LO2

LO2

2 Be able to set up the equipment required for a recording session

Microphone techniques: eg spot mic’ing, close mic’ing, ambient mic’ing, spaced pair, coincident pair, middle and sides, DI Routing: eg patchbays, input gain settings, gain structure, busses and groups, recording device settings, recording level, talkback, foldback, dynamic control.

Microphone techniques

Spot miking/Close miking

The picture above is an example of what spot mic'ing is. Spot mic'ing also known as close mic'ing is when the microphone is put close to the instrument which is being recorded, which the kick drum is being recorded in this situation and this is what it looks like. There are many reasons as to why we spot mic instruments. One of the main reasons that the microphone will pick up the strong sound of what we are after and ignore any other noise which is going on around it. Whilst playing the drums a lot of other sounds will be going on around it so it is very important that the specific sound of each part is isolated and picked up individually. It also gives it a very strong tight and close up sound which is something that is also important. We mic'ed up a drum kit in class so we could have a better idea of what to do when mic'ing up a drum kit, what the best way of mic'ing up a drum kit is and what kinds of things you should/shouldn't do, it also gave us a realisation of how important it was to mic everything up properly to achieve the correct sound, the sound you are after. We all realised how much of a long process this is.  

 To the left is a diagram of what spot/close miking looks like from a clearer view.

Some things to consider when spot/close miking:

• It can cause the sound of the instrument seem extremely harsh and strong, this can cause your microphone to go into overload, and can also affect your preamp or converter and you wont see this on your level meters. It's advised to listen to your recorded sound carefully to avoid any distortion, something to prevent this from happening is to move the microphone slightly back from the instrument or point is slightly away.
• You can sometimes lose the natural ambience of an instrument. If the room that you are recording in has a really nice sound that this technique may be something to avoid.
• The closer the microphone is placed to the instrument the more bass that you will record. This can be an advantage but for some people it will cause many problems, especially with instruments like acoustic strings where you don't want the bass over powering the original sound. To work around this a good idea is to get hold of an omni-directional or figure of 8 microphone or just simply move the microphone slightly away from the sound source.

Ambient miking

Ambient mic'ing is when the microphone is set up far away from the sound source. Ambient miking is used when the sound you want is something extremely natural and this then gives the producer control of the sound which is recorded. The main reason for ambient miking is so you capture more of the room sound (the reverb and the delay) rather than just focusing on the actual sound of the instrument, whether that be voice, piano, guitar or anything else, you can use this style of miking with anything. You could place the microphone all the way to the other side of the room or a couple of feet away from the actual sound source but physically facing in a different direction. 

When using ambient miking you need to consider:

• Whether it is really the sound that you want. You can lose the complete feel of the instrument itself. Due to the microphone being placed so far away from the sound source it picks up more of an ambient sound, hence the name. If you want a really clear strong sounding of a piano which great attack then this isn't the style of miking that you should choose. 
• You need to consider the room that you are recording in. You need a good room, for example a church or an auditorium, something which a big space creating echo. 

To the left is an image of ambient miking. They have placed the microphone right in the middle of the room very high up. The kind of room in which this technique is being used in this particular image seems to be a fairly good room due to it being a very large room.

Spaced pair

To get a better explanation of what 'Spaced pair' was I researched online as I was aware that we was using it but I wasn't 100% as to why and what is specifically did. Two articles that I read and found extremely useful was: http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/1997_articles/mar97/stereomictechs2.html

http://audio.tutsplus.com/tutorials/recording/6-stereo-miking-techniques-you-can-use-today/

After looking at some research and website I managed to get a clearer view of what 'Spaced pair' is and I'm now able to explain what it is and it is much more obvious that I thought.

Spaced pair is literally when you put two identical microphones either side of each other with 'space' in between the two microphones, this then creates 2 recordings. For example, having one microphone on the bridge and one of the nut, this would be spaced pair. That is something that we actually did when we recorded the acoustic guitar for our track. This is what it would look like: 

We used 'Spaced pair' when recording piano and acoustic guitar and during practice of setting up different instruments we also used it when setting up a drum kit. Having microphones either side of the kit (as well as other microphones)

    To the left is the drum kit which we used 'Spaced pair' microphone set up.

We also used 'Spaced pair' microphone set up when we were recording the piano. This is the best way to record a piano as it picks up the sound from either end of the instrument, especially as it is a very large instrument. It balances out the sound perfectly as it picks up the different  as the sounds from either ends are very different. Having one microphone being used to pick up the treble end of the piano and the other to be responsible for the bass end of the piano. 

Coincident pair

Coincident pair is a technique which is also known as XY or X-Y pair. The microphones most commonly used to use this technique are two cardiod or figure-eight microphones which are placed at right angles to one another. It is called Coincident pair as the two microphones which are used are placed as closely as they possibly can to each other so that the sound that is being captured reached the both of the microphones at the exact same time, make the direction of the source irrelevant. It is vital that all coincident configurations have to use directional microphones, this is so that it creates the best levels between the two channels of the stereo system. If you were to use omnidirectional microphones it wouldn't be able to produce level differences which are proportional to the angle of the sound.

Below is a diagram demonstrating what coincidental pairing looks like when it is used in practical work.




Middle and sides
This isn't a technique which our group have physically used as it wasn't necessary to do regarding the sounds we are after and what we have been recording so again I have researched about it to see what it's about and what exactly it means.

What is middle and side technique?

The middle and side technique of recording is typically used with one figure-eight microphone and one cardiod microphone. A cardiod microphone is placed pointing at the sound source and then a figure-eight microphone is fixated so that it is aligned in the cardiod mic's vertical axis, this has to be as close to the cardiod mic as it possibly can. The cardiod mic should be placed right in the middle of the sound source with the figure of eight microphone 90 degrees away from the cardiod. Normally, the figure-eight microphone should be facing in the direction of stage left leaving the other side facing stage right. Most figure-eight microphones will have a '+'  (front) or '-' (back)



How to position the microphones...

Cardiod mic is at the top. Figure-eight is at the bottom. From this positioning and arrangement you get three feeds which are, the centre-from the cardiod microphone facing centre. The figure-eight creates the left feed and also creates the right feed but it is inverted. So you have left and right feed which you pan hard and a centre.



http://www.haydenloft.com/Home/techniques_files/mid_side.php

DI routing

Patchbays

Above is a picture of the patchbays in the studio. Before you do anything in the studio you need to check that the colours are the same and in the same order as they are behind the desk. 

Without them being in the right order then it wouldn't work as it won't connect properly. It is important to check this first so you set up everything correctly and don't cause any damage to the desk and the equipment. 

Below is a diagram of how the patchbays all connect to each other. I have chosen to show you the set up of a microphone: 

Input gain settings

Input gain is a really important part of finding the right level for what it is that you are recording. The input gain is what controls the input of the signal. If the input gain is too much then the sound will actually distort and it will 'clip', this means that there is too much signal being fed through into the pre amp. However, if it is too little then the noise to signal ratio may in fact be too low, this then means that you might be able to hear noise through your output. Producers and engineers often push the input gain up just before it clips, this is very important, it's important to get as much signal as you possibly can from the output without it clipping.

 This image to the left shows the input gain being fine therefore it isn't clipping. If it was to reach red then you would need to turn the input gain down. 

Gain structure

Gain is not the same thing as distortion, saturation, drive or anything else that is considered popular industry misnomers. Gain is when the signal strength grows when it is passed through an amplifying device, things like a tube or transistor. 
If you want to set the gain structure then this would involve optimising the various audio circuits in a system to then give the best signal-to-noise ratio whilst trying to prevent clipping during the signal chain.  Trying to optimize the gain structure of an audio system is something that has proven to be very important and a vital part in audio recording and mixing from when there were large mixing consoles and large tape machines. If there is poor signal noise-to-noise then this is shown by hiss and noise that is audible to the congregation. If there is clipping then this causes distortion and can actually also cause equipment damage and can make your equipments life span shorten.

Busses and groups

Busses and groups are usually used to control the volume of multiple tracks by just using the one fader. It's also an easier way of adding affect to all the tracks in one place. If you had a few vocals on different channels it's not necessary to use group channels, but say if you had 4 channels with vocals but they were all in harmony with each other it would make sense to group them together so you can have the same affects on each of them.

Recording device settings

Recording device settings are things like what you use during a recording sessions. These might be things like:

• Amps 
• Microphones
• Microphone placement
• Recording techniques- using DI and amp, you can either use both or one of the other

Recording level

In the recording studio above is a picture of the levels. The green light moves up and down depending on the level of sound. If it peaks, it will go up to orange or red. If it does reach red this means it is too loud so you need to turn the gain down. If it reaches orange you will need to be aware of this and watch it but it isn't normally too much of an issue if this happens.

Talk back

Below is a picture of the 'talk button' which you also use to communicate with each other by holding it down and speaking and they can hear it through their headphones and when they speak back into the mic's it comes through the speakers in the studio, this is a great way of communicating. With out the talk button it would be very difficult to communicate with the people recording and it would make the process of recording much more challenging as no everyone would be aware as to what was going on, this is something that is important when recording to avoid stress and confusion.

Foldback

'Stage monitors' is another term used for 'Fold back'. It's the use of rear-facing heavy-duty loud speakers which are also known as monitor speaker cabinets. These are used on stage for live performances. The speakers are also aimed at the actual performer itself, not the audience. The sound signal can be produced on the exact same mixing console as the main mix which is for the actual audience, this is called the 'front of house' mix, but there can instead be a separate sound engineer for this and a different mixing console on or beside stage which will create a completely different mix for the monitor system.
If we didn't use the foldback system then the sounds that the performer would actually be hearing from the front of house would just be reverberated reflections bouncing from the rear wall from the venue/area that they are performing in. This could then cause the singing to sing out of time with the band due to their being a slight delay and distortion as it is a natural reflected sound. The performers might also need to hear a mix which doesn't include the electronic effects, things like reverb or echo so there will be a seperate mix which is routed to the foldback speakers, this is called a 'dry mix'. This helps the performers to stay in tight time and also to stay in tune with each other. In some cases there are bad foldback mixes which will cause the vocalists to sing off, out of tune or out of time with the band that's why it's so important to be careful to get it right. 


 A floor monitor speaker cabinet with a 12'' woofer and a ''bullet'' tweeter
Dynamic control
Before being able to master gain or level control settings it's important and makes it easier if you are familiar with dynamic range and headroom, and also being able to understand them clearly will make things much more simpler. 

Dynamic range is basically the ratio of the loudest (this only counts if it is undistorted) signal to that which is the quietest signal which is in a piece of equipment or even a complete system, this is always expressed in decibels, often shown as dB. The power supplies restricts the maximum amount of output signal, meaning it cannot go past the voltage that is available.  
Headroom is just the ratio of the largest signal this is possible and is also undistorted which is through a unit or a system, and to that of the average signal level.