Understanding Technology

Q1: What is equalisation, and how has it changed the working process since the early days of studio recording and mixing?

Equalisation is also known as EQ. It can cut out frequencies whether that be mid, high or sub.  It has changed the working process in studios as one can use relatively any microphone and adjust the sound of the recording after by using eq instead of having specific mics for different sounds.

Q2:  What is the polar pattern called that the U47 used for recording vocals? What is the polar
pattern of the other microphone that was used previously? Why do you think the directional ability of the U47 helped in the recording process in this particular case?

The U47 micprohone had a pattern switch which enabled the mic to change between omnidirectional and cardiod polar patterns. The polar pattern of the other microphone which was used before (RCA 44 ribbon mic) is bidirectional. I think the directional ability of the U47 mic helped in the recording process as it can pick up more sound as one of the polar patterns is omni-directional. Also the cardiod pattern focuses specifically on one persons voice. However, the RCA 44 polar pattern if more suited for a duo. Also, the reason why it gave a mellow sounding recording could be because it doesn't pick up any of the studios atmosphere, due to the polar pattern, which can ultimately brighten the sound of the overall recording.

Q3: What is meant by the term 24/48? Why do you think, in this case, using 96k was not suitable?

The term 24/48 is a 24 bit, 48khz smaple which determines the overall file size and quailty. I think in this case 96khz is not suitable as AD converters then worked a lot slower rate and were not as advanced. Therefore when converting files - using a higher bit rate would slow down the process and would take up valuable time. Also, in my opinion the difference would not be worth the wait as the recording would not be put on the internet or sold as an mp3 therefore the file size should not matter as much as it would in modern times.

Q4: What is the job of the ‘converters’? How important are these in a modern studio?

Converters convert analogue data into digital data by using sample rates to capture the analogue data in order to change it into digital. This data is then converted into binary code which can be read by computers. The job of converts is to enable recorded analogue signals to be used and hear on a computer in order for the producer to mix / master and edit. These are very important in a modern studio as most of the work done to achieve high quality sounding recordings is done using a computer.

Q5: What other benefits do using DI boxes give an engineer in the studio?

The other benefits that come with using a DI box is that one can manipulate the signal levels. Therefore if a recording is too low and the engineer wants to make the velocity higher they can use a DI box and change the signal level to Line as this provides the best gain for recordings as it is one of the strongest signals.

Q6:
I would suggest either moving the speakers to a location further away from the mics on the drums where everyone can still hear them. On the other hand you could turn down the pa system and use the two condensor mics to pick up the vocals,guitar and bass as they are more sensitive and could pick up the different instruments at a good quality even when they are played low. And the use 4 of the dynamic drum mics for the drums as they will hopefully not pick up the speakers and the recordings will sound more focused on the drums. This should give the best output in terms of quality therefore EQ may not even have to be used that much to alter the sound.

Recording : grant

Firstly my group set up the studio by; putting up microphone stands around the amp for the electric guitar, one for the acoustic guitar (which wasnt used after and just picked up the sound of the guitar being recorded elsewhere in the room in order to provide an extra guitar layer without having to physically record twice) and setting up the drum kit for recording. We then used a variety of microphones - for the vocals and high hats/ride/crash cymbal we used the rode nt1-a. However for the electric guitar and bass drum we used a dynamic mic as these are more suitable as they can take a lot higher spl.

Secondly we started recording. As we did not have a lot of people (danilo, elliot and myself) we recorded things seperately in order to make things more accurate. We recorded elliot on the drums first as this would provide a rhythm for the guitar. Therefore, we recorded my guitar chord progression after and after that i did an improvisation using the blues scale for a bassline. This too had a second recording elsewhere in the roon in order to make it sound thicker and give it natural acoustics. We then recorded danilo freestyle singing - however it was more melodic so we decided to make an actual song - so i recorded myself rapping on top.

When i got the original file i listened to all of the tracks individually and then started to fit them together. I firstly worked on the ending as i cut of but kept going. I used undestructive editing by using the scicssor tool to cut off the last chord in the track and copy and pasted it and looped it over to make a rhythm that accompanied my accapela rap at the end. I also copy and pasted the kicks over in order to mix with the guitar and make a sort of breakbeat. I then went through danilos vocals and chopped up the bits i liked the most. I then re arranged the chopped up regions to fit the track and provide vocal melodies at points to make a climax. I also manipulated the melodies originally created by putting random chopped up audio regions next to one another. I cut off some of the begginning of the song as it had recorded the metronome and elliot saying when to start. Instead there is an 8 bar intro which is me screaming and it got recorded after elliot was playing the drums. He then chopped up the stem and looped it over in order to sound like a reoccuring note.

On my vocals i put a compressor on them and added some eq as they were too low and sat below most of the instruments and danilos backing vocals. I put the gain down to 3dB and changed the ratio to 1:2  in order for it to not cut off too much and just make it clearer and slightly louder. I used eq in order to cut out the low frequencies in order to make vocals much clearer. The gain on danilos vocals were turned up using the ensemble plug in. I changed the sound of his vocals by adding averb and ensemble in order to make them seem thicker.

On the drums i just added reverb (averb) in order to make the texture of them a bit thicker. I also used the sub bass plug in on the kicks in order to make them more effective (punchy) and low. On the mixer i turned up the kicks to +2.0dB to make them more punchy. I then doubled them in order to make the texture thicker. I used eq on them as they were clipping a bit as it had too much sub bass so i cut some of it out. On the overhead (snare,hats ect) i put eq on them to make them sound more lively by cutting out the bass. I did this so the drums had more dynamics as they sounded as if they were at the same pitch and they sounded dull.

On the dry rhythm guitar i only added reverb in order to make it sound live. This also contrased the bassline as it sounded much more spread out unlike the choppy a quick notes used in the bassline. On the room recording i used the fuzz wah plug in order to make it sound like two guitars are playing. It also added a nice background sound which the fuzz wah provides as it filters away certain frequencies in order to allow others stand out.

On the room bass recording i used chorus in order to modulate the sound and spread it out a bit. I left the original bass recording the same as its pitch, velocity was fine and by putting chorus on the other recording it altered the sound a lot already.

Using the mixer i turned down the dry bass and guitar in order to lower the instrumental of the track a bit. I also turned up both of the vocals in the track. However i turned up danilos backing vocals more as they are much lower than mine. I then used panning to add dynamics to final product. I then put up the gain on my whole track by using the limiter plug in on my output channel. I put the the gain up to +10.5dB and put the output level down to -1.1db.

Overall, this is all i did to mix my track.