Studio design

1.   +4dBu and -10dBV are two commonly found measurement units of signal level. One uses balanced cabling and connections, the other unbalanced; which is which? and what are some of the differences between using these standards?

 

+4dBu is the signal level for balanced cabling and -10dBV is for unbalanced. This is because +4dBu is a stronger  signal than -10dBV, by roughly 11dB. Therefore, +4dBu needs to be balanced in order to cancel out noise signals from passing currents that get picked up when the analogue data goes to the A/D converter. The difference between using these standards is that +4dBu is more professional and modern as the sound quality is that of a higher velocity than -10dBV. 

 

2. What kind of connections/cable would you need to plug a portable mp3 player (iPod etc.) into a) a DJ style mixer, and b) a professional studio console?

 

The cable you would need to plug an mp3 player into a dj style mixer would be a usb cable. To plug it into a professional studio console you would need a jack cable or possibly a usb cable depending on the device.

 

3. Given the specifications of the following two microphones, which would be the most suitable, technically, to use when recording a classical guitar recital?   Mic A (Frequency Range: 40Hz - 18kHz, Signal to Noise Ratio : 73 dB SPL(A), Max SPL:142dB ), or Mic B (Frequency Range: 20Hz-20kHz, Signal to Noise Ratio: 81dBSPL(A), Max SPL: 135dB). Explain your choice.

 

Mic B would be most suitable to record a classical guitar as the frequency range is mid which resembles that of a classical guitar. Also the spl is lower than mic A - which is fine as a classical guitars velocity range is relatively low as its acoustics come from inside its body and not electronically.

 

4. Which microphone (from the above) would be more suitable for recording amplified electric guitar?

 

Mic A would be more suitable for this instrument as the velocity of it is much higher - therefore the mic would need a higher spl level to be able to record without distortion as the instrument is amplified electronically and can also be very loud.

 

5. A digital recorder has the following recording settings: 16, 20 or 24bit wordlength; and 44.1, 48, 88.2 or 96kHz sampling rate. Which combination of these two settings would you use if the recording will ultimately end up on CD?

 

The combination of settings one would need to use would be 24bit wordlength and a 48khz sampling rate in order to get a CD quality bounce of a track.

 

6. When compiling a list of studio equipment, which area (microphones, audio interface, monitoring etc.) should you spend the most money on? Which piece of equipment is the most important? And should these two answers be the same?

 

In my opinion people should spend at least £300 on the audio interface as this determines some of the quality of the sound. Also, how effectively one can record as the better the interface the more inputs and outputs and soundcard. However i believe that monitoring is one of the most important parts of the studio as this enables one to mix the track well as the output of the track is better quality if played through good speakers.

 

7. Monitor speakers are an essential (and very possibly expensive) part of a recording studio. What should an engineer be aware of to prevent short and long term damage to them?

 

Firstly, an engineer should not turn up the volume of tracks playing to a level that causes the monitors to vibrate. Secondly, they should also not use them for long periods of time as this can cause them to overheat. Also, if they do overheat allow them to cool down before continuing to use them.

 

8.   If you were asked to work in a studio that you had never been to before, what kinds of things would you check even before turning anything on?

 

The gain knobs on the mixer/amps because if theyre up it will make a loud noise. Also, check what equiptment i will need and set it all up. I will also need to make sure that phantom power is not on.

 

9. Supply a list of all equipment, with explanations, pricing and wiring configuration (block diagram), that you would recommend for the following situations:

A ‘bedroom’ demo studio. The client already has an up to date computer with USB ports, running ‘Logic’ DAW. He/she needs to input MIDI information via a keyboard and be able to record a vocal and/or a guitar whilst monitoring on headphones. They also require small, but accurate monitoring for mixing. Space is a real issue. The budget is £600. 2) A project studio. The client has just moved into a purpose built, but empty, recording studio complex comprising of a live area and a control room linked by a 16x8 multicore loom. The studio needs to be able to record a wide variety of sources but will initially concentrate on local solo vocalists and small bands as well as mixing other projects. The client has no preferences for equipment except that it must be of high quality and that they already use ‘Logic Studio’ on a Mac Pro as their main recording platform. The budget is £10,000.

 

1) The client will need a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 USB Audio Interface which can be bought for £119. This allows 2 in puts and 2 outputs therefore the client can hook up a midi keyboard and guitar/microphone. They can also put the headphones in one of the output sockets in order to monitor what theyre recording. For monitors they can buy a pair of Fame RPM 5 Active Studio Monitors for £150. Each speakers measurements are 280mm height x 190mm depth x 224mm width which is pretty compact and should be fine if one does not have a lot of space.
Sony MDRZX100B Headphones - £10
M-Audio keystation - £39.99
Shure sv100 dynamic microphone ( comes with 6.35 mm jack plug on 4.5 m XLR lead) The XLR cable can be used to plug it into the audio interface  - £29.99
 

 

2) Genelec 8040A Active Studio Monitors, Matt Black - £1,398

Genelec 8040-408 Stand Plate for 8040/8240 IsoPod - £39.99 x 2 - £79.98

Genelec 8000-409B Adjustable Floor Stand x 2 - £90.09 each £180.18 for two.
All of this will provide one of the best monitoring systems. Having stands will make sure that the monitors are away from any wires and cables that can interfere with the sound. Also, the positioning of the monitors ensures a better and clearer sound which will be beneficial in the mixing stages. 

Zoom R16 Digital Recorder, USB Audio Interface and DAW Controller - £279 (8 track simultaneous recording). This will enable the client to record a full band at once instead of single recordings as they will have multiple xlr cable to link to the microphones and record more than one person at a time as the audio interface have multiple inputs. This is good so the band can play together in order to get a good performance as they will be more in time with eachother. It will also save a lot of editing time.

Neumann KMS 104 BLACK Condenser Vocal Microphone x 2 - £798. This microphone will ensure that vocals which are recorded are recorded with quality.

Audix OM-7 Dynamic Vocal Microphone x 4 - £177 each £708 for four. This microphone picks up analogue signals with a high gain before the feedback stage on the mixer.
Adam Hall 3meter xlr cable - £4.22 x 10 - £42.20
Advanced Acoustics silent space isolation vocal booth 1.2m by 3m - £6,279

Total : £9764.36




 

 

Production diary

Equiptment:
I used the Rode Nt1-a for both of my productions. I used this mic as it is a good condensor and picks up my voice well as it is softer and lower. I also used a pop filter and a se reflection filter to enclose my sound and get a better quality recording. I used a midi keyboard to record my melodies. I also used krk monitors in order to mix and produce my music to a high quality. I also used headphones when mixing after the whole piece was done to see how it would sound through headphones aswell. Before recording i would setup the mic with headphones so i can hear the feedback. Without this it would be hard to have a good take as i would not be able to hear myself. When setting up the mic this would consist of me plugging in the xlr cable provided into the audio interface which is linked to the computer. In logic the input would always be input 1 and i would have to tick 'enable record'. I would also adjust the stand and se reflection filter to a position which was comfortable (height of the stand for me, and distance away from the computer so there would be enough space to record and not pick up me hitting the stand ect). The Midi keyboard was already connected to the mac through a usb cable.

 

Recording/production:
Both of my tracks melodic/rhythmic and harmonic structure is created through the midi keyboard. Only the vocals are audio. By using the midi keyboard i was able to manipulate the notes and velocity afterwards much easier than if it was audio. Also, there are a wider range of instruments i can use freely as i can change the instrument on logic and when i record using the keyboard it would have the sound i have chosen. I could also edit the score in the piano roll which i did to adjust my pieces slightly. I can also quantise my work to get it on time and sound professional. However, in fire i used the piano roll to slightly adjust an improvisation i recorded. Where as, if using audio i would have to be pitch perfect otherwise the audio clip cannot be used. Considering the fact that "grime pills" is mostly synth based i can get away with just using midi as synths are electronic. When i was producing grime pills i started with the rhymic section as this is fundamental for a rap/grime song.
However, for "fire" the basis of the song are the melodies and harmonics. I started with an intro melodic line which would emerge into something bigger and develop. I then added a simple drum pattern to complete it as a rap song. By recording chords comping along with the song it gave more texture.

 

Mixing:
When mixing grime pills i struggled to get the vocals to sound professional. So the original vocals for both the chorus and verse - i just added a compressor and a verb in order for them to be clear and stand out from the backing vocals. By using a verb it gave my vocals more acoustics. I had two layers of backing vocals which gave my song more dynamics in terms of vocals. I therefore added similar but different effects to them in order to create a new sound and mix together nicely. This is especially evident in the chorus. I used effects such as echo, bitcrusher, goldverb, tape delay and fuzz-wah in order to completely change the sound of my backing vocals as if they were too similar to the original they would just give the vocals more depth and not a different sound and make them interesting. Panning helped me seperate my vocals. The main vocals were central and the others were panned left and right. The other tracks were also panned appropriatly (main melody was central, bass drums). The other melodic lines were close however on either side. I also changed the gain structure in order to sepearate the tracks so the song as a whole is clear.
For "fire" i originally mixed the vocals wrong as the gain on them on the compressor was way too high at 23dB which lost some of the quality of the recording. I then put them down to 12dB so they were sitting just above the music and spaced out the track more. I used a compressor on all of my tracks except the bigbeat remix kit where i used a limiter instead to control the gain as i wanted the kicks to be more punchy. I did this by putting up the gain. On the glam bass i used chan eq in order to cut off the high frequencies so it was more sub. On the the new surf electric guitar i used tape delay so it sounded more live as if someone strummed the guitar very quickly as it sounds like a stutter. I also used the guitar amp pro effect in order to manipulate the sound of the guitar. This was for borh the intro melody and the chords that follow. On my vocals i used the same technique as in grime pills and only added a compressor and averb in order to keep them sounding natural and be able to mix them above the instrumental.

 

Mastering:
On grime pills, to stop my track from clipping i put two compressors on the stereo out in the mixer ( silvercompressor and compressor). This stopped the track clipping and sounding distorted. The main channel that was clipping were the drums. Therefore that is the reason why i didnt just get the gain of them down as the rhythmic section for me is the most important in a rap instrumental and should stand out the most. I watched the the output meter and changed the settings of my compressors accordingly by putting up the threshold and putting down the gain which cut off a few dB in order to stop the track from clipping. Also, by putting the ratio up aswell as the gain down - my tracks velocity levels came under control.
However for "fire" i did not master it as i personally thought the levels achieved through mixing were fine. Through the use of panning on the mixer in logic i was able to space out the different instruments in order to produce a track of good quality as they were more spaced out and made the track sound professional. You can also hear all of the different motifs easily.

Buisness plan

My budget to produce an event is £500.

The service i will be providing is a gig at a small venue. My target audience are adults as they are more reliable to turn up and i would not want to lose profit by not being able to sell my tickets because people cannot come. Also, venues that host gigs usually want adults as there will usually be a bar and this is where they can make their income of my event. If all is successful i will have a good record with them and be able to book there regularly.

I will start planning my event 6 months prior to the open day. This will give me enough time to; find a venue, rehearse my material, promote my event, sell the tickets.

Firstly i will find a venue - therefore i can secure a date and time. When finding a venue it would be beneficial for them to have equiptment already there - which they most likely will. However, if they do not this will be an expense i will have to pay for. Hiring equiptment (lighting, instruments) should not be a problem as i would find a venue which already has them. For example the camden roundhouse as they specialising in holding and hosting events. Their main space can host up to 1,200. However, they do have smaller rooms which i can book which could hold up to at least 200 people - as when i went to a gig there there were roughly this amount of people.

Secondly, i will start producing flyers and thinking of marketing ideas. A good route to go down would be guerilla marketing in order to make sure people remember my event - as this will make it more likely that they attend. I could also use viral marketing and put up an event page on a social networking site such as facebook. This is an even better idea as people can invite their friends who i dont know and the page can be shared between a lot more people. A good guerilla marketing idea would be to do a small gig on the street in order to attract people from all places and there will i hand out flyers. This is good in two ways - music attracts a crowd and who would want to go to a gig where they have never heard the artist before. In this case, they will be able to see what they would be paying for and hopefully the performance entices them to spend their money on a ticket to see more. However, to produce such an event would be risky as i would need a licence to perform outside. Therefore, i could go around to areas with lots of people (oxford street, marble arch, notting hill, high street kensington) and hand out flyers. The cost of producing flyers could be costly depending on how much i print. Making these through a company (for 200) could come up to £60 according to http://www.fullphatprint.co.uk/store/p59-digital-print/digital-flyers/a5-digitally-printed-flyers/200-A5-Flyers.cfm . However if i did it myself i could be a lot cheaper and i could make more depending on the art scale of the flyers. As i am targeting adults i wont need to go into a lot of detail on the flyers in terms of colour and art which will save me money. If i handed out flyers i would not necessarily need posters however i could make around 10 to put up around the area of my venue which will draw in a crowd as people will have probably heard of or seen the venue.

When all of this is done - and it comes to the day, i could just get people to pay at the door instead of producing tickets which would cost more money.

Overall, the money that is needed to be spent in order to organise an event would be up to £400. If i sold 100 tickets for a low price of £5 i would be making £100 pound profit. However, due to the size of the venue i would definitely make a profit of more than £100. Which in my opinion is fine as the gig will be only myself i will not have to pay out money to other acts. Although - if there were other acts i could have hired a larger venue and they have their own fan bases which means more people, and more people means more money.

Term 3 - Finding Faults

The Beatles - Yer Blues track faults, were mostly in the mixdown. The vocals - in comparison to the other instruments were too low. For a professional track - especially a rock track, they should be at the frontline. However, the vocals have been panned more to the right and are mixed pretty low - but you can hear them. The panning structure was off putting as the drums and bass were fully panned to the left whilst the rest of the instruments (vocals, guitars) were at the right. The vocals were central sounding in the bridge as the reverb effect used on them was modulating. At 2:35 when the accentuated snare comes in it is too loud and interupts the melodies as it is panned to the side that they are one (left). Overall, the panning should be more spaced out to make the song sound more prfessional and structured. The guitar riff that entered in the beginning was slightly out of time. The reverb used on the main vocals at 1:15 should be louder. At 3:17 the transition back to the original tempo was out of time and caused the song to go a bit off track as every other musical component of the song was on track. The vocals at the end are extremely low - whether that is because the song is coming to an end or not it is not professional as it is not a proper fade out in the song.

The second track, Love - you set the scene - had mainly musical faults with slight mixing ones. The vocals in the track were low and should be louder in order to bring them above the gain structure of the instruments and therefore make them more apparent. The drums and bass have been mixed to sound like the main focus of the song which was unusual as it was a song (folk sounding) and not a drum and bass track. The instruments that are panned to the left sound louder than those on the right at times and vice versa. The riff on the electric guitar at the beginning should be louder as the bassline and drums overpowers it. At 1:55 the change in texture (from thick to thin) was out of time. At 2:12 the change of velocity as the idea of the song changed could be worked on in order to make it sound like the same song as there are a lot of changes. At 2:17 the instrument used for the new melodic line (brass sounding) were too loud and should be mixed to a lower level. At 2:33 the trumpet used was slightly out of time when it was playing rhymically. The whole song in my opinion could be structured a lot better as the theme and genre changes a lot throughout the track which makes it hard to pinpoint what direction the artists/producers want the track to go in. The vocals at 3:26 could have been re-recorded in order to flow more smoothly into the small instrumental. Also, the mixing that is done afterwards could be better as the track suddenly becomes louder and there isnt a major difference in the texture of the instrumental. at 5:16 the transition through the vocals again was off as the effect slightly distorted - whether that was meant to happen in order to sound like the guitar that enters - it still could be improved and decay in time. at 6:45 the ending could have been better structured as i believe the bassline and trumpet melody should have ended together. Also, the end of the track was silent for a good while - this should be cut off.

I live in a dream - Weird War:
The electric guitar is too loud and overpowers all of the other instruments including the vocals. The transitions between breakdowns are slightly out of time. The vocals need to be mixed louder in order for you understand what is being said as the instrumental smothers it.  The backing vocals should be lowered and possibly have an effect on them in order to not confuse them with the main vocals as they seemed to both be panned in the centre. The backing vocals could also be strengthing certain words instead of saying "ha, ha, haa". Also, the tone and pitch of the backing vocals could be changed in order to create dynamics in the song as they are the same notes and pitch as the electric guitar. The use of panning could be better as the instruments could be space out a lot more. Also in some parts - seperate takes should have been done on the main vocals as you can hear a lot breathing. Maybe a pop shield could have been used. The structure of the song could be better as it is hard to tell which part is the chorus / verse / bridge as the song doesnt change much dynamically. Therefore, the compositing could be improved.

Marketing yourself : Task B

greenenvylondon.blogspot.com

In my blog - i state to those reading what the blog is about by having the title as my stage name and explaining what i do. I have different sections which have links to suitable marketing materials. For example, when i give a synopsis of my producing band DEEP - I embedded two links which allows those who are interested to be sent to another site which can give them more information. The soundcloud link was targeted to those who may need a producer and want to hear what we do already - or for fans who want to keep updated. As i am an artist/producer/rapper it is important that i have somewhere where people can hear the music i make as not only is it good for publicity but it can also allow me to get the attention of the right people (record labels, promoters ect). I also had a link for our facebook which was highlighted in blue in order to resemble facebook and catch the eye of those who want to get in contact with us or find out more information. This is an important marketing material as the majority of people, who have a computer, have facebook and that means more sharing, better networking and a lot more followers. 

On my projects page : greenenvylodon.blogspot.co.uk/p/projects.html

In the comments section i posted DEEPs youtube page as it is new and is a project in itself and does not have enough content on to be highlighted.

In my biography section I could have developed my blog by creating an instagram to show people more about my everyday life in my profession. Bringing reality into marketing is a great way to capture an audience - as they feel more personal with the person/company. However, as i am not gigging and having mad sessions i didnt feel it was appropriate.

 

The most effective marketing materials are on social networking sites. For example; twitter, facebook, soundcloud, youtube, bandcamp ect. By using these websites networking and sharing material is a lot easier and it reaches a lot more people as on these sites sharing is simple. As an artist this is important for me as online is the best place to approach fans and to create a bigger fan base as online trends spread quick and far. One of the most effective types of marketing materials is twitter as people re-tweet and anything posted - follwers are constantly updated unlike facebook where you make a specific page for a band/ artist ect. On the other hand, marketing materials such as buisness cards are also useful as they can be handed out to everyone and provide a lot of information that promotes the person. This principle is the same for fliers, posters some even use stickers. In the music industry online marketing would be the most useful as this is where a lot where a lot of music found. As an artist - being of a young age, my audience would mostly be online as my target audience are also young - and statistically, the internet is ruled by teens and young adults. By having a youtube and soundcloud account - fans, promoters, a+r's and music labels can easily access my music. By sharing the material that i make so freely would build my fan base quicker as people wouldnt buy music from someone they have never heard. The more creative the marketing material the more effective - as no matter where it is it has to attract your audience.