Recording Analysis write up

7/24/2019 Recording Analysis write up

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Matthew Range

Recording Analysis

Studio 1 is our main studio space within college that allows us to create music and record

instruments, this studio has a wide range of equipment and different prices. Each piece of

equipment does a different job which means it is vital that you know how each piece works and

what it even does.

The image below is our studio 1 work space with all the equipment that we have and use.

Yamaha HS5

monitor s eakers

Computer

monitor with

Logic Pro X

Adam AXX7

monitor speaker

Adam AXX7

monitor speaker

Focusrite ISA One Direct

Input Box and Pre-Amp

SPL Monitor & Talkback

Controller

Apple Keyboard/mouse


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The Studio

Our recording studio within college is split up into 3 separate sections which means that you can do

different jobs in each section. Each of the 3 sections are different from each other so it is important

that you know which task should be completed in each section, otherwise you may do the task

wrong but also could fail. The three separate sections are; The control Room, Vocal Booth and TheLive Room.

The Control Room:

The control is the main room where all of the equipment is based, it is the room which has the

diagram above within it. So basically it is the main room where the recorded sounds go to which are

processed from analogue to digital, this is done through the soundcards. This room is where you can

edit and mix recorded instruments. Everything from the other rooms are routed to the control as the

control room is where everything can be controlled and changed to how you want or like it.

The Vocal Booth:

The vocal booth is the area of which you record vocals for a project that you are creating. The vocal

booth is its own small confined room, the purpose of this is so that the best quality sound will be

picked up by the microphone. For example if you was recording vocals in the live room for example

they would be less of a good quality as this room is larger so the soundwaves would travel further

and bounce of the walls which would create an echo effect. In result of this the sound quality of the

vocals will not be good. Also the vocal booth is heavily treated in sound proofing so no unwanted

rebounded sound waves will get picked up as they will be absorbed.

The Live Room:

The live room is the area of which we record amped instruments or the drum kit, this is because its

a good sounding room to record live loud instruments as, for your recording, and it gives the

recorded sound an essence of a live sound. Also this room is big enough to have the drum kit set up

with all the specified microphones around it to pick up a clear sound when recorded.

The Equipment.

There is a large amount of equipment that is used in the control room to allow you to record

instruments but also to have it processed from analogue to digital. All equipment on the desk allows

us to do this, without one piece of equipment we are unable to as all of it is needed.

Yamaha HS5 Monitor Speakers:

These are one set of two different monitor speakers that we have in the control room, the

reason that we have two different sets of speakers within the control room is because

different speakers have different frequency parameters. So for example one set of

speakers may have a high bass frequency and another may be equal in bass, mid and high.

In order to have a good mix it is good to have two different types of speakers. The Yamaha

HS5 speakers are a 2 way bi-amped powered speaker, this means they are plugged into the

mains to get their power. The Yamaha speakers are a fairly flat speaker so everything is

equal, these speakers are good to mix with as they do not boost the bass frequencies or

cut the high. If you was trying to mix a track with a bass boosted speaker you would EQ it

to sound good on those speakers but it may sound rubbish on another set. The frequency

range of these monitor speakers are 54Hz30kHz this is quite a small frequency range this

means that we are able to hear all aspects of the speaker without it damaging our ears. The Price of


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the speaker is 130 on Amazon. These are a small speaker is a 5 cone woofer 1dome tweeter. All

specs of this speaker has been taken off of the Yamaha website.

Adam A77X Monitor Speaker

The Adam A77X monitor speaker is the second set of speakers that we

use within the control room, these are slightly different to the Yamaha

HS5 speakers as the frequency range of these are 38Hz50kHz. The

Adam speakers offer a more of a bass sense so this is good for listening to

your final mix, however not mixing as they would make you decrease the

bass as the speakers would make it sound like there is a lot of bass there.

However these are a good speaker with a 7subwoofer and 5carbon speakers, they are designed

to be placed on their side for a better sound quality. On Amazon the one speaker is priced at

635.00.

Focusrite ISA One Direct Input Box and Pre-Amp

This is a useful piece of equipment as it converts analogue instrumentssuch as Guitars and Bass into digital so that the music software, such

as Logic Pro X, can understand what is being played so you can then

edit it and play it back. This piece of equipment serves as a bridge

which converts unbalanced output to a balanced output. On the unit it

has a jack cable port which allows you to plug in your guitar or bass

instrument, you can even use a microphone if you want to. This piece

of equipment is highly useful, one reason is because you can easily

record an instrument with a clear recorded source as if you didntuse

this you would have to link up a microphone facing a guitar amplifier, this is a good way of recording

it but it may not be a good sound quality, whereas having an instrument plugged straight into the DIbox it will mean there will be no interference in the recording. The average price of this piece of

equipment is 366.00 on Amazon.

SPL Monitor & Talkback Controller (SPL SMC 2489)

This piece of equipment is useful for when it comes to you recording a musician and you needing to

communicate with them and make sure that everything is at a good level for them. It gives you the

ability to talk to your instrumentalist even though they are not in the room, this saves time when

recording as you dont have to go between each room to communicate, and this also makes

communication easier. This piece of equipment is used very often as it has many different controls,

one of which is giving you the ability to control the volume from your monitor speakers in the studiobut also the headphone volume level at which the instrumentalist is wearing. The dynamic range of

this piece of equipment is 120dB with a frequency range of 10Hz100kHz. This product is at the

price of 449.00 on Amazon.


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Focusrite OctoPre MK2

This is one of the first soundcards that we use in the studio, a soundcard is used to turn analogue

audio into digital audio. This is so the computer can understand what noises and notes are being

picked up by the microphone, without this no recorded audio can be placed onto the software which

means when you press play no sound will be produced but also you wont be able to edit or mix

what you have recorded. The Focusrite OctoPre MK2 has eight channels which can be assigned to

eight different microphones, however in our recording sessions we only used 4 on this soundcard as

that is how the studio is set up. It has 3 different inputs and 1 output. The 3 inputs are; Mic, Line and

Instrument. And the single output Is Analogue. The piece of equipment links up inputs 9,10,11,12 in

the live room, these inputs consist of using 2 different types of microphones. On amazon this piece

of equipment is 469.00.

Universal Audio Apollo Firewire

This is the second audio interface that we use

alongside the Focusrite however this interface comes

with a mixer programme which is displayed on the

computer monitor, this mixer programme allows us

to control all of the inputs (including those coming

through the Focusrite one) whether we can mute

them or even add plugin effects. This mixer

programme gives us a wider range of effects and itbasically controls the whole sound system within the

studio and it acts as real time monitoring and

tracking. The Apollo interface controls 5 inputs in the

whole studio area, they are inputs 1 (vocal booth), 2,

3, 4, 5 whish are in the live room. Overall this interface is really good as it gives you many different

options to change things and make things such as recordings the way you want it. This audio

interface is 1,546.50 on amazon.

Samson Sphone Headphone mixer/amp

This is the headphone controller that we use within the studio, this allows us to control the

headphones which the instrumentalists use. We can control the volume of the headphones and also


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we can control how much of a certain thing they want/can hear, for example we can make them

hear more of one instrument compared to the others. This is useful as the instrumentalist may want

to hear a specific part of the track, for example the bass so we can then turn that up. The Sphone

mixer has 4 headphone inputs which mean up to 4 different sets of headphones can be plugged into

it. The price of this piece of equipment is 348.63 on amazon.

Emagic AMT8 8-PORT MIDI interface

A midi interface is a device that reads midi signals and converts it to a digital signal, this is so the

computer can read it and understand it as notes which are being played on the instrument being

used. This is a helpful piece of equipment as if you have an old synthesiser for example and you want

to you use it but it doesnt send a digitalsignal, you can plug it into the midi interface and then you

can use it. This interface has 8 ports which means you can plug up to 8 different things which do not

send digital signal. This is priced at 350 on SoundOnSound.com.

The Microphones

Within recording a multitrack channel recording you will have to use many microphones in order to

make it a multichannel track recording. However there are many different types of microphones that

work differently and pick up sound a certain way, this means that there are different microphones

for different instruments. Each microphone that we used had a certain job and all have differentspecs.

Dynamic microphones: a dynamic microphone is more robust then I condenser microphone and it

does not need a power supply, they are more likely used to mic up bands as they have a wider

frequency range to pick up all of the instruments. Also a dynamic microphone can handle higher

sound pressures, and dynamic microphones tend to be cheaper.

Condenser microphones: a condenser microphone needs to have power in order for it to work, this

means putting on the 48v button on the audio interface. A condenser microphone is very direction

this means it will pick up audio which is only in its directional surrounding.

Shure SM58

The Shure SM58 is a dynamic microphone which is best suited for vocals

and speaking. The reason for this is because of its frequency response, the

frequency response of this microphone is 50HZ15kHz. This microphone

has a wide frequency response which is the reason why it is good for vocals,

as at any time a vocalist can change the frequency of their voice, also

different vocalists have different frequency ranges between them so this

microphone have a wide frequency range means that it can be suited for

any vocalist. The Shure SM58 is also a very robust microphone as it was a

strong metal grille around the actual microphone which protects it fromany harsh damage to the official sound pick up part. It also has a metal


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handle which means this will not break, this is one of the strongest microphones that we use. As of

its wide range of frequency it can also be used to record pretty much any type of instrument which

proves itself to be very useful. This microphone has a cardioid polar pattern, this means that it can

pick up any sound that is pointed directly at it and block out the sound which is around it, this causes

for a clear precise recording which is what is wanted when recording vocals or even an instrument

with this microphone.

The frequency response curve:

Shure SM57

The Shure SM57 is a dynamic microphone which is best suited for instruments,

such as; snare, toms, guitar and percussion. This is because it has an even wider

frequency range then the Shure SM58 as the range of frequency from all

instruments compared to vocals is larger. The frequency response of thismicrophone is 40Hz15kHz, an example of instrument frequency ranges is a

piano can play at 41Hz however a violin can play at 15kHz this means that the

microphone can pick up all both of those instrument which is useful for a

producer as they can use the same microphone. Compared to the SM58 this

microphone is not as robust as it as it doesntnot have a grille surrounding it

interior however it is highly durable under heavy use. As the SM58 this

microphone also has a cardioid polar pattern which is why we used it for top and

bottom snare within our recordings. We would place the microphone in the top snare position and

bottom snare position, the images below are taken off of google images to show how we used the

SM57 to mic up the snare drum.


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Shure SM7B

The Shure SM7B is also a dynamic microphone which is best suited

for speech and vocals but can also be used for things such as guitar,

snare and bass drum. This is also a cardioid polar pattern

microphone with a frequency response of 50Hz20kHz this means

that compares to the SM58 this can pick up higher frequency vocals

which means if you know you are going to record a range of

vocalists in a studio session it will be best to use this microphone, as

you would not have to change it but also you know you will get a

clear fully concentrated recording throughout the session. This

microphone is protected by a metal casing and can have the grille

changed to metal one or have a foam material around it, each one

changes the quality of the recording. The Shure SM7B stops

electromagnetic hum which is caused by the computer monitors

emitting the sound when a microphone is close and not shielded,this can ruin your recording and make it harder to record an

instrument or vocalist however this microphone does not pick up

these sounds. We did not use this microphone in our recording.



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Audix F2

The Audix F2 is a dynamic microphone which is best suited for miking instruments such

as drums, this is good for when you are requiring mid-bass and mid-high when

recording. This microphone is at its best on the drum kit, specifically the rack tom and

floor tom as they produce low and mid frequencies which this microphone can pick upeasily. The frequency response of this microphone is 52Hz15kHz so it can easily pick

up the frequency of a rack and floor tom, the rack tom frequency is 440Hz and floor

tom is 349Hz. The polar pattern of this microphone is hyper cardioid this means that it

isolates any other sound coming from other instruments or sounds from which is close

to it, this means it picks up a clear sound from which it is pointing at. This microphone

is robust as itsall made out of metal, with a metal handle and metal grille. The image

below was taken from google images but it shows how we set up the rack tom using

this microphone.



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Audix F6

The Audix F6 is also a dynamic microphone but it is basically a larger version of the F2 as it can be

used for similar instruments such as; kick drum, kettle drum, floor tom, bass and Leslie bottom.

However when we used this in our recordings we used it on the kick drum as the frequency response

of 40Hz16kHz, this is in the range of a bass drum. As the Audix F2 it has a hyper cardioid polarpattern and is also made the same way with the metal handle and metal grille. When recording the

kick drum, you can adjust the microphone, by inserting it into the microphone in the hole which is

located at the front of the kick drum. Put the microphone deep in the hole to give the recording a

bigger attack or take it out as far as you want to bring the attack down, the further out the lower the

attack. The image below shows how a kick drum would be miked up, taken from google images.

Audix F9

The Audix F9 is completely different to all of the other microphonesthat we have used, this is because this microphone is a condenser one.

This means in order for it to work and pick up audio it will need power,

this is done by switching the 48v button on the interface. A condenser

microphone is more sensitive than a dynamic one which means it

should only be used for instruments it is specified for, these

instruments are cymbals, overheads, hi hat, goodie table and audience

mic. For our recordings we used 2 of these microphones and we used

them as overheads, this means they would be used to pick up the

surrounding sound of the whole kit but it specifically the cymbals that

are on the drum. The frequency response of this microphone is 40Hz

20kHz so even though it is a condenser microphone it still has a similar

frequency response to the dynamic microphones. This is a sensitive

microphone which is not good for speaking as when you speak into it you will get plosives which is

horrible in the end recording. This microphone is made out of metal but if dropped it can get easily

damaged which means you should take care of this microphone when using it and carrying it around.

The image below shows how a drum would be miked up with overheads.


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Neuman TLM 102

This microphone is also a condenser microphone with a large diaphragm, this

means it can pick up surrounding sound in the area. This is best suited for vocals

but it can also be used for drums, percussions and amps. The frequency response

of this microphone is 20Hz20kHz, this means it can pick up anything, it is the

same range as the human frequency hearing range. The polar pattern of thismicrophone is a cardioid like other microphones. This has a metal construction

which means it can take a few knocks but however it cannot take as many as the

Shure SM58 for example.

Miking a Drum kit

For our multi-track recording we used a drum kit as this has many different sections that need to

have a microphone on them so they can be heard, because of the amount of microphones recording

at the same time it will create a multi-track recording. Because different parts of the drums have

different frequency responses we would have to use different microphones so the recordings are

clear. The microphones we used for each drum is listed below:

Kick DrumAudix F6

Top SnareShure SM57

Bottom SnareShure SM57

Rack TomAudix F2

Floor TomAudix F2

Overhead L/RAudix F9

We recorded the drums in the live room this is because that was where the drum was set up, but

this is a different room so we would need to use the stage box, which there is two of, to connect the

cabled microphones to the soundcards within the control room. To connect the microphones to the

stage box we use XLR cables this is because XLR cables offer a really good sound quality and whenrecording sound quality is an important feature.


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How does the stage box connect to the control room?

In order for the right microphone to be picked up by the computer and so you know which

microphone is what within Logic so you know which one is working for example. However in order

for this to work you need to ensure that the right input is selected within logic, below I have created

a table for what instrument links with what input on the stage box and what input within logic. Theinputs on logic are the same inputs that are used on the stage box.

Part Of Drum Input On Stage Box/Logic

Kick Drum Input 2

Top Snare Input 3

Bottom Snare Input 4

Rack Tom Input 9

Floor Tom Input 10

Left Overhead Input 11

Right Overhead Input 12

Inputs you also need to know:

Input 1: Vocal booth, this allows you to record vocals from the vocal booth

Input 5: DI Box, this allows you to record instrument such as guitar and bass but without using an

amplifier.

Recording a Bass or Guitar

There are two ways in which you can record a Bass or Guitar, the first way is using a DI Box. In order

for this to work you must select the right input on Logic, this is so you get sound levels coming

through on the mixer so that you know when the instrument is played something will be recorded.

To connect the instrument to the DI Box you use a jack lead which connects from the port on the

instrument to the port on the DI Box. Once this is done and you have levels coming through on Logic

you then have to ensure that the gain is at the right level, this is important as if the gain is at a high

level once the recording is over it way cause clipping and it is hard to edit this. So it is best to have

the gain a little lower so when it comes to mixing you can just adjust the EQ.

The second way of recording a Bass or Guitar is to place a microphone in front of the amp which is

being used. We done this by using a Shure SM58 as this has a good frequency response for both of

these instruments. When miking up an amp you should not face the microphone straight at the

speaker cone this is because it will cause the recording to not be a good sound quality, you should

mic it up by angling the microphone just off of the centre of it and this will allow you to have the

best recording quality.

When recording anything, microphone placement is highly important as this can determine if you

have a good or bad quality recording. Ensure that the microphones are the right distance from the

instrument you are recording. But remember the distance can affect the attack and even decay of

you instrument so it is about experimenting and seeing what is best for you and your project.

Another factor is what microphone you are using, as if you are using the wrong one it can also affect

your sound quality. As if you are recording an instrument at a low frequency, e.g. bass guitar, and

you are using a microphone with a higher frequency response it wouldntpick up the instrument so

nothing would be registered and recorded. It is important that you know what microphone is goodfor what job so that you can create a good clear recording.


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Documents

Recording Analysis write up