T3.4 Studio manual

8/10/2019 T3.4 Studio manual

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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.



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.



,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.



&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.



&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*.



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.



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.



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.



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.



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.



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



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.

Documents

T3.4 Studio manual