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"Sound Recording and reproducing Evaluation."
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Recording vocalists
Wear headphones during vocals. As the engineer, when you wear headphones and monitor the cue mix, you hear exactly what the singer is hearing, allowing you to fine-tune the cue mix as the vocal progresses. Of course, lower the control room monitor levels to avoid influence. A good cue mix is paramount. Louder volume levels can mask slight pitch problems. Turning down the studio monitors will help you hear pitch and tuning issues. Similarly, when a singer is having a hard time hitting notes, turn the cue mix level down. If the singer must have loud headphones, pull the lower frequencies. Loud lows can mess with a singer's pitch. Suggest she remove one side of the headphones to hear herself in one ear, and the cue mix in the other. Maybe record a simple piano or acoustic guitar track playing the vocal melody - no chords, just single notes of the melody of the vocal track. (Of course, not to be used in the final mix.) Add this track in to the cue mix, and maybe remove any other instruments that may be throwing off her pitch.
Magazine Article
Digital recording arrives. (includes related article on digital audio compression)
Digital compact cassettes developed by Philips and MiniDiscs by Sony represent the most eagerly-anticipated audio recording technology to come along since compact discs. A discussion of digital recording and a comparison of the two formats is presented.
Magazine Article
Web surfing for tubes
I am sure most of you have heard of the \"warmth of Neve consoles.\" I like the \"sound\" of Neve consoles and run most of my vocals through a Neve strip. Do you know how many tubes there are in a Neve strip? Zero. Yeah, as in none. In fact, there are a whole lot of really nice microphone preamps that have no tubes. In reality, a tube's \"warmth\" is one part truth, another part marketing, some confusion with \"analog warmth\" and lastly there is some sort of very incorrect correlation derived from the fact that tubes actually do get warm and impart this warmth on the audio. Remember that commercial for cassette tapes where they said: \"Is it live, or is it Memorex?\" Not all that long ago, they (the marketing people) were trying to convince us that we couldn't tell the difference between a cassette recording and the live signal coming straight from the microphone. In 2004, now that we can no longer tell: is it live, or is it digital? The manufacturers, and especially the E-bayers, seem to be telling us that, \"When it comes to tubes and analog gear; everything sounds warmer and fatter.\" But wait one gord-darned-cotton-pickin'-minute, the commercial used to tell me I couldn't tell the difference between live or Memorex, now you're telling me that you were wrong! Well why didn't Memorex say: \"Is it live, or is it better?\"
Magazine Article
Sympathy for the eardrums
The premium concert sound system the Rolling Stones used on their \"Bridges to Babylon\" tour is discussed. Most sound systems for concerts are a compromise in quality, but the Rolling Stones would not compromise.
Magazine Article
Superscope PSD 300 CD Recording System
Intended primarily as a learning/teaching aid, the PSD 300 CD Recording System is a two-deck CD player/2-track recorder with a number of functions that allow the user to manipulate playback and recording in ways that far exceed your average CD player. Though of little use for pro recording applications, the unit features a variety of playback/record options that both students and teachers could make exceptionally good use of. To our knowledge there is no other singular, portable CD recording device on the market that incorporates all of the features of the PSD 300. This unit was developed in conjunction with many North American music educators. During the limited time that teachers have with students, the necessity to focus on the instrument and material is the priority. The fact that PSD 300 users do not have to be distracted by another variable such as a computer or samplers that when loaded allows the ability to alter tempo and pitch is the essence of its ease of use. Given the potentially unlimited resources of a studio one can achieve what the PSD 300 does, but at the end of the class you can't pick up all that gear under one arm and move to a different classroom or assume that all teachers and students could run it.
Magazine Article
TC works powercore
One basic reality with a system like this is audio latency, simply because any tracks using a Powercore plug-in needs to travel the extra distance across the PCI card, putting it slightly out of sync with any unprocessed audio. This was an issue with earlier sequencer programs and with earlier versions of the Powercore card, but TC works has included a few solutions. The amount of latency can be controlled through playing with the buffer settings on the host program, but I didn't bother getting into that. Instead I simply made sure that the automatic \"Plug-in Delay Compensation\" feature in Logic was activated (other programs may call it something different). For using older software without this feature, TC Works includes a utility plug-in called \"Compensator\" which effectively calculates a delay for every audio track that isn't being processed through the PCI card, so that the processed and unprocessed signals match up. For monitoring recording without latency (which can't be compensated for by my system), the plug-ins can be switched to a \"no latency\" mode, which puts a great deal of strain on your CPU, but is handy for monitoring recording with reverb, or playing the Powercore synth. Native-based audio recording continues to improve as the host computers get faster, and the TC Works Powercore is a great solution to some current limitations. Although faster computers will mean more available CPU for audio processing on the host computer, it will also raise the expectations for what can be achieved in a studio that needs no outboard gear, and having a dedicated CPU for demanding processing like reverbs helps native-based systems compete favourably with dedicated hardware systems like Pro Tools. The wide range of plug-ins already available, and the commitment of third party developers like Sony and Waldorf to develop plug-ins for the Powercore is encouraging and leads me to think that this type of audio solution will soon be a standard part of future professional native-based studios.
Magazine Article
Universal Audio's UREI 1176LN. .(black face compressor)
I first got to know the UREI 1176LN black face compressor when we were recording the third Moist album, Mercedes Five and Dime at Studios Piccolos in Montreal with producer David Leonard (Barenaked Ladies, Moist, Sugar Ray). I couldn't help but notice how many overdubs were being routed through Leonard's Neve 1073 channel strips and then into an 1176LN. Other veteran engineers like Bruce Swedien and the Lord-Alge brothers are well known for their reliance on black faces. In fact, it is safe to say that an 1176LN has been used in the production of a huge percentage of the albums in your collection. The first versions of the 1176 (series A, B and AB) were brushed aluminum with a blue stripe around the meter. They featured knobs for input, output, attack and release, and push button selection of compression ratios as well as meter functions. Then, in 1970 an audio engineer at Universal Audio named Brad Plunkett modified the design to reduce noise in the unit and the 1176LN (for 'low noise') was born (series C through F). These new compressors sported a black faceplate with the same simple four knob and push button design. The Universal Audio 1176LN reissue is modeled after the series D and E compressors that, some engineers maintain, sound the best overall. I have been told that the G series and the newer silver face 1176LN compressors do not have the same tone as the previous series because of the elimination of the prized input transformer. Universal Audio is clearly marketing their 1176LN reissue to compete directly with vintage units. The $2,295 US list price with street pricing in the $1,600 to $2,000 US range is pretty much exactly what you would expect to pay for an original black face 1176LN on the used market. Unlike the Purple Audio reissue of the 1176 (the MC76), Universal Audio has elected to make their reissue almost indistinguishable from the originals. This strategy makes the UA 1176LN more expensive than other similar (albeit non-vintage) compressors such as the Empirical Labs Distressor and the Purple Audio MC76.
Magazine Article
Get funding for your next record
FACTOR is typically the independent artist's first stop in the search for funding. With some 20 grant and loan programs, FACTOR funds everything from complete albums, demos and music videos to marketing costs and tour support. The FACTOR Loan Program for Recording, for example, is available to qualified Canadian labels, producers, managers and artists with FACTOR-recognized distribution in place for their independent album. Applicants may qualify for a maximum loan of $35,000 (representing 50 per cent of the total eligible budget) per album per year. If you don't have distribution in place (don't worry, you're not alone), you may be eligible for a loan of up to $15,000 under the Independent Loan Program. If you're not quite ready to produce a complete album, you may qualify for a grant, to a maximum of $2,000, to assist in your production of a professional demo to be shopped to industry representatives. See www.factor.ca for detailed information on FACTOR's various programs.
Magazine Article
Digital dubbing
Manipulating music as bits and bytes is the wave of the future. MiniDisc and recordable CD are two of the choices for making digital disc recordings.
Magazine Article