / janggu bed | Hero vs companion fight on phone | Polarity + delay; hero image |
| Stereo pair hard L/R across bridge banks | 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 spots vs OH vs room vs companion bed
Name left/right bridges, soundboard, geomungo/daegeum, 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 Korean ensemble bed
Solo soundboard body and Mid in mono. Then open course attack and nonghyeon 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 moves
Movable bridges and mic height change distance and bleed. Flip polarity again after you retune bridges, move stands, or change OH height.
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 spot+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 spots | Polarity; delay secondary; quieter secondary | Arrival-time fight |
| Gayageum + geomungo/daegeum 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 gayageum 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 spots/OH.
- You want PHIXER to make the gayageum louder, wider, or "more silk." 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 spots vs OH/room → delay-align secondary → one hero image → quieter extras under hero → skip Haas/imagers → mono-check with full Korean ensemble bed → PHIXER only for leftover stereo cancellation on a stereo bed → fold again for stream / studio print.
Related guides
- Shamisen / Japanese lute multi-mic phase
- Didgeridoo / Aboriginal drone multi-mic phase
- Hammered dulcimer / mountain dulcimer / zither multi-mic phase
- Erhu / Chinese bowed multi-mic phase
- Shakuhachi / Japanese bamboo flute multi-mic phase
- Lever / pedal concert harp multi-mic phase
- Kora / West African harp multi-mic phase
- Acoustic guitar multi-mic phase
- Percussion / hand drums multi-mic 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)