http://www.sontronics.com/interview_flood.htm

Damon
The Studio Files Team

Check it out here:

http://www.pspaudioware.com/

And have a great holiday.

—Damon

What? A technical book written in 1987 (last updated in 1990) is a necessity??

Answer – yes!  This book is chock full o’ great information.  Although it is technically a “live sound” handbook, it covers a huge range of topics that are also relevant to the studio engineer.  Best of all, the book sells for just over $20 on Amazon.com (which is significantly less expensive than my other favorite, Handbook for Sound Engineers).

The authors, Gary Davis and Ralph Jones, have an excellent style – the very technical information is presented in such a way that even a novice engineer can grasp.  That being said, this book is a great reference for even the most experienced engineers.  I noticed when reading even the basics chapters that I learned a few new tidbits.  There are great charts/graphs/illustrations in every chapter (which, in part, is why the book is such a great reference manual).

Here’s a list of selected chapter subjects -

• What is a Sound System
• Frequency Response
• The Decibel, Sound Level, and Related Items
• Dynamic Range
• Sound Outdoors (also a Sound Indoors Chapter)
• Block Diagrams
• Preamplifiers, Mixers, and Mixing Consoles
• Microphones
• Electronics
• Cabling

The chapters on microphones, amps, mixers (etc.) all contain technical drawings and/or block diagrams to help with the explanation.  For anyone not comfortable with reading those types of drawings, there are chapters and sub-sections on how to read them (as well as charts with what standard symbols look like).  This book will help you better understand the principles of audio and acoustics, the inner-workings of your gear, and will help you troubleshoot (non-computer or software) problems more efficiently and effectively.

This is an excellent book.

C

The Studio Files

Upgrading your recording setup is a very tricky and important process.  Spending the right amount of money on the right piece(s) of gear can be daunting.  The last thing you need is to be in debt on a piece of gear that you don’t actually need or to get an awesome deal on an insignificant upgrade.First things first – figure out your needs and goals!

Are you a studio that primarily does voiceover work?  Do you frequently record rock bands (specifically drum kits) and require 8+ channels at a time?  Are you mostly concerned with sound design or audio-for-video?  Your studio’s requirements will carry the most weight in this upgrade decision making process.  Figuring these things out is more important than figuring out your budget.  Also think about the future – if you normally do singer/songwriter recordings, but have the ambition (and space!) to start taking band clients, then perhaps that’s the path to take.

Second – Show me the money!

Now that you know your short- and long-term goals for the studio, you need to have the hard conversation: $$$$$.  Fear not though – great upgrades are available for almost any studio at any budget.  What I usually recommend is to figure out the maximum money you’d like to spend, and also consider what you have the cash for and what will be on credit.  Unless a piece of gear will absolutely be used to generate consistent money for you, I would not put it on credit.  While I am not a financial analyst, I do feel comfortable saying that fiscal responsibility is a very important consideration for studio owners.

Third – Start listing.

OK – so you know what features your studio needs and you know how much green you have available.  Time to open the catalogs and search engines and start looking for product.  But how do you know if a piece of gear or software is good/bad?  Start by doing internet searches for reviews.  While these reviews aren’t the end-all of information, they often can give you a general idea of how the product is accepted.  Also compare user reviews to those from magazines and distributors.  If this is a piece of gear that connects to (or installs on) your computer, check manufacturer’s websites for compatibility information.  Almost nothing is worse than waiting a month to get a piece only to find out it won’t work on your system.

Fourth – Compare and contrast

From here, I usually make an Excel spreadsheet that lists the features, pros, cons, and prices of similar pieces of gear.  Now it comes down to reviews, gut reactions, and hopefully demo experience.  Try to find a friend or peer that has used any of this gear.  Call your dealer and see if they offer demo periods on any of the products.  Find a local studio that has the piece and see if you can visit to check it out.  Plus – you can post on TheStudioFiles.com and we will be happy to help guide you through your purchases (more on that in a sec).

As far as questions like:

What do I buy first – converters, preamps, mics, etc? How much to invest in acoustic treatment? Should I upgrade my computer? Do I need new plug-ins? What’s the best studio upgrade for under 500$?

Unfortunately these are usually only addressable on an individual basis.  You will need to take into account a number of variables, most of which concentrate on the status quo of your existing setup.  Feel free to post your upgrade questions here (or elsewhere on the site) and we will help guide you through them.  If these are more significant upgrade questions (that would require longer conversations etc.) please feel free to email me.

C

The Studio Files

Being a mix engineer is a a lot more than calling up plug-ins and twisting knobs until things sound better.  Granted, that (oversimplified summary) is a big part of mixing, but the musical influence of the mix engineer is just as important.  Think of muting as an ultimate multi-effect process.

Result #1 Spectral Flattery

Let’s say you are mixing a song with a big guitar solo in the middle of it.  The guitar solo is backed by the usual drums+bass, as well as 2 rhythm guitars, a keyboard, and a synth pad.  Its likely that the solo, the rhythm guitars, the keyboard, and the pad are all sharing some frequency range (specifically perhaps upper mids).  Once approach may be to load up some EQs and make strategic cuts to the accompanying instruments during that solo.  While this is a great start, and may be just the fix in some situations – consider the mute button.  Do you really need all 4 of the accompanying parts during this solo?  As a mix engineer, assuming you have been granted this freedom by the client/label/band, it is your job to make these mix-level arrangement decisions.  Muting an unneeded track will always clear more space than an EQ cut.

Result #2 A Better Arrangement

This concept also doesn’t just apply to just solo sections with a highlighted instrument.  When you first start your mix, listen through a few times and get a feel for all the parts.  If there are 9 guitars tracked, that does not mean that you need all 9 of them! (Especially in today’s session where its common to record a few mics on an instrument, leaving the final decision up to the mix).  Now, that being said, this is not a hack and slash process.  Use your ears and musical knowledge (as well as conversations with the artist/producer) to identify the most important elements of the song.  Muting conflicting tracks will save you a lot of time and energy during mixdown.

Result #3 Cleanliness!

When an electric guitar isn’t playing, its track is likely full of amp hiss, foot noises, etc…  When a tom isn’t being hit, its track is a sanctuary for cymbal and drum bleed.  At the beginning of your mixdown, it is a good idea to spend a few minutes in the Edit window cleaning up your tracks.  Cut out regions where instruments aren’t playing, decide on a tentative ending and start for the song, etc.  This short process will save you time later as well – as you won’t have to search through the mixer, solo tracks to figure out where the random noises are coming from.This process does take some discretion – there are plenty of times when manually-gating your toms like this is not a good direction.  Additionally, there are times with amp noise is a cool addition to a song.  Use your ears and musical discretion!

Expect an update on this article soon – my recording rig is currently out on a gig, so I was unable to add screen shots or audio from relevant sessions.  Hopefully by this weekend I’ll be up and running again.

C

The Studio Files

The outer frame serves to cover up the staples/fabric as well as provide some additional structure to this (heavy) gobo.  I opted to NOT use any glue or adhesive when attaching the outer frame or base.  Why?

This way the gobo is serviceable. You can access the fabric and innards just by taking out screws (rather than having to hack through dried glue/adhesive).  The gobo is plenty strong without the outer frame, so screws should do just fine by themselves.  The first time someone puts a mic stand through the front fabric, it won’t ruin the gobo.  You can take it apart in a few minutes, replace the 10$ worth of fabric and be as good as new.  I’m sure these things will take some abuse in the studio (as most equipment must), so I hope it proves to be a good idea.

Ok – so the outer frame is pretty easy.  Measure and cut the wood accordingly (to fit snuggly around everything) and just put on one piece at a time.  I opted to put the top and bottom on first, then the big sides.

Now the outer frame is on. Just a few steps left until a completed gobo.

When putting multiple gobos together, an “airtight” gap between them is ideal.  Since these are designed to be put together at angles (plus the fact that lumber is not always perfectly straight), I needed something plyable to join multiple gobos together.  I found some thin, “D-shaped”, non-porous weatherstripping that I am going to try.  It was approximately 6$ for a pack (which will cover both sides).  There’s no way to really test it until I build another one of these and put them together (plus to see if the stripping can take some abuse), but it looks promising so far.  (This is the only close-up I took of it, sorry).  Its just self-adhesive, and I ran it down both of the “absorptive-side” edges.

Now to get the base on.  First, I had to cut it out of plywood.  Its an octagon.  The center section is the wdth and length of the final base, and the edges come out at 45 degree angles.  I just marked up a piece of wood with a pencil and straight edge and cut it out freehand with a circular saw (rather than busting out a table saw).  If you go slow and are careful, you can get straight and accurate cuts.

Now I also decided to put carpet on the bottom (through the advise of others) so that it would slide on hard floors (as well as help keep the wood in good condition).  I had some scrap carpet around, so I just traced the edges of my base and cut it out with a knife.

Now time to screw the base on and attach the carpet.  Put the gobo on its side, then you can just screw the base right in.  (Again – I chose to not use any adhesive so I can take this thing apart if need be).  I think I used a dozen screws or so just to make sure it was REALLY on there.  For the carpet attachment, I used PL375 (the “heavy duty” construction adhesive).  I loaded it up, especially around the edges, and pushed the carpet on.  After using a somewhat mantis-like position hold on the carpet while it set for a few minutes, I quickly grabbed some extra wood and a bunch of clamps to hold it on while it dried.  I actually just left it like this for about an hour and then flipped the gobo upright (the weight of the gobo will hold the glue in place).  I did this rather than screws or carpet tacks because this is going to get dragged all over wood floors.  A stray end of a nail/screw with a 100 pounds pushing it down could bring HAVOC to floor in seconds.  I’ve been pushing this thing around my garage and the carpet seems to be holding just fine with the glue.

And finally ::drum roll::, the finished gobo!  I need to build another one to really field test it, but from my scientific initial “walk by it and hear what it does” test, I can say that this thing blocks some serious sound.

C

The Studio Files

So at the end of the last post, I had built the inner frame and attached the plywood backing.  Next up is the two layers of 5/8″ drywall.

Unfortunately, I forgot to grab my camera until after the drywall (and insulation support braces) were already in… Cut out two pieces of drywall (one will be ~2′x4′ and one will be ~2′x2′).  Lay down a bit of construction adhesive (I used PL400) and press the drywall on top of the plywood.  (Repeat for the second layer).

Then I caulked the edges (again, acoustic caulk is the best, but Alex Plus will work on a budget) and used a few 1″ drywall screws to better connect the two layers of drywall.  I would suggest leaving the box as I have positioned here (this side up, flat on its back) while the caulk sets.  This will allow gravity to pull it down into the seams a bit more.

(In these pictures, you will already see the wood cross braces, which I will discuss next… sorry)

Next, I need to install the wood cross pieces that will help keep the air gap between the 703 and the drywall (as well as provide additional structure and support).

I used a T square to measure down 4″ from the top of the frame (since I know that I will be putting 4″ of 703).  I cut five ~24″ pieces of 1×2.  Measure across the box for each of these pieces!  Wood is not an exact science, so there will be slight variations. I spaced them out evenly (3 in the big section, 2 in the small) and attached with a bit of wood glue and a screw on each side.  Just make sure that the top edge of the brace doesn’t go above 4″ down from the top so you have enough room for the insulation.

Now in the next picture, notice how the cross braces are not laying on the drywall.  They are only attached to the sides of the frame.

After the cross braces are in, it should be a breeze to just drop the 4″ of 703 in.  The large section of the gobo should fit two pieces exactly if you build the frame correctly.  For the top half, just carefully slice one piece in half with a razor (I used my level as a straight edge).

Ok – now all the insulation is in.  Time to wrap it with fabric.  There are a lot of options for fabric, a lot of which can be decided merely by budget.  Guildford of Maine fabric is probably the ideal fabric.  Unfortunately its 4-6x more $$ per yard than other average fabric.  If you have the cash, get that.  You can also go with a burlap or muslin covering.  I went with something a little different.  I grabbed some fairly low thread count cotton/synthetic blend that had a little stretch to it.  I did almost get chased out of JoAnn fabric because I was taking dozens of fabrics and blowing through them… which didn’t make the sales lady that happy.  This fabric passed plenty of air but seemed like it could take abuse.

Now – one thing this fabric is missing – anti-flammability.  If you don’t treat this fabric, your gobo could become a giant match in a split second.  Unless your fabric is pretreated, just grab a can of fabric fire retardant and spray it down.

2.5 yards will cover your gobo.

Covering these with fabric is a bit of an art form, and you will get better at it with practice.  I chose to lay the fabric down over the box and staple the top side completely across.  This will give me something to pull on as I (slightly) stretch the fabric around.  Note – I did give the frame a very light sanding job beforehand, in hope that no sharp edges would damage the fabric. After you get one side stapled, its a matter of working your way down opposite sides, pulling out any wrinkles as you go.  I put a lot of staples in, in somewhat of a random fashion.  Since I am soon going to be covering these staples with wood, I thought spreading them out would help defeat any tilt that might be imparted (and it did).  As I got more staples in, I just cut away the extra with a knife/scissors.

In the next post, I’ll show you the outer frame and the base. (aka the finish line)

C

The Studio Files

]]> http://thestudiofiles.com/?feed=rss2&p=810 0 http://thestudiofiles.com/?p=801 http://thestudiofiles.com/?p=801#comments Wed, 18 Mar 2009 18:06:27 +0000 http://thestudiofiles.com/?p=801 The start of the gobo: the inner frame

The inner frame is made of the 1×8 board.  If you look at the original Sketchup drawing, you will see that the inner frame is essentially divided into 2 sections – a 4′ tall and 2′ tall section. Each of these sections is backed with plywood.  Now unfortunately its not as simple as just making the box and dropping the plywood in, especially since I am using store-bought sections of plywood.  Although they are sold as 2×4′ and 2×2′ pieces, they aren’t quite that dimension.  Measure each board, and design your frame around the plywood. The long sides are approximately 74.25″ long (48″ plywood+24″ plywood+3 board widths). The top, bottom, and center support are ~24″ long.

You can see in this picture that I have the plywood on the ground and am building the frame around it.  Note: The plywood is NOT attached to the 1×8 frame at this point. It is merely a reference to make sure I am making the frame correctly.  I used some wood glue and a few wood screws to make the corner, leaving the clamp on until its at least partially dry.

Here is a close up of the corner

When I put the other sides on, I did have the 2×2′ piece of plywood and center brace in there.  I took them out at this point to sand an edge down.

Finally, I put the plywood back in (for measuremeant purposes only!) and add the center support.

The plywood is still NOT attached to the frame.  I am waiting until the frame dries and is strong.  I found that it is much easier to get the plywood flush with a strong, dry frame.

Once dry, I used wood screws and glue to attach the plywood to the frame (flush with the back edge).  Then I caulked the inside edge.  Using true “Acoustic Caulk” is best for this – this type of caulk never becomes rigid (it stays rather squishy forever), but if you are on a tight budget, using a very elastic caulk (such as Alex Plus) should be OK.

Next – fill the frame with drywall.

C

The Studio Files

First was the design stage.  I like to use Google Sketchup for design work of this type (its a free program!).  I knew my design needed to

• Be sound isolating, and probably about 6 feet tall (so I could group several together for a quasi vocal booth)
• Be able to join multiple gobos at a variety of angles
• Have the option for a gobo with a window

I also wanted the gobo to have one absorptive and one reflective side (for added flexibility of use).

The most important property of sound isolation is MASS.  Typically, more mass means better isolation.  However, more mass means heavier and harder to move.  I decided that a layer of plywood and a few layers of drywall would be a good start for the “massiveness”.  The plywood would be exposed (for the reflective side), and the other side would be 4″ of Owens Corning 703 insulation.  An inner frame of 1×8 lumber will hold the “innards” in and be covered with fabric on all sides, except the plywood side.  Then an outer frame will go over that, for increased strength, as well as to cover the staples and fabric.  Again, this gobo design is purposely adapted for the use of multiple gobos at once.  This is why the gobo is only ~2′ wide.  This way, I can make multiple gobos and have them arranged in any arrangement I need (plus moving a 2′ wide gobo is a lot easier than a 4′ wide gobo).

I would use spacers to hold the 703 up as well as create an air gap in the middle (which should help slightly with the control of lower frequencies as well).

The pictures will show you the reflective side, the absorptive side, and the innards.  I do have a model of the gobo with a window as well, although I am not currently building that one.

The odd hexagonal base was chosen so that I can put two gobos together at up to a 90 degree angle without the bases sitting on top of each other.

Materials Cost:

• 3x ten foot, 1″x8″ boards  $25
• 1x eight foot, 1″x8″ boards $7
• 2x 2′x4′, 3/4″ birch plywood boards $30
• 1x 2′x2′, 3/4″ birch plywood boards $8
• 5x 2′ long, 1″x2″ boards $6
• 1x 4′x8′ piece of 5/8″ drywall $6
• 3x Owens Corning 2″ pieces $24
• 2.5 yards of fabric (cheapest is likely burlap/muslin) $8
• Various tubes of Wood Glue, Construction Adhesive, Caulk $10
• Wood Screws (1.5″) $3

Grand total – $127, aka I can build 3-4 of these for the amoutn of $ I’d spend buying one.  Plus, its more fun to make your own.

Its even a good deal if you don’t have all the necessary tools.  Even if you have to buy a circular saw, clamps, and a drill, you’ll spend less than buying a gobo.

The next post will show the start of the frame.

C

The Studio Files

Your room’s acoustics are extremely important!  Even the most expensive signal chain in the world can be greatly hampered if not used in a great sounding room.  Project and home studios can benefit greatly from even a small investment in treatment (such as absorption for first reflections and parallel surfaces plus bass trapping)

To make your acoustic dollars stretch even further (and to have a bunch of fun!), you can build the treatments yourself.

So what tools do you need to make your own treatments?

A lot of the treatments are fairly similar in construction.  You can make absorptive panels, clouds, and bass traps out of basically the same materials: wooden frame, filled with Owens Corning 703, wrapped in fabric.  Therefore, the most important tools will be those used to construct the wooden frame.  I actually built some today; here are the tools I needed:

• Saw – A circular saw is a great start (especially if you are experienced), but also having a miter saw around is really my preference.  For quick cuts (and, of course, miters) a miter saw is really convenient.
• Drill – Any solidly built, cordless drill will do just fine (not pictured, sorry)
• Clamps – I like to have a few small 90 degree clamps, a few medium alligator clamps, and some larger clamps available just in case
• Ruler, T, and level
• Wood glue (I like Liquid Nails for wood)
• Sandpaper, utility knife, pencils
• Hearing protection! (especially for cutting wood, its loud!)

Obviously, you’ll also need wood and insulation, but I’ll get into those specifics for each project.

In an upcoming article,  I will show you how to build is an absorptive panel (which I am going to wrap in fabric and hang for absorption above my mix position).  Alternatively, you could mount this on a side wall to tame reflections.  Later on, I’ll show adaptation for corner bass traps, and then I’ll give a step-by-step of my current gobo building project. EDIT: I’m actually going to start with the gobo due to a delay in getting some materials. As a quick teaser – the wood for the small cloud (2′x4′) cost around 8$.

Any questions on tools or techniques?  Ask them in the comments here -

C

The Studio Files

If you are using a desktop, its a good idea to install an extra SATA (or similar) drive and periodically (daily) backup your system.  At the end of your session, just drag the project folder to the drive (simple and easy).

Another option (this works for laptops too) is to have an additional external hard drive to use only for backup.  Just follow the same procedure as with an internal drive (back up at the end of the day).

For my setup, I use Carbon Copy Cloner. (Available here for free, with donations recommended).  This is a great program for formatting, copying, and general care of drives.  At the end of every day, I just clone new files from my audio drives onto my backup drives.

Another good option is Apple’s Time Machine. However, make sure its not set to “auto” backup, as a backup starting while you are recording can clog your system’s resources and give hard drives errors.  Just set it to manual, and engage the backup when its convenient.

Don’t choose to not backup simply because you’ve never had a drive crash.  This is a BAD idea.  Whether you are doing audio professionally or as a hobbyist, making sure your material is safe is extremely important.

If you need suggestions on an efficient backup for your system, let us know in the comments and we can help you out.

With the speed and efficiency of modern drives, I would recommend backing up every day, and ever

C

The Studio Files

It’s the end of a long mixing day, and the mix is sounding awesome in the control room.  We burn off a quick mix and take in the car on a CD for the drive home…

YUCK! It sounds terrible!  Why does it sound bad in the car (or in headphones/boombox/etc) but awesome in the control room??

Here are some tips and techniques to help improve your mix translation.

Take Breaks

Yes, the first suggestion has nothing to do with fancy gear, extra speakers, or even mixing experience (but it is definitely one of the most important!).  As you listen through the course of the day, a few things happen.  For starters, your ears begin to tire, which can affect (especially high) frequency response.  The longer you are working, the greater the chance your ears will not be responding as you’d ideally like.

Additionally, without breaks, your ears will get used to the sound of certain elements (even if they are “wrong”).  The longer you listen to that overly-bright snare drum, the more your ears will get used to it.  By taking a break, you give your ears a chance to remember what “normal” is.  Grab some food, ride your bike, go for a walk… just get out of the control room and clear your head/ears.

Listen through multiple speakers/headphones

As you progress in your mixes, switch to another set of speakers or headphones.  Think of someone in a studio switching down to NS10s from the big (SLS, custom, etc.)  mains).  In this case, the NS10s are obviously not nearly as accurate as the mains, but they give the mixing engineer a new perspective.  While the kick drum may sound awesome through the 15″ drivers of large speakers, it is causing the NS10s (with their much smaller drivers, narrower frequency response, and smaller power handling capabilities) to distort.

Obviously your studio monitors are going to be where you do the majority of your mixing, but switching to another pair, headphones, or running it out to your car can be a great idea.  (Personally, I like running it out to my car, because then I get a break out of it too, giving my ears a chance to reset).

Learn Your Gear!

Spend some time listening to commerical mixes on your system.  (Not passive listening while you are browsing the web/shopping/etc…)  Grab some CDs (not compressed formats!!! no mp3, AAC, etc…) and pop in some of your favorite tunes.  Listen to the relationships between the bass and kick drum, the vocals and guitars, etc.  Hear what these mixes sound like so that you have a reference point when doing your mixes.  If you know what great (commerical) music sounds like with your gear in your room, you can use it as a comparison (even dragging it into your session for direct A/B comparison while mixing).  While all rooms can’t be as accurate as the best pro rooms, by listening to these “pro mixes” in your environment, you can learn a lot about the sound of your space.

There are lots of other tricks that mix engineers swear by.  For me , I like running a mix out to my car.  I also like walking out of my control room, half closing the door, and listening to the balances from a distance.  Feel free to experiment, just find something that puts your listening environment in a new context.  Another great thing to do is to send mixes to friends (even non-musicians/non-engineers) and ask for their opinions.

(As a side note, always feel free to send me an mp3 via email for some feedback)

C

The Studio Files

The WHAT

When I am asked for gear upgrade recommendations, I usually ask a series of questions.  (Example, someone asks “What preamp should I buy?  I have a budget of $500)

I would ask things like -

• What gear are you currently using (everything – computer, speakers, software, plug-ins, mic preamps, mics, interfaces/converters)?
• How is your room treated (acoustics)?
• What sort of projects do you think you will be primarily using this purchase for?
• Are you unhappy with the sounds you are producing with your current setup, or are you just looking for a new “color” in your arsenal?

These questions serve a few purposes.  For one, you can figure out a fairly good recommendation based on budget, project needs, other complementary equipment, etc… Second, you can take a good look at the setup as a whole and see if any other piece of gear would give a greater benefit.

For example (in the extreme), imagine someone was running a juiced Mac Pro, Lavry converters into PT HD, Vintage Neumanns, with [unnamed] cheap $100 preamps.  If that person was unhappy with their sound, and was thinking of purchasing a new Sony C-800g (approx. $7500) to make it better, I’d feel comfortable recommending that they instead upgrade their preamps.

Whenever you are upgrading, look at the big picture and make sure you upgrading the piece that will give you the biggest return.

The When

Well… the first time constraint would obviously be “when you have the money…”

I would advise not to upgrade just for the sake up upgrading.  Again, a series of questions:

• Why do you want to buy a new piece of gear?
• Is your current setup not meeting your/your clients’ needs?
• Is there a weak link in your chain? (see above^^)

The first question is the hardest hurdle (in my experience buying gear).  I typically want to buy a new piece because…. I want to buy a new piece.  Impulse buying is a great way to burn a hole in your pocket and end up with mismatched gear, destined to be racked at the bottom, collecting dust for eternity.

Assuming you don’t need the upgrade for a session the next day, take some time with your audio purchases.  I’ll give you a personal example.  Around October of last year, I decided that I definitely needed some good mic preamps.  I looked at the rest of my setup, and was happy with my monitors, my computer, my software, room treatment (etc…).  I knew I wanted at least 4 channels.  From October until the end of December, I scoured the Internet reading reviews and talking to people.  I went to a few studios that had some of my prospects on hand, and made sure to get a good listen to as many units as I could.  Long story short, I ended up with the Vintech 473, and couldn’t relaly be much happier.  It fits my needs perfectly.  Obviously this is a testament to the quality of the unit (review coming soon!), but also to the process of weighing the options.

If you have equipment purchases on the horizon and need some direction, let us hear about it in the comments.

C

The Studio Files

Its no wonder its such a daunting challenge to figure out which pieces of gear to use on each source, and then figure out how to blend them all together musically… Spending too much time switching equipment to “find” sounds can really drag a session down, but rushing through things can sacrifice sonic quality (or at least sonic “interest”).

Take this as an example:

You are tracking a session at your favorite project studio.  You are about to start recording the rhythm guitar (and the guitarist is using a Les Paul through a Marshall 4×10).  For example’s purposes, let’s suppose the studio you are working in has 4 different preamps and 8 different mics.  To run through the list of all the possibilities, you would have to try out 32 different individual mic/preamp matches.  Then (as it often happens) if you wanted to put two mics on the room, you’d have even more things to move around and setup.  As long as this would take, in the end, you could theoretically end up with THE best guitar sound that could come out of the studio.

…but… you just ate up 6 hours of studio time, and you haven’t tracked a single strum yet…

On the opposite side of things, you could just throw up an SM57 and track away.  While the 57 is pretty “standard” as far as guitar cabs go, you may be robbing yourself of some really great potential.

In a lot of cases, here is what I would suggest:  For comparison’s sake (plus the fact that it often sounds awesome), I almost always throw a close mic’ed SM57 on guitar cabs.  From there I usually add another close mic (if its a dynamic, maybe a D112 or MD421; condenser, something large diaphragm; or even a ribbon) to compare to the 57 as well as a room mic (which is usually a large diaphragm condenser or a ribbon).  Just be sure to line up the diaphragms on the close mics (else face the wrath of phase problems/comb filtering)!

Now you have a lot of options in the control room.  Blend the two close mics?  Blend a close and the room mic?  Blend all three?  Just take the 57?  On top of amplitude/spectral stuff, remember that you have nearly limitless options in the stereo image as well (although panning two of the mics hard L and R is not a bad place to start sometimes).

That was a long tangent, but the point of it is that as an engineer, balancing sonic experimentation with forward progress is something to always keep in mind.  Things only get worse as you add more and more gear.  If you are in a big studio with 80 mics, 80 preamps, and 20 compressors, things start to get tricky.  Anytime you have the opportunity to hear new gear, jump on that opportunity.  Start building a sonic memory of what pieces are good on what sources.  A little experimentation is great too when you have the time to fit it in.  (Like in the guitar example, maybe try an oddball mic/pre combination on the 2nd close mic, since the 57 will probably be a solid sound anyway).

More on this to come as we start sorting out tubes from transistors and the like…

C

The Studio Files

You are tracking a great band and they are really grooving this take (the best one of the day).  Halfway through the song, the sound glitches, recording stops, and the dreaded “H/W BUFFER ERROR” message appears… which is the equivalent of a big middle finger.

What is a H/W buffer (sometimes also called audio buffer)? Why do you need to change it? What’s the difference between a 1024 sample buffer and a 32 sample buffer?  How do buffers affect latency?

H/W buffer stands for hardware buffer.  When using a computer based recording system (other than TDM systems and the like) the computer processor is handling all the processing, playback, etc…  To keep things accurate (time) and steady, a buffer is employed.  The computer needs to fill the buffer with data before it can send it.  A smaller buffer (say 32 samples) takes less time to fill, whereas a larger buffer (say 1024 samples) takes longer.  However, if you have 2048 samples of audio that need to pass through the buffer, the large buffer only needs to be sent twice, whereas the small buffer needs to be sent 64 times.  Some general rules of thumb:

• Small buffers provide lower latency for monitoring, but require a lot more processing power from the computer.  Use small buffers when you are tracking (so the players can hear themselves without latency)
• Large buffers require a lot less processing from the computer, but induce a much higher latency for monitoring.  When you are tracking, this is a problem.  However, during mixing (where you aren’t directly monitoring sources while they are played) this presents no problem.  Plus, using a large buffer will free up room in your processor to add more plug-ins and instruments.

A hardware (H/W) buffer error occurs when the computer can’t send all the data fast enough, given the chosen buffer size.  Larger buffers don’t have to be sent as often (since they contain more data), so the chance of H/W buffer errors is lower.

Let’s relate it to real life:

You have a large room full of garbage (aka audio files).  You need to get that garbage out to the dumpster (playback on your speakers).  You have different choices of garbage cans to transport the garbage in, ranging from really big to really small (large buffer, 1024, to small buffer, 32).  If you use a large garbage can, it will take longer to fill it up, but you won’t have to make as many trips to the dumpster.  If you use a small garbage can, it will fill up quickly, but you will be running to the dumpster many more times.

Make sense?

Be aware of your buffer size.  Always check it at the beginning of a session.

To change the H/W buffer size in Cubase, go to the Devices>Device Setup

To change the H/W buffer size in Pro Tools, go to Setup>Playback Engine

To change the H/W buffer size in Logic Studio Pro, go to Logic Pro>Preferences>Audio

If you need more specific information about the H/W buffer in your DAW, post in the comments.

C

The Studio Files