Description
DIGITAL AUDIO RECORDING MANUAL
"Audio Engineering | Audio Manuals for the Sound Engineer" Series
Volume 2
- 270 total pages (A4 format: 21.59 x 27.94 cm – Font: Avenir Book 10 – Line spacing: 0.8)
- 9 pages of index divided into 4 levels, to find each topic quickly
- over 200 images
- n. 5 sections divided into n. 42 chapters in total
The Digital Audio Recording Manual It is primarily intended for general learning of recording principles, but can also be used as a practical guide to consult during practice.
It is composed of 5 sections:
- the 1st Section is aimed at acquiring a basic but sufficient culture of the sound engineer: recording objectives, sound, equipment, listening criteria;
- The 2nd Section is dedicated to general operations: recording techniques, operating modes, gain staging, general criteria for microphone and line recording, phasing problems
- the 3rd Section deals with the specific operations of recording the various types of sound sources, focusing in particular on the most recurrent and critical ones: voice, polyphonic choir, guitars, piano, pipe and electronic organ, bass, drums, percussion, strings, wind instruments, orchestral sections and large orchestra;
- The 4th section is entirely dedicated to editing and tuning: simple and surgical editing, timing, tuning and autotuning, cleaning and leveling
- The 5th section has a conclusive content and briefly focuses on various collateral aspects of the subject: exporting tracks, amplification of instruments, the mobile studio, filming for video and cinema
Preface
The Zen teacher asked aspiring painters to study for ten years, practicing for many hours a day.
He then suggested to “forget” everything, stopping practicing for months.
After that he urged the student to paint “truly”, following only his intuition, as the technical ability would emerge naturally, but without dominating the scene.
In this sense, the same exhortation can be formulated for the art of recording, suggesting the following:
“Don't follow any rules, but know them all first.”
I'm sure that every expert sound engineer will agree with this statement.
The Author
MANUAL INDEX
Preface 12
Other Publications on Audio and Voice 12
SECTION A *** INTRODUCTORY NOTIONS 13
OBJECTIVES OF RECORDING 14
Collaboration between the Sound Engineer and the Artistic Director 15
Completing an audio track during a session 15
THE ELECTROACOUSTIC SIGNAL 16
Acoustic transduction 17
The Electroacoustic Signal 17
Characteristics of the electroacoustic signal 18
Balanced and non-balanced line conductors 18
Balanced line cables 18
Unbalanced line cables 19
Balanced and unbalanced stereo cables 19
Processors, Amplifiers and Speakers 20
DIGITAL SAMPLING 21
The sampling rate 21
The Bit 22 Question
RECORDING SESSION 24
Sampling rate 24
Resources 25
Pre-fader metering 25
Latency and Delay Compensation 25
Elements of a session 27
Audio Track 27
Aux Track 28
Master Track 28
Instrument Track 28
MIDI Track 28
Bus 28
Default Work Sessions 29
Configuring Tracks 29
Configuring Tracks 29
Configuring plugins 29
The Voices of DAW 29
MICROPHONES 31
The transducers 32
Low-fidelity transducers 32
Dynamic Microphone 32
Ribbon Microphone 33
Condenser Microphone 33
Tube Microphone 33
The diaphragm 34
Shooting angle and polar diagram 34
Frequency response 35
Impedance 36
Dynamics 37
Sensitivity 37
Signal to Noise Ratio 37
Dynamic response 37
Electromechanical resistance 38
RUDIMENTS OF ACOUSTICS 39
Fundamental, harmonics, beat 40
Waves, height, polarity, phase, cycle, period 41
Composite waves, polarity reversal 41
Transient and tail of sounds, ADSR 42
Propagation of sound 43
Intensity 43
Spatiality and propagation 43
Reflections and Absorption 44
Crossing and absorption 44
Reflection 44
Reflection Vectors 44
Eco 45
Flutter echo 46
Reverb 46
Presence and proximity 48
Volume 48
Environmental Resonance 48
Low frequencies 49
High frequencies 50
Attack Transients 50
REFERENCE LISTENING 51
Sound Insulation 52
Internal treatment 53
The 60 monitors
Big and near-field monitors 60
Closed and reflex speakers 60
The subwoofer 61
Speaker placement 62
The comb filter in control room 65
The comb filter in the shooting room 66
Subwoofer placement and phasing with room 66
Phasing between the sub and the speakers 67
Position of the listening point 67
Corrective Equalization 69
Acoustic perception 70
The Deception of Volume 70
What happens at high volume 70
What happens at low volume 71
Reference volumes 71
Reference level at 85 dB 71
Working at 70 dB 71
Compare at 60 and 110 dB 72
Critical listening to the various volumes 72
Don't ruin your hearing 72
Other listening tests 72
Headphone monitoring 72
Avoid psychoacoustic adaptation 74
Technical listening and relaxing listening 75
Narrowband Monitoring 75
Alternative Monitors 77
SECTION B *** GENERAL OPERATION 78
RECORDING TECHNIQUES 79
Normal manual recording 79
Quick Punch 79
Punch In and Out 79
Roll In and Roll Out 80
Cyclic recording 80
Direct or Multitrack 80
Live recording 80
Total overdub recording 81
Partial live recording 82
Overdubbing with progressive replacement of parts 83
Ghost Rev 84
When and how to use it 85
INPUTS AND GAIN STAGING 86
Signal Levels 87
What is Gain Staging 88
A lightning rod for distortion 89
A huge dynamic 89
Audio levels in tracks and groups 90
The 90 VU meter
Groups and subgroups 91
Input and output levels in plugins 91
Gain staging in monitoring 92
MICROPHONE RECORDING 93
Microphone Selection 93
General observations and acoustic recording tests 94
The instrument and the instrumentalist 94
Microphone position 95
The 96 mono shot
The 96 stereo recording
Stereo recording of individual instruments and sections 97
Stereo Recording Techniques 97
MICROPHONE RECORDING FIELDS 100
Attendance Fields 101
Environment fields 103
Mono, stereo and mixed recordings 103
Time lag in multi-field shots 104
The directivity of microphones in the recording fields 105
Choosing the shooting field according to the role in the mix 105
Using Environment Fields 106
MULTI-MICROPHONE RECORDING 107
Time lags 107
The recovery of a percussion set and drums 109
Panoramic shot of set 110
Individual reshoots of the pieces of set 110
Mixed recovery 111
Mixed recovery lightened 112
Double-miked drums 112
Microphone Phasing in Percussion Sets 113
Resume with opposite polarity 113
Time lag 114
LIVE RECORDING IN STUDIO 115
Acoustic partition panels 115
Overdubbing 116
THE RECOVERY ON LINE 117
Signal adapters 118
Sources with unbalanced line output 118
Pickup and piezo sources 118
Traditional turntable 118
Online registration 119
PRELIMINARY ADJUSTMENTS 120
Preliminary equalization 122
Preliminary Equalization Mode 122
Preliminary EQ for Melodic Instruments 124
Preliminary EQ for drums 127
SECTION C *** REGISTRATION OF SOURCES 129
GUITARS AND PLUGGED STRINGS 130
Typical pickup fields for guitars 130
The guitar recovery 131
Choosing the right guitar and pick 131
Consult with guitarist 131
The emission of the guitar sound 132
Finding the perfect microphone position 132
Pickup polar patterns and distance from the microphone 133
Acoustic environment 134
Multi-Microphone Techniques 134
Phase relations and comb filters 134
The XY 135 recovery
Processing in Recording 136
Preliminary equalization in guitar recording 136
Compression and Preliminary Reverberation in Recording 137
AMPLIFIERS AND CABINETS 138
Mixed bass recording 138
140 Electric Guitar Cabinet
The Microphone for the 140 Cabinet
Cabinet for electromagnetic or electronic organ 141
The microphone recording of the Leslie 142
The environmental recovery for the rotary speaker 142
WIND INSTRUMENTS: WOODWINDS 143
Shooting fields 143
Proximity Field 143
Resonance field 144
WIND INSTRUMENTS: BRASS INSTRUMENTS 145
Shooting fields 145
Proximity Field 145
Resonance field 146
BOW INSTRUMENTS 147
Shooting fields 147
Resonance field 148
Proximity Field 148
HARMONICA AND SMALL INSTRUMENTS 149
ACCORDION 150
Accordion recording in mono 150
Accordion recording in stereo 150
BATTERY 152
Method A – Mono Panoramic Shooting 152
Method B – Phased stereo panorama recording 153
Variants of methods A and B 153
Method C – ORTF 153 Stereo Panoramic Recording
Method D – Stereo spaced panoramic shot 154
Method E – Mixed method with Close Mics 156
Phasing between pan and close mics 157
Method E1 – an environmental variant of the Mixed Method 159
Bass Drum – Bass Drum – Kick Drum 159
The microphone recording 160
Which microphones should you use for the bass drum? 162
Snare Drum 163
Top Mic 163
Bottom Mic – Bottom Mic 164
TomTom and Timpani 166
HiHat – Charleston 167
Dishes 168
Over-Heads 168
Panoramic shot of the entire set 168
Choosing Over-Head Microphones 169
Other percussion in drum set 169
Environment 170
Phase 170 problems
Eliminate preliminary shooting defects 171
The Click Bleed 171
PERCUSSIONS 172
The great percussions 173
Open-bottom drums 173
VOICE 175
Acoustics 176
Standing waves in the recording room of voice 176
Voice resume position 177
Acoustic panels 178
How to take the 178 shot
Microphone tilt 178
Pop filter 178
Managing the distance from the microphone 178
Compensatory variation of distance 179
Addressing axis 179
BACKING VOCALS 180
Multiple Recording Choirs 181
PIANO 183
Stereo recording of the piano 183
Basic recording with 2 microphones 183
Stereo complementary shots 187
Multiple stereo shots 187
Auxiliary ambient stereo shots 188
188 mono complementary shots
Strategic points for mono 189 shooting
Phase polarity used as a nonlinear eq 189
The 190 upright piano
PIPE ORGAN 192
193 wide sound front
Multiple sound front 194
Optimization of the phasing of the 194 barrel blocks
Using the HPF 195 filter
Preliminary equalization 195
POLYPHONIC CHOIR 196
Stereo recording with semicircle choir 197
Stereo recording with in-line chorus 197
Semi-phased recovery 198
Spaced shot 198
Resumption for Sections 199
Phased sectional recovery with circle chorus 199
Sectional screen shot with circle chorus 199
Individual recovery 200
ORCHESTRA AND BAND 201
General criteria 201
Stereo or stereo set priority recording 202
Close mic priority shooting 203
Final Thoughts on Transient Phasing 204
The Great Orchestra 204
Basic ambient miking 205
Ortf 205
Decca tree 205
Close mics for the large orchestra 206
SECTION D *** Editing and Tuning 207
LET'S DISCOVER AUDIO EDITING 208
Editing Techniques 209
Basic Editing 209
Surgical Editing 209
Timing 210
Manual tuning 210
Cleaning 211
Leveling 211
Autotuning 211
When to Edit 211
BASIC EDITING 213
Takes 213
Choosing 213
Risks of Choosing 214
Corrective Recording 215
Select the fragment to replace 215
Set Pre-Roll 215
Set Post-Roll 215
Listening and joining 216
Risks of Corrective Recording 216
Copy & Paste 216
Cleaning 216
Select and Copy 217
Paste 217
Non-Quantized Sessions – No Grid 217
SURGICAL EDITING 218
Cutting 218
How to make a 218 cut
Choosing the best cutting point 218
Long note joining cut 219
Manual correction of sound wave design 220
Fading and Joints in General 220
Classification of Fading Types 220
Ordinary fading 222
Surgical Fading 222
Copy & Paste 223
Copy & Paste of Consonants 223
Copy & Paste of Instrumental Transients 224
Dynamic Compressing & Expanding 224
Equalizing 225
Multitrack Editing for Drums and Other Ensembles 225
TIMING 228
Time Stretching and Time Expanding 228
Stretching 229
Expanding 229
Flex Timing 230
Parameter Management 231
Advertising Applications 232
Fading & Cleaning 232
TUNING 233
Intonation errors 234
How to proceed 234
Audio segments having coherent pitch 234
Notes with wide vibrato 234
Glissando Notes – Manual Correction 234
Glissando Notes – Manual Correction with Autotuning 235
LEVELING 237
The executive registers 237
Leveling with volume 237
Leveling with 238 compression
Equalization Adjustments 238
Leveling anomalies 238
CLEANING 240
De-breathing 241
Softening 241
Softening with fade-in 242
Softening with dynamic compressor 242
Softening with the 242 equalizer
Fading 243
Fade in and fade out 243
Crossfade 243
AUTOTUNING 244
Key & Scale 245
Bypass Note and Remove Note 246
Retune Speed 246
Detune and Transpose, Throat length, Formant 247
Humanize 248
Natural Vibrato 248
Vibrato Creator 248
Operational Management 249
SECTION E *** MISCELLANEOUS 251
MICROPHONE TO AMPLIFY 252
Larsen 252 trigger
Use proximity field 253
Tricks to limit microphone feedback 253
Sound check 253
MOBILE RECORDING STUDIO 254
Inline recovery from direct outs 254
Portable Multitrack Recorders 255
Recording with a portable DAW 255
Synchronization between DAWs 255
Gain adjustment 256
SHOOTING FOR VIDEO AND CINEMA 257
Major audio problems 257
Record audio from movie 258
The film to be dubbed 258
The recovery on the field 258
Using an external recorder 258
How to Manage Cables 258
Use quality accessories 259
Hiring a “real” sound engineer 259
Make an inspection 259
Always check your recording levels 259
Positioning the microphones correctly 260
Recording the ambient background 260
Record audio from your 260 camcorder too
Recording a 260-minute sound clip
Using standard operating commands 261
Post-production doesn't work miracles 261
EXPORTING SESSION 262
Technical considerations 263
Export audio tracks for an external mix 263
:::
Copyright 265
Contacts 265
Biography 266
Bibliography 267
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