t3.4 studio manual
TRANSCRIPT
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T3.4 Intro to studio
Studio Health and safety
It is important to now the heath and safety hazards when using the studio. One of the most
important things to know is where the fire exits are located. s shown !elow the emergency exits
are located outside the studio control rooms. If the fire alarms sound"s use the nearest possi!le exit.
Howe#er only use these exits in emergency"s only. There are many trip hazards around the studio
for example when walking to the studio on the left side of the map there is a large hazards where the
ca!le go in !etween the li#e room and control room. lso there are lots of ca!le"s around on thefloor mostly in the li#e room. $hen working around !ass amps and %rum kits when there !eing
played !e careful of your ears as these are capa!le of reaching high S&' (Sound pressure le#els).
This could damage your hearing permanently so ear plugs can !e worn in the li#e room when
walking in and out.
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udio e*uipment specification
+re*uency range
+or example if you looked at a speakers specifications the fre*uency range would !e displayed.
Types of connectors found in the studio
nalogue ,a!les
-alanced and un!alanced ca!les
/ocal mic will usually ha#e a !alanced ca!le normally an 0'1
-ass2uitar amps will usually use an un!alanced signal
Speaker ca!le will !e !alanced
$hat is the difference !etween !alanced and un!alanced ca!les
This diagram shows a T1S 5ack #s TS 5ack. They won"t sound like each other mainly !ecause
!alanced ca!les are more immune to noise from things like radio fre*uencies. The technical reason
!ehind why they don"t pick up as much noise as un!alanced ca!les is !ecause they ha#e 3 wires
Tip 6 &ositi#e1ing 6 7egati#e
Slee#e 6 round
Tip 6 &ositi#e
Slee#e 6 round
How does a !alanced ca!le stop noise
$hen a !alanced ca!le recei#es an audio signal !oth positi#e and negati#e get the same signal. The
difference !etween the two is that the polarity of the negati#e Is in#erted. s two signals tra#el
through the ca!le !oth will ha#e a !uild up of noise. The noise will tra#el up and down the ca!le !utwill tra#el past each other at the same time this effecti#ely cancels out the noise !ringing it to a
minimum.
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,omputer connectors
There are three main connectors used when it comes to computers in the studio. These are know as
interface ca!les. 8sually they will !e used to send sound signals either into the computer or out.
8S- is the most commonly used and it cost the least and is used !y most !udget sound cards. It has
the slowest data of all three. +irewire is used on more profession and expensi#e sound cards and is
much *uicker than 8s!. Thunder!olt is the newest out of all three and is the !est to use.
9idi ca!les
9idi ca!les allow data !etween electronic instruments and digital de#ices. 9idi stands for 9usic
instrument digital interface. 9idi allows information to !e sent such as notes: pitch: modulation and
#elocity. +or example I ha#e a hardware synth which is then connected to a midi interface2 sound
card which then connects to a computer using 8S-. This then sends information to a %$ (%igital
audio workstation) to a #irtual instruments which you then can control.
Optical ca!le
Optical ca!les work !y using multiple light flashes. These ca!le"s are capa!le of carrying up to ;
channels of digital audio at a sample rate 4;<Hz. lso 4 channels of digital audio at =><Hz so a
much !etter *uality.
,at?e
These ca!les can send !oth power and %igital audio through a single ca!le. In the studio used
mostly for high end headphone distri!ution. Howe#er they work !est in li#e sound: sending up to
4@ channels of digital audio long distance with low latency.
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&atch leads
-antam leads
The most common lead used in patch !ays Is the !antam lead. These ca!les are &/, 5acketed for
minimum noise. There #ery thin and usually not #ery long so they do not get tangled with other
ca!les. There 5o! is to pass information !etween the mixer and out!oard e*uipment such as a
compressors :headphone amps and effects.
udio interface
The whole point of the udio interface is to replace the internal sound card used on 9acs2&c. These
internal sound cards pro#ide low *uality sound compared to an audio interface. 'ow latency audio
recording means much !etter *uality sound o#erall: the whole reason why you would use a external
card. A#ery!ody from a !edroom producer to a professional sound engineer needs one. The audio
interface usually is in a small !ox. This can stream and record multiple channels of high *uality
audio.
This picture shows an a#erage looking audio interface. Bou can see this has ; 0'125ack inputs for
example you can put in a #ocal mic or e#en a drum kit a record them all at once and ha#e control
o#er the gains of the channels coming in. It will allow you to send phantom power to the mics if
needed. lso it will gi#e you a #isual display of the channel le#els. This sound card recei#e"s andsends information to computer through thunder!olt. It also has a stereo C out to send to monitors :
9idi in and out and headphone out. lso this comes with software control which allows you control
the whole thing digitally.
%irect in5ection
%irect in5ection using a %I !ox or a %i input of an audio interface or a mic pre amp. This is a
process of where an analogue audio signal can !e changed from guitar le#el or mic le#el from
un!alance to !alanced. This will sol#e pro!lem with interference as well for example the humming
noise you can hear !efore using the %i.
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&atch -ay
The main reason of the patch !ay in the studio is to make changing ca!le going in and out of mixers
and out!oards much easier and *uicker. ,onnections are located at the !ack of this e*uipment
therefore ha#ing a patch !ay in front of you can ad5ust where needed. &atch !ays use !antam leads
as shown a!o#e.
/8 9etre
/8 9etre stands for #olume unit: these can !e found normally at the top of a mixing desk. The /8
metre is cali!rated at D@@@Hz. So when its metering it doesn"t change fast !ut slowly. T his gi#e
you a more accurate reading.
7oise gate
noise gate will mute an audio signal when set to a certain threshold. The reason why there used is
to stop unwanted noise. Howe#er this don"t stop all noise: when the signal is acti#e it will !e louder
than the noise so you can"t hear it much. $hen the signal has stopped thats when the gate needs to
kick in and stop the noise. ates are used on drums mainly !ecause they resonate. +or example
when a tom is hit the sound wa#e will continue. -ut this will effect the final mix as it is unwantedsound. Therefore !y adding a gate it will shorten the wa#eform meaning the unwanted sound is no
longer there.
How to use a noise gate
7oise gates can come as software or an electronic de#ice. There are two main things that will effect
how much acti#ity happens. threshold is when you set a certain #olume say E?@d- when the audio
gets this point the cut will happen. The reduction will decide how much the cut is say ED@@d-.
&arametric e*ualisation
This will allow you to change certain parameter that you find on a e*ualiser. This will allow you to
change the fre*uency: !andwidth and gain. 8nlike a graphic e*ualiser which doesn"t allow you to
ha#e this much control. This type of e* is used mostly on %$ (digital audio workstation). This
type of e* will gi#e you more control o#er any other at this time.
Shelf AF
This is used to cut or !oost high and low fre*uencies in the mix. +or instance if you wanted to add
more high end when recording cym!als of a drum kit. The Shelf e* looks like a tuning fork and can
!e selected on logic !y using a parametric e*.
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Out!oard compressor
Out!oard compressor are used when recording #ocals: kick and snare drums. This can help !efore
getting to your %$ and make and it sound !etter. Set up the compressor !efore recording.
#ocalist that has a large dynamic range (%ynamic #ocalist) can sound much !ette if there #ocal is
compressed !efore hand. This will sa#e time when mixing down and mastering the final track.
&lan of the studio
Soundcraft Sapphyre• 1ecording G &lay!ack
• %ual use for e#ery channel
,hannel strip
D. t the top the channel strip there is gain control for
!oth play!ack and recording. -elow this there are fi#e
!uttons. One will add phantom power (4;/) if needed.
The line switch selects the line input 5ack . The phase
!utton will cause sound to arri#e at different times.
'ow cut will cut of all fre*uencies !elow D@@ Hz. The
su! switch allows one of the eight mix !uses to !e
switched into the channel path.
. This is the noise gate section of the channel. This is
made acti#e !y pressing gate in. then you can ad5ust
parameters such as threshold: fre*uency: release and
hold.
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3. This is the e*ualiser section of the channel.This is a 4E
!and what is arranged as two section. High fre*uency gain
is set at Dk and low is set at >k. This is a semi parametric
e*ualiser.
4. uxiliary section. There is > auxiliary sends across
two sections. Send 3E> are mainly used for effects.
The 5o! of the channel fader is the ad5ust the #olume
of the tape send: su!group or the mix. The fader has a
total of D@d! gain and can !e cut using the !utton
a!o#e. There is also pan control for when needed.
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9icrophones
sA@@
This condenser mic is good for recording mainly #ocals in the studio. One reason for this is the
fre*uency range of this microphone !eing @Hz to @kHz. This is e#ery fre*uency the human can
hear from the lowest to the highest. This mic is #ery sensiti#e to sound so would !e no good at
recording instruments with high S&'"s (sound pressure le#el) such as drums and !ass guitar. lso
the polar pattern of this microphone is cardioid. Some #ocalists may not like using this type of
microphone as it may not suit there tone.
>. this section is the monitor path this recei#e
information from the tape return input. This has a solo
!utton which will allow you to mute all other channels
other than what coming out of this fader.
. These four !uttons will allow this channel to
muted !y the master mute.
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Shure sm?;
The Shure Sm?; is normally used for #ocals on li#e performances. Howe#er some #ocalist like to
use this mic in the studio as it suits there tone !etter. lso can !e used for whole range It is a
dynamic microphone. A#erything for !acking #ocals to a Snare on a drum kit due its sensiti#ity and
fre*uency range.
Shure &?E 0'1
The Shure &? is good recording kick drums and !ass amps. The cardioid pattern this mic has
means less unwanted noise and feed!ack. +re*uency range 3@HzED3Hz meaning it will !e good for
the lower fre*uencies. lso the steel mesh grille means that it won"t !reak if dropped or hit will a
drum stick.
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How to route signal from the li#e room to the desk then to the computer through a compressor
This is a diagram explaining the process of routing a signal from the li#e room the control room and
into the I mac. single #ocal microphone is linked to a stage !ox which is then sent to the control
room. Once at the control room the signal goes into mixer. It is then sent out the external
compressor. $hich then goes to a sound card and into the Imac.
1ecording drums
$hen recording drums the first thing you will need to do is get the kit miked up.
The kick drum
$hen miking the kick it is important
that the mic is 5ust inside the hole.
This is important so the you will !e
hearing the attack. lso if the mic was
outside it would pick up other drums
which would !e !ad when listen to it
!ack.
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Snare
Toms
Hi hat
$hen miking the snare it is important to rem!er
!oth sides of it. The mic on top most face the
centre of the snare is this is when the !est sound
will. The one underneath is to pick up the rattle of
the snare wires. This is not always used !ut this is
done for good sound.
To get the !est sound out of the tom the
mic must !e pointing as central as
possi!le. s toms are often near
cym!als its important that it is kept as
low as possi!le.
8sing a small condenser microphone the
hi hats mic should !e facing downwards
and !e a!out > inches away from the top
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O#erhead mic placement
Once e#erything is miked up its time to put the ca!les in the right place. The ca!les need to !e put
in the stage !ox from left to right starting with the kick usually.
+inal stereo mix
Once e#erything is recoding its time to mix and master the tracks. +irst 5o! is to make sure the track
is clipping other this could cause distortion. Once this is done and the le#els are right using the
parametric e*ualiser go through getting rid of any unwanted noise. Once this is done usually
dynamics are needed such as a compressor if the track is too loud or too *uiet. fter this there made
need to !e effects added or gates on drums. Once happy with how e#erything is sounding you can
!ounce the track out of the %$.
This techni*ue is called the 02B o#erhead . The
reason to use this is to stop phasing issue"s
( sound arri#ing at different times.) This is
!ecause the sound hits !oth mics simultaneously.
'eft and right will gi#e you a stereo mix
of the drums from a!o#e with a larger
stereo image. It is important to place the
mics facing at the centre of the snare.
lso they must !e the same distanceaway do this !y taking a lead and
measuring it.