Kora / West African harp multi-mic phase: bridge and neck vs calabash, pickup, room, and OH fold
Close mics on kora (bridge, neck, calabash) feel sweet and detailed in the booth and in cans. On phone speakers or YouTube mono fold, body, Mid, and string attack often thin or cancel against calabash, pickup, room, and OH paths that carry the same pluck a few milliseconds later. That is usually polarity and arrival time between bridge and secondary paths, 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 lever/pedal concert harp, kalimba/mbira, and acoustic guitar: this page is about West African kora alone. Cross-links: concert harp, kalimba, acoustic guitar, hand drums.
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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 kora / West African harp phase failure sounds like
- Bridge / calabash body huge in cans, thin on phones. Close bridge or neck mic and calabash or room share the same pluck a few ms apart.
- Fundamental and Mid hollow on YouTube. Bridge + calabash + pickup + OH stack cancels when the platform folds.
- Pickup blend harsh and glassy. Acoustic close vs piezo or contact without polarity and timing hygiene.
- Attack present in booth, gone on phone. Hard L/R kora beds or wide calabash dumps collapse on mono fold.
- Fine in headphones, broken for remote viewers. Same destinations as YouTube / social mono, OBS livestream, concert harp.
Fast mono audition (about 60 seconds)
- Solo the stream / mix bus (not only booth headphones). Flip a utility to mono.
- A/B bridge/neck muted vs open under calabash, pickup, room, and OH. Note what disappears: body, Mid, attack, string shimmer.
- Solo pairs: bridge vs calabash, acoustic vs pickup, stereo bed vs mono fold.
- Check correlation on the delivery bus, then with the kora muted vs full.
Order of operations (before spectral phase rotation)
1. Polarity between bridge / neck and calabash / pickup / room
Flip bridge vs calabash, or acoustic close vs pickup, when body or Mid return immediately on a clear pluck. Guide: polarity vs phase. Cousins: concert harp, kalimba / mbira, acoustic guitar.
2. Small delay align secondary paths to the hero bridge image
Calabash underside, pickup, and room often arrive later (or earlier after digital hops) than the bridge/neck close. A few samples of delay on the secondary often restores body better than EQ for "more wood."
3. One hero kora image to the stream or mix bus
Do not send bridge, calabash, pickup, room, and OH all hot into the livestream or print. Pick a hero Mid-safe close (often bridge or a focused bridge+calabash blend), keep extras muted or low. Parallel stacks are classic thin-kora on phone fold. Related: overhead & room.
4. Prefer hero bridge as the tone; quieter color calabash or room
Secondary closes should color gourd warmth and proximity, 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 strings.
5. Skip wideners and Haas on kora beds before fold
Short-delay width and stereo imagers make booth headphones shimmer and phones hollow. Keep critical low-mid and string 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 / neck + calabash close | Body / Mid cancel on stream | Polarity; delay secondary; quieter secondary |
| Acoustic close + pickup / contact | Harsh edge, hollow body | Polarity + timing; hero acoustic or blended Mid-safe path |
| Instrument + room / OH | Attack and sustain thin on phone | Polarity + delay; hero image |
| Stereo pair hard L/R | 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 bridge vs calabash vs pickup vs room vs OH
Name bridge/neck close, calabash, pickup/contact, room, and OH 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 kora
Solo body and Mid in mono. Then open attack and string shimmer in mono. Note fights between secondary color and hero bridge.
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 strap / stand / seating moves
Playing position and mic angle change distance and bleed. Flip polarity again after you move the stand, change calabash aim, or switch handheld vs seated.
When PHIXER helps
- The material is already stereo and must stay stereo (stereo pair, 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 bridge+calabash under room, or to replace a time-align edit on the matrix.
Decision table
| You notice… | First try | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Body thins when calabash opens under bridge | Polarity; delay secondary; quieter secondary | Arrival-time fight |
| Bridge + pickup harsh and hollow | Polarity; timing; hero Mid-safe path | Dual-path acoustic + DI |
| 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 kora 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 bridge/room.
- You want PHIXER to make the kora louder, wider, or "more shimmer." 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 bridge vs calabash/pickup/room → delay-align secondary → one hero image → quieter extras under hero → skip Haas/imagers → mono-check with full kora → PHIXER only for leftover stereo cancellation on a stereo bed → fold again for stream / studio print.
Related guides
- Lever / pedal concert harp multi-mic phase
- Kalimba / mbira / thumb piano multi-mic phase
- Acoustic guitar multi-mic phase
- Percussion / hand drums multi-mic phase
- Bass DI + amp dual-path phase
- Overhead & room 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)