t4.3 macneil studio manual

8/13/2019 T4.3 MacNeil Studio Manual

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Miskin Music

Studio: A

Manual/Guide


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Studio Plan

this is a birds eye view of the studio complex.

- Make sure you take note of where each exit, fire

exit/alarms/extinguisher are situated within the complex. he fire

alarms within the studios have visual indicators for obvious

reasons, relating to auditory difficulties in hearing while mixing

around loud speakers. !n the event of a fire, the assembly point is

located on the sports field east of the venue. IMPORTANT: thereis a raised platform in the walkway between "tudio# $ and %ive

&oom# $.

- !t is important that all cables etc. are either taped or made

known to the users and visitors of the studio, to avoid trip

ha'ards. $lso obstructions should be noted in walkways for similar

reasons.

-o ensure the safety of the e(uipment itself and maintain overall


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hygiene and cleanliness, there is absolutely no food or drink

allowed on site.

-$ll $)/*) plugs are to be annually +$ +ortable $ppliance est

tested to ensure the safety of engineers and visitors alike. $llcables should be checked regularly.

Studio Control Room: A, Floor Plan

$bove is a basic, asterisked plan of the e(uipment in "tudio $,

complete with the order of connections.

0 1&1 23 monitor speakers.4567 +ower 8utput

467 9igh :re(uency

467 %ow :re(uency-;6d< - =>d


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;> !nput, 5 "tereo )hannels, *uel :aders on each channel

=53v +hantom +ower

5 $uxiliaries selectable pre/post

3 "ends

;A4 +oint +atch 0 8utboard 2(uipment.see pg 6

H 0 2volution M1;> Midi controller keyboard.+itch bend

8ctave change

Modulator

5I keys

3 0 Mac +ro*ual processor systems

4-core software with %ogic +ro I and @


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The Uses of a Channel

here are two uses of a channel on a console and they are mixing

and recording. Mixing involves changing the outputs via the

soundcard to appear on the mixer. he positives and negatives of

doing something like thisJ positives include, you have more

control over your mix, also you can use real outboard gear as

apposed to a cc fabricated copy. Kegatives includeJ you must

have both a mixer and enough soundcard outputs to cope withyour mix, also any outboard gear you want to use. he expense -

beyond that if you dont finish your mix, someone may utili'e the

desk in your absence dissembling the channels and settings on

the mixer. 8n an analogue mixer you cannot save your settings,

unlike the reliability software.

&ecording involves passing a signal through the desk, and into

the )+E via a soundcard. !t is practical to do this because it is

easier to find a level at which you are happy with and you canalso edit sounds while they are being recorded. he issue with

editing on the way into the computer is that once it is recorded,

you are unable to alter your track.

he )hannel "trip

Koise Gate

Gain Control: the levelbetween the input level of adevice to the mixer and the

output level of the mixer intothe speaker. he gain is usuallyin decibels and can go intonegative numbers as well aspositive numbers depending onwhether you want to increase or

Phantom Power: a direct current *)voltage sent through a cable to power adevice. !t is used most commonly withcondenser microphones but issometimes used to power *! boxes andpedals. !t is usually 53 volts but can beas low at 4. he microphone or otherdevice will take as much voltage as itneeds. he phantom power on thechannel strip can be applied to themicrophone input by pressing the =53?

ine Swit!h:his selects theline input socket to switchfrom M!) to %!K2.

Su"


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he )hannel "trip continued "helf 2F

"emi-+arametric 2F

$uxillaries

&F:his section is a shelving2F and can boost or cut Ad669' - 4k9'and then boost or cut it byAd


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he )hannel "trip continued

+anning, :ading, "ending and Mixing

C& PAN:he )9 +$K controldetermines the position of thesignal within the stereo %-&image and routes the signal to anyof the eight buses depending onwhich bus group is selected. 2g.


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he )hannel strip continued

Monitoring

MON PAN:his pans thesignal across the stereo bus,either left or right, at a leveldetermined by the longthrowmonitor fader. !f panned tothe left, the signal from thatchannel will be sent to theleft monitor and vice versa.his is useful when mixingand layering to widen thesound.

SOO:he solo button mutes

all the other monitors.

CUT:his mutes the monitor

path chosen.

P)A0:his illuminates whenthere is less that >d< ofheadroom remaining at threeplaces in the signal.

chainJ in ut re-am , the

C& ACTI/):his monitorsthe output of the inputpreamp and illuminates ifthe level exceeds -46d


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i1e Room: A, Floor Plan

0 "tage


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The Out"oard )2ui(mentT AudioParametri!)3

his 2F canboost or cutata specific

fre(uency.

diom(ressormpression is

ed to makedio morensistent innamic range

4oe Mee56Mee2uali7ser8his e(ualisercan changethe sound ofan instrumentby alteringthe high, mid

or lowfre(uencies

Mee5m(ressormpression isd to makeo more

sistent inamic range

Fo!usritePream( 9Re!tifierPream($ preamp isan electronicamplifierwhich preparesan electronicsignal forfurtheramplification orprocessing.

Alesis TwinCom(ressor a

fantastic

compressor for

a side chaineffect

d(hone(lifiereadphoneplifier isan audio

plifiergnedicularly toedphonesead ofspeakers.

Power

Stri(

and *iie!ts

is aerb andrus unitd forducingh effects.

Son *elaUnit*elay is anaudio effectwhich playsback audio aftera controlledperiod of time.

maha

e!ts Unit a

tal

tieffect

cessor with

malgam of

erent

ctions.


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The Pat!h .ahe patch bay is used to route and re-route signals

between the mixing desk and outboard e(uipmentand make inputs and outputs which are usually

tucked away, easily accessible.


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S(readinGiven the aforementioned difficulties that occur with mixing on

the desk, that being the lack of continuity of your settings youmay prefer the manual approach to mixing, as opposed tomousing around on a %ogic arrange page. o spread yourrecording across the desk, open up the mixer on the arrange pageon %ogic. Kext, click and hold where it says "tereo 8ut and on thedropdown menu, select 8utput. Lou will then be presented withthe following options# =4, ;=5 and A=> and so on. "inglechannels will not be available so to rectify this, select the groupand +$K the channel on %ogicJ full left for channels ,;,A,H, whathave you or full right for channels 4,5,>,3 etc. :ollowing this you

can continue your mixing the old fashioned way with a moreNhands on approach.

Routin throuh the Com(ressor *urinand Post Re!ordin+rimarily a channel will need to be selected to record onto. :orinstance if you are using !nput of the stage box, the signal willbe received on channel 44 on the mixing desk. Kext on the list is

to find channel 44 on the patch bay and link, via bantam lead,from the N!K" "K* pot to the left input of the compressor that youare using. hen you must link one more bantam lead from therespective compressors left 8E+E to the N!K" &2 pot on thesame channel.

o route to the compressor after recording you will need to togglethe abovementioned N&2?


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Re!ordin *rums =Multi7Tra!5Re!ordin>

Mi!ro(hone Sele!tion?

The 0i!5!n terms oforder, when micing up a drum kit,we start with the kick drum. !n thestudio we use an $udix :5microphone. his is a dynamicmicrophone with a tailoredfre(uency response of ;6 9' - 6k9'. !t has a much wider

diaphragm and so is specificallydesigned to ear much lower

fre(uencies. $ condenser microphone is not used as they are toosensitive for a kick drum. !t has a cardioid polar pattern tominimi'e feedback and isolate the drum from the others.Microphone placement is a big factor of the sound producedJwhether the microphone is placed inside the hole or outside on astand, how big the hole is, how many inches from the outside,what angle the microphone is at etc. he kick drum is connected

to the stage box via @%& cable and is commonly in input one Ochannel twenty two.

The Snare Kext on the list typically is the snare drum. :or thiswe use two microphonesJ one for the bottom and one for the top.:or the top we use the ever versatile "hure "MAH. !t is a dynamiccardioid directional microphone and is the industry standardinstrument microphone. !t has afre(uency response of 56 9' - A,666 9'. his is placednear the snare pointing towards the centre of the skin. !t is

commonly inserted into input 4 of the stage box.)urrently for the bottom side of the snare we use a


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"ennheiser 23;A which is another directional, dynamicmicrophonewith a cardioid polar pattern and as a slightly less bright responseto the

AH. !t is nigh on identical in terms of sound (uality to the "hure"MA3 thebrother of the AH. $gain it is aimed directly at the centre of theskin and typically third in line for the stage box. 8f course it notbeing on the batter side of the snare, this proves far lesschallenging. !t is important to mic. the bottom of the snare as it isarguably one of the most essential parts of the kit, so it needssubstance to it.


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Mi!ro(hone sele!tion !ontinued ?

The TomsKext on the list, the toms are miced with $udix :6s.his is a dynamic microphone with a cardioid polarpattern to pick up direct signals and minimi'e feedback.!t has a fre(uency response of A6 9' - 4,666 9' makingit good for picking up mid-bass and mid-high sounds.

he microphone is put onto a microphone clip onto thelug of the drum pointing, again towards the centre of theskin of the. hey are often plugged into input 5 A on the stage box. ypically, the rack tom is

ordered before the floor tom.

The &atshen cometh the 9i-9ats. hey are miced withthe $udix :A. his is a condenser microphone to get acrisp, clear hi-hat sound. !t has a fre(uency response of669' - 46 k9'. !t has a wide cardioid polar pattern alongwith high sensitivity. he mic is positioned >C above thehi-hat towards the centre to get the full spectrum ofsounds from the high hat. !t is commonly plugged intoinput > on the stage box.

The O1erheads%ast but certainly not least are the overheads. !nthe studio we use 4 Keumann 1M35s for overheads to recordoverall sound and also they are great at picking up cymbals. heyare condenser microphones with afre(uency range of 46 9' - 46,666 9'. heyhave a cardioid polar pattern to reducefeedback. here are multiple ways toposition these microphones one being the@L position, where the microphones areplaced at I6P from each other, central tothe kit hanging above. he other is spacedwhere the microphones are placed at e(ualradial distances from the snare drum either side of the kit. @Lplacement picks up more of the entire sound and is an optimumrecording techni(ue with such a small live room. he spacedmicing method is more suited to a much larger recording space.

hey are commonly plugged into input H 3 on the stage boxand panned left and right on the desk, dependant on which side


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of the kit they are directed at. :or instance with the @L techni(ue,the right microphone would be panned left as it is facing the lefthand side of the kit in the I6P angle. "o for the spaced methodyou could either switch the leads round or inverse the panning on

the desk. 7hen using two condenser microphones so closetogether it is important to use phase inversion.


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Mi!@ Positionin ?

$s mentioned above, the @L is the primepositioning for the overheads in the live room. "olike the photograph, right only above the kit.

$gain the kick drum is a world of variation and preference when itcomes to micing it up. his is thestandard way of micing the kick drum, it isgood for an overall sound, a happymedium some would say. Keither in nor

out. !f you wanted more texture to thesound and more of a higher and brighterend of the spectrum, there are severalthings you can do. 8ne is move themicrophone closer to the batter side of the kick drum inside thedrum. $nother is to mic. up the other side of the kick as well. Loumay want a deeper sound and less high end fre(uencies sonaturally you would do the inverse and move the mic. furtheraway but the problems that occur with this techni(ue is that youget too much bleed from other parts of the kit. $ way to alleviate

this, though is notrecommended for such asmall space is to build a kickdrum tunnel. here areseveral ways to do this. 9ereis an example of someoneusing mic. stands, carpets,foam and blankets. !n mypersonal experience sleeping

mats and or insulation foamdo Dust as well.


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Mi!@ Positionin !ontinued ?

he "nare drum is fairly simple, you Dust have to ensure like withall of the stick-hit drums that the microphone is not obstructingthe performance of the drummer in any way but all the while stilldirected at the centre of the skin.!t doesnt sound pretty when adrummer or percussionist hits the microphonewith the drumstick. !n this picture righttheyre lucky enough to have a rim clip but inthe live room we use a boom mic. standwhich proves some what more difficult in

terms ofmanoeuvrability.he bottom ofthe snare is farless difficult to mic up. 7ith a smallstand it is easy position a mic. toface the middle of the skin. 7henusing stands it is important toensure that none of the hardware is

interacting with each other. :or instance, if you have a boom mic.

stand running past a rack tom and the stand is in contact with thetom itself, it wont serve the microphone well when the drummerhits the tom.

9ere is an example of a how a tomshould be miced up, in terms ofangle.

9ere is a fine exampleof how 9i-9ats shouldbe miced up.


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hat Comes Ne+tB

7hen you have established a signal from the live room on thedesk for the drum kit, the next step is finding the appropriatelevels for your drums in your mix, for your first time this will beguess work but theres nothing particularly complicated about it.

o do this without a recording you will need someone in the liveroom hitting each drum individually to line check and then all ofthem in a beat to check the levels of the overheads. Lou can usethe fader to change the levels or keep the faders level and simplyuse the gain pot at the top of the channel strip. $n optimum levelis ->d

t4.3 macneil studio manual

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