Guide to studio 1

Speakers Adam A77X- are near field monitor speakers there designed to be used 'near' the listener.

Novation MIDI keyboard - it changes analogue to digital convertors then turns back when played.

Talkback - talkback controller and controls volume in live room.

Preamp- a preamp will strengthen your signal before you record.

s-phone- headphone mixer amp.

Octopre and pro 40 - its an audio interface with 8 inputs and 8 outputs each allows us to multi channel. so record more than 2 things at once, so you could record a whole band at the same time.

The control room is connected to the live room though the stage box.

MicrophonesThere are two types of microphones, dynamic and condenser:-Dynamic microphones are typically used for concerts as the are sturdy, robust and resilient to rough handling, there also better suited to handling higher volume levels. They do not require batteries or external power.A dynamic microphone works but the sound waves causing a movable wire to vibrate in a magnetic field and this induces a current.

-Condenser microphones are typically used for studios as they are sensitive and more responsive than dynamics resulting in the audio signal being stronger but there not ideal for high volume work as their sensitivity makes them prone to distort. they require phantom power to work.

condenser microphones work by a capacitor to convert the compression and rarefaction of sound waves into electrical energy.

-The difference between the two microphones is that dynamics are used in concerts there robust and resistant to moisture and any other forms of abusive and they don’t need a power supply but condenser microphones are used in studios they are fragile and sensitive which makes the audio signal stronger but there not ideal for high volume work.

Polar patterns-A polar pattern is the response of how sound is getting to the microphone and this is plot on a graph but this is depending on the microphone and its design and there response to sound coming from different directions and there varying degrees of sensitivity.

-Looking at a mics polar pattern will show you how directional it is and where its most sensitive to sound and where is rejects sound.

-The four basic polar patterns are omnidirectional, figure-8, hypercardioid and cardioid.

Frequency response-Frequency response is the output level of sensitivity of a microphone over its operating range from lowest to highest frequencies, there's two types of frequency response flat frequency and tailored frequency.

-a flat frequency is where the speaker dose not alter the sound coming from the original source, it is flat and accurate but a tailored frequency response is where the speaker dose alter the sound coming from the original source its there to enhance a sound source this is 'coloring' the original sound.

-As a producer you would want want speakers/headphones with a flat frequency response so you could hear the true sound of your mix with no alterations this is why in the control room we have these particular speakers but as a listener you could use speakers/headphones with a tailored frequency as your music will be enhanced.

Sound pressure-Music is a mixture of sound pressure at different different frequency's.

-Sound pressure is the result of the pressure variations in the air achieved by sound waves.

-the lowest sound pressure which can be heard by humans is called the hearing threshold, the highest is the pain threshold. Proximity effect

-Proximity effect in an audio is an increase in bass or low frequency's response when a sound source is to close to the microphone, it creates a distortion but some vocalist like proximity effect since it 'fattens up' their voice.

Recording

Drums-The typical drum kit consists of a kick drum, snare, rack tom, floor tom, high hat and cymbals.

KICK -The microphone I used was for the kick I used Audix f6 which is a dynamic and is a Hyper cardioid polar pattern and its designed for instruments requiring bass, this mic minimizes feedback and it isolates the instrument. -I placed this mic inside the drum pointed directly at the beater at the other side of the drum, you can also have a mic out side the drum to fill in the midrange that the inside is missing.

TOP SNARE-For the top of the snare I used Shure sm57 it’s a dynamic mic with a cardioid polar pattern this mic is highly versatile and it makes clear sounds of amplified and acoustics instruments.

-I placed the mic 3 inches from the head pointed towards the center you can also use this mic to pick up some high hat.

BOTTOM SNARE-Bottom snare I used Shure sm58 it’s a dynamic mic with a cardioid polar pattern it has a brightened mid range that minimizes background noise.

-I placed the mic 3 inches away right under the snares but when you have two mics pointed towards each other on the same source you may need to invert the faze of one.

RACK\FLOOR TOM -Rack tom and floor tom I used Audix f2 it’s a dynamic mic with hyper cardioid polar pattern this mic has a high performance best used for mid bass/high range, it isolates the instrument and minimizes feedback.-I placed the mics 3 inches away pointed towards the center more towards the rim for more attack.

OVERHEAD -I used two overhead mics they where Audix f9 it’s a condenser mic with a cardioid polar pattern, this mic is all purpose high sensitivity with detailed reproduction in mid-high and extended high.

-I placed the mics at an equal distance from the center of the snare. this is called spaced pair. you can also use the placement x-y and orft.

-when mixing the overhead will be panned.

-the best way to record a drum kit is to use input 1 for the kick, input 2 top snare, input 3 bottom snare, input 4 rack tom, input 5 floor tom, input 6 left overhead and input 7 right overhead. this will help you out when mixing.

Guitar/bassAMP -recording though a amp I used the Shure sm57 mic and place the mic just off the center of the speaker towards the edge of the cone.

DI Recording-(direct injection) this takes pure signal from your instrument directly to DAW this is used to minimize noise, distortion and ground loops which is unwanted current like noise or hum. To record direct use a jack to jack with a 1/4 inch connector to your guitar/bass to a preamp, a preamp will strengthen your signal and make it clearer before you record.

-I used DI recording as it is easier as you don’t have to mess around with microphones and amps and also there would be any unpleasant high frequencies and its creates a cleaner sound by minimizing unwanted noise.

-Theirs also a virtual tuner as you should always tune your guitar/bass before recording. to get this up go mixer, audio fx, metering, tuner.

-There is also amp designers on logic which you can use to change the sound of the guitar using reverb, distortion and gain there also an array of simulated amps with gives the effect that your recording through a amp. to use this go on mixer, audio fx, amps and pedals, amp designer.

-for the bass I used the British amp as there not harsh sounding and has distortion and a natural compression which creates a punchier sound and for lead guitar I used the sliverfaced amp with has a clean tones and has an articulate attack great for rock for the rhythm guitar I used the large tweed amp that creates clean sounds with a gentle distortion great for rock.

Setting up recording sessions on Logic

GUITAR-select an audio track and put in to input on and bring up the mix window and arm the track by pressing the 'R' till it changes to red.

DRUMS-select an 8 audio tracks and number the tracks 1-8 to input 1-8, name the tracks input 1- kick, input 2- top snare, input 3- bottom snare, input 4- rack tom, input 5- floor tom, input 6- left overhead, input 6- right overhead. bring up the mix window, arm the tracks by pressing the 'R' till it changes red.

Mixing

PHASE- I used phase on the bottom snare to use for cancelation like when using more than one mic on the same source because if one source is going to 2 mics there could be delays. to use this go on mixer, audio fx, utility, gain, mono and tick the phase invert.

COMPRESSION- compression is used to reduce the dynamics of a signal that rises above a threshold to a lower volume range. If the sound is not uniformed and there are parts where the notes and slightly louder or there are sections where it jumps, through compression we can control the dynamic range of the signal allowing them to become more uniformed with the lower parts and have a rounded signal all together this will make a piece sound more punchier.

-the 3 main controls on the compressor are the compressor threshold, ratio and gain. The compressor threshold is a limit to where you want the compression to work, the gain is how much you want the compressor to work and gain which is once the compressor is finished rounding of the signal, how much of the uniformed signal do you want to send out to the speakers. Theirs also attack and release, attack is once the signals gone past the threshold its how quickly the compression reacts I used on my bass and guitar a quick attack and on my stings I had a more forgiving attack to give them more time for the compression to work. the release is once the sound drops bellow the threshold when you want the compression to stop and not do anything else to the signal.

-I used this putting the threshold to the top and slowly bringing it down till you start to see the signal entering the gain reduction bar, I stopped as the signal got to about 4 then I matched the gain to how much signal the gain reduction bar had so I would bring it up to 4.0dB this will make your track a lot more punchier and a overall smother mix.

REVERB-to use reverb use the space designer this generates the reverb effect which is like an echo that adds characteristics and depth. The dry slider sets the level of the non-effect signal and the rev slider adjusts the output level of the effects (wet) signal. To use this go on mixer, audio fx, reverb, space designer.

CHANNEL EQ- you can use the channel EQ to shape the sound of individual tracks or audio files or for tone shaping on an overall project, EQ can boost or cut signals in the frequency spectrum. to get channel EQ up go to mixer, audio fx, eq, channel eq.

-The analyzer will make it easy to view and change the track by showing us the frequency of the sound.

-EQ has 8 frequency bands, band 1is the high pass filter which will let high parts pass but it can also cut something to nothing with is good for background sounds, band 2 is the low shelf this can boost the high or low frequencies, band 3 - 6 are parametric bell filters there are used for precision and boosting exact sounds, band 7 is the high shelf it turns down high or low frequencies. You can use these to reduce or eliminate unwanted frequencies like hum or other noise or to emphasize a frequency to make it more pronounced such as a root note.

-I used EQ by setting it to a flat response, turn on the analyzer and play the audio signal I watch and see where there are frequent peaks or lows then adjust the frequency bands as required.

Evaluation

-The end result of my track came out successful I enjoyed the solo because of the distortion and the clean tones, the rhythm guitar flows really well and the end of my track where you can hear the guitar finishing I left it and as it made it sound raw. the things I found hard where as the kick drum disappered so I had to draw a kick drum in which took up time, another thing I found hard was using EQ I wasn’t sure what was right or wrong. the things I found easy was using DI recording as it was easy to set up and the end recording sounded great and the designer amps gave it a perfect sound and it had great distortion, I also found the compression easy to use.

-Jess's track I help to set up the drums and helped to arm them the best parts of her track where the snare and it was punchie and the MIDI part sounded good.

-Ellies track I help to compress and EQ it by seeing what sounds best, the best parts of her track was the guitar and it was very clean and bouncy and the bass was very punchy.

-Megans track I helped her by setting up the DI recording, I used the jack to jack cable to plug the guitar into the preamp and we found an amp in the amp designer. my favourite thing about her track was the drums as they where very catchy and clean and clean.

-the daft punk track I helped to EQ it by boosting certain sounds and cutting out background noises. the best part of the track was the drums as it clean and the guitar was muted making it sound very punchy.