Guide to Studio 1

Octopre MK11 & Pro 40 are both audio interfaces with 8 inputs & outputs each to allow us to multi channel. The EMagic AMT8 Active MIDI Transmitter also has 8 inputs & outputs. The Adam A7X Speakers are near fields monitor speakers which means they are able to cope with the high volumes & are used for listening at shorter distances. The Novation MIDI Keyboard changes analogue to digital convertors then turns back when the track is played. The Spl 2381 Monitor & Talkback Controller controls volume in the live room & the Focusrite ISA ONE FF Pre Amp strengthens signal before you record.

Novation MIDI KeyboardS-Phone Headphone Mixer AmpOctopre MK11 Audio InterfacePro 40 Audio InterfaceEMagic AMT8 Active MIDI TransmitterSpl 2381 Monitor & Talkback ControllerFocusrite ISA ONE FF Pre AmpEMagic Logic ControllerAdam 7X SpeakerAdam 7X SpeakerRokit 5 (KRK) SpeakerRokit 5 (KRK) SpeakerEMagic Logic ControllerMonitor

MicrophonesDynamic Microphone a microphone which sound waves cause a moveable coil to vibrate in a magnetic field & induce the current.Condenser Microphone a microphone that uses a capacitor to convert the compression & rarefaction of sound waves into electrical energy.What are the differences between Dynamic & Condenser? Condenser microphones require power & are more sensitive so are used in studios whereas dynamic microphones are the opposite. What are polar patterns? A polar pattern is a circular graph that shows how sensitive a microphone is in different directions. The most common types of direction are Omnidirectional which picks up sound from everywhere, Cardioid which isolates from unwanted ambient sound & Supercardioid which offers more narrower pickup but also has pickup at the back of the microphone. What is sound pressure? Sound pressure is the difference between ambient pressure of a sound wave & the static pressure of the medium. In air, sound pressure can be measured using a microphone & in water with a hydrophone. What is the proximity effect? The increase of bass frequencies as a directional microphone comes closer to the sound source. Whats the frequency response of a microphone? The output level or sensitivity of a microphone over its operating range from lowest to highest frequencies. Drum KitDrum Microphones consist of: A F6 microphone for the Kick Drum A SM57 microphone for the Top Snare A SM58 microphone for the Bottom Snare Two F2 microphones for the Rack & Floor Tom Two F9 microphones for both the OverheadsSetting Up the Drum Kit When setting up the drum kit microphones, it is helpful if you set them up in a certain order to help you remember what microphone leads to what input. Double check the input leads are connected properly otherwise they could cause the sound of the drum to not flow through smoothly. The Overhead microphones should be an equal distance away from the Top Snare & you measure the distance by holding one end of a cable to the end of the Overhead and reach down to the centre of the Top Snare. You then dont move the cable in the centre of the Top Snare but move the other end from Overhead to Overhead & you should have the same length of cable. You can have the overhead microphones in 2 different placements known as XY & ORTF. The XY placement is easy to manage as the microphones are put at a 90 degree angle. ORTF gives you a "wider" spread to the sound as the microphones are facing opposite directions at 110 degrees. Apart from the Overheads the other microphones should be placed facing towards the centre of the drum (as shown in the photos above) about 2-3 inches away so the sound that is picked up is clear with no distortion.

How to record a Guitar/BassDI Recording DI (direct injection) recording bypasses the traditional amp and takes the pure signal from your instrument directly to tape of DAW. Once the guitar or bass is plugged into the pre amp you can then use the tuner on logic to tune and adjust your instrument. The pre amp strengthens the guitar/bass signal before recording. You can get a digital or analogue pre amp. InputsThe audio interfaces in the Control Room & the stage boxes in the Live Room all have 8 inputs & 8 outputs so a total of 16 & each allows us to multi channel. If you was to set up a drum kit in the live room you would only need to use 7 inputs so you will be able to connect them to 7 inputs in the control room. Once all have been connected dont forget you need to arm all of them so you can get the levels you need to record. Arm each input one at a time so it picks up that specific microphone. To level the overhead microphones you have to make sure the left overhead is panned at 63 & the right overhead is panned at 64.

How to MixMixing is about controlling & balancing the near levels of different instruments. Most of the balancing is done by managing the faders, compression, EQ, reverb & metering. Compression can be thought as an automatic fader. Used to reduce the dynamics of a signal that rises above the threshold to a lower volume range. This process is done so that the dynamics can be managed by the electronics in the signal chain. It is also done so the range is appropriate to the overall dynamics of a broadcast medium. The most common controls on a compressor include: Input Gain this control is used to determine how much signal will be sent to the compressors input stage. Threshold This setting determines the level at which the compressor will begin to reduce the incoming signal. Most quality compressors offer hard & soft knee threshold options. A soft knee widens or broadens the threshold range making the compression less obtrusive. The hard knee settings cause the effect to kick in quickly above the threshold point. Output Gain used to determine how much signal will be sent to the devices output. Its used to boost the reduced dynamic signal into a range where it can best match the level of a medium or be better heard in a mix. Slope Ratio This control determines the slope of the input-to-output gain ratio. Attack this setting determines how fast or how slow the device will turn down signals that exceed the threshold.EQ can be used as a tool to smooth out differences between cuts or for making changes that affect the overall character of the entire project. There are two main things you can control with the EQ. First is the Frequency & the second is the Gain, which is the amount of boost & can be measured in decibels. Reverb reverb & delay are the most common effects used in mixing & are about adding characteristics either by making easy echoes or creating harder patterns. Synthesizers & sampled sounds have no realistic acoustic. The reverb effect helps give us cues as to the size, density & nature of a space. The cues can be broken down into 3 subcomponents such as: Direct Signal, Early Reflections & Reverberation. Direct Signal is heard when the original sound waves travel directly from the source to the listener. Early Reflections is the term given to those first few reflections that bounce back to the listener from large boundaries in a given space. Reverberation is sounds comprised of hundreds of random reflections that travel from boundary to boundary within the confined room. There are 8 different reverb types that can simulate a wide range of acoustic environments. These are: Hall simulates the acoustics of a concert hall & is often a diffuse setting Chamber simulates the acoustics of an echo chamber. Like a live chamber these settings have a lighter reflection off of tile or cement surfaces. Room these settings simulate the settings of acoustics in a normal to large room. It best suits a solo instrument. Live (stage) works a live performance stage. These settings can vary widely but often simulate long early-delay reflections. Plate these settings are used on vocals& percussion instruments. Reverse can be created using a DAW by reversing a track or segment, applying reverb & then reversing it again to get a realistic backward reverb trail. Gate cuts off the decay trail of a reverb signal. These settings are often used for emphasis on drums & percussion instruments. Metering amps, magnetic tape & even digital media are limited in the range of signal levels that they can pass without distortion. 2 types of metering response times are encountered in recording sound to either analog or digital media such as Average or Peak. EvaluationI think I found this assessment harder than the previous assessments because it was quite a lot of work that had to be done in what seemed like enough time but really wasnt. Me & my group aimed to get our 4 tracks done first before anything to get them over & done with then do the writing part at home in our own time. Luckily me & Megan had already started mixing & compressing the Daft Punk track so much wasnt left to do. I struggled with my track the most because the first track I was originally going to do wasnt long enough & the timing was hard to go by. So I only had a couple of days to make something new & record it. I found the writing part not too bad as I had quite a bit written down already from the studio sessions with Andy and I went to the library to do some more research. Us independently setting up the DI & levels for the drum kit has made me feel confident in being able to set it up whenever needed. Overall I hope me & my group have done enough to pass because we all tried our best even though we did struggle at times.

(I know mine is really bad but I didnt have enough time to perfect it)