Studio manual

Studio Plan:

Key: Black lines- entrance doors Green lines- emergency exits Red circle- fire extinguisher Red diamonds- fire alarms

Health and safety

Visual alarms have been installed in each room, this is because with loud noise in the studios you may not be able to hear the alarm in case of emergency so they will flash instead, notifying you of emergency.

Emergency assembly point:

In the event of an emergency studio users will have to make their way to the assembly point. The assembly point is located on the sport field.

Trip hazards:
The studios contain hazards that you should be aware of, one main one is the hazard of tripping; this is because there are many wires in and around the studios. Extra care should be taken when in the studio to avoid any injuries.

Safety of equipment:
The studios are full of quality equipment that should be kept in best condition. To ensure damage is not caused to any of the equipment it is very important that no foods or drinks are consumed when in the studio areas. Pat testing is carried out annually to maintain safety of plugs and cables to keep the studios a safe environment to work in.

Equipment and specifications:

Mixing desk- soundcraft sapphire Specs- 36 input plus 4 stereo channels with dual faders on each channel (80 input total) 4 band eq with parametric lo and hi mids 6 auxs selectable pre/post 8 busses full meter bridge 352 point patch bay Interfaces- 2x MOTU 2408s/ MOTU 1224 Specs- 8 analog inputs/outputs with 24-bit, 96khz converters on balanced/ unbalanced trs connectors 108db s/n ratio (a weighted) 24 channels of adat optical input/ output 24 channels of tdif (Tascam digital) input/ output

2 channels of s/pdif in and 4 channels out 16, 20 and 24- bit recording at 44. 1, 48, 88.2 and 96 khz

Studio monitors- krk e8s/ fostex pm0.5 SpecsActive studio monitor Low frequency- 8 dual layer Kevlar/ rohacell woofer High frequency- 1 albemet (alluminium/ beryllium) inverted done tweeter Frequency response- 40 hz- 30khz (+/-2db) Power output- 240w High frequency- 120w Low frequency- 120w

Outboard equipmentDelay unit dps db-7 Roland Dep-5 digital effects processor Yamaha spx 90 Samson Ps 11 power strip Samson s.phone headphone mixer/ amp Focusite platinum twin trak pro Alesis compressor Meequaliser vc5 TL Audio ivory series TL Audio- instrument compressor Mesa rectifier preamp

Midi keyboard- evolution mk 361 SpecsKeyboard 61 standard keys (velocity sensitive) Control: switches ( wheel, channel, program, memory, transpose, gm reset, vel curve, octave down, octave up, power on/off, numeric keys) Control sliders: (pitch bend wheel, modulation wheel, channel volume/data entry) Jack- dc in (dc 9v), midi out, sustain, usb

Connections and leads:

Bantam leads- patch leads: an insulated lead with a plug at each end,
for use with a patchboard.

Firewire: a standard high-performance serial bus for connecting digital devices together or to a computer. Usb: for connection, communication, and power supply between computers and electronic devices. inch balanced/ unbalanced: For connecting instruments and monitors. Xlr: For connecting microphones and can also be used for monitors.

Section two The 2 uses of a channel:

channel are for simply recording or mixing. the two uses of a

Recording on channel strip- to record on a

channel strip use the top faders on the desk, this controls the input level. Mixing on channel strip/ playback- to mix on a channel strip or hear playback use the bottom faders on the desk, this controls the output level.

Noise gate: The noise gate may be inserted in the signal

path by pressing (GATE)IN and this is normally placed in the monitor path. Pressing CH swaps the gate to the channel path. The sidechain is normally fed from the source feeding the gate. The (S/C)FLIP switch swaps the source for the sidechain to the other signal path (i.e. channel path if the gate is placed in the monitor path), which may then be used to provide external keying for the noise gate. The RNGE switch increases the attenuation range of the gate from 15dB (default) to60dB. The threshold control allows the opening point of the gate to be varied from -40dB to +10dB (referred to tape monitor input level). The (FIL)IN switch places a wide bandpass filter in the sidechain, with a centre frequency variable from 70Hz to 4kHz by the FIL knob. The Release control normally varies the recovery time after gating from 0.1 to 4 seconds. If HOLD is pressed the release time is fixed at 0.1 seconds and the REL control varies the HOLD time (the time delay between the trigger signal going away and the gate starting to close) for up to 2 seconds. The SHUT LED illuminates to show when the gate is shut.

Shelving EQ: Below the noise gate you will

find the shelving EQ section of the strip. The HF section is a second order shelving design, giving 15dB cut or boost at a fixed turnover frequency of 12kHz. The LF section provides 15dB cut or boost at a fixed turnover frequency of 60Hz, but is asymmetric to avoid too much VLF being recorded by a digital system.

Semi parametric EQ: under the shelving EQ

on the channel strip you will find the semi parametric section. The HMF and LMF sections have a peak boost/notch cut response at centre frequencies variable between 600Hz-12kHz and 100Hz-2kHz respectively by the right-hand (black) knobs. 15dB of cut and boost is available on the left-hand knobs. The entire EQ section, HF/LF and HMF/LMF, may be switched IN or OUT with EQ IN switch.

Group outputs: The panning pot at the top of the faders

can also be used for grouping outputs from the desk, , if you wanted more than one channel to send through a section of the outboard gear. You would choose an output (1-2) and pan hard left for 1 and hard right for 2, and the channels on output 1 would all go to the same section of the outboard and into logic.

Monitor fader: The monitor fader controls the

overall mix level sent to the speaker monitors.

Master mutes: using master mutes can be really helpful

when you want to mute a group of channels so they are muted together. There are m1,m2,m3,m4 buttons on each strip and you can for example put all the guitar channels on m1 by pushing the m1 button down. Once all the guitar channels are on m1, you can control them by using the m1 mute button which will mute all of the channels on m1 so in this example the guitar channels.

Auxiliaries:

Two Aux Sends are provided. AUX 1 is a stereo send which is normally fed by the post-EQ, pre-mute signal and tracks the BALANCE control. Pressing POST switches the source to post-fade. AUX 2 is normally a pre-fade mono sum of the input signal. Pressing the (POST)3 switch makes it a post-fade mono sum, and routes the output to Aux bus 3 instead.

SECTION 3

The live room: The live room contains a drum kit, a headphone box for talkback communication between the control room and live room. The room also contains necessary cables that may be needed and a stage box. The live room is generally used to record vocals or drums.

The stage box: the stage box is positioned in the live room and contains mic inputs that link all the way back to the control room. This makes it easy to record drums by micing up the drums and plugging into the stage box. The stage box is also used for recording vocals from a mic using the same process.

Routing signal to the computer: After all the mics are plugged in to the stage box in the live room with xlr cables the multicore will send the signal through to the mixing desk in the control room. Once the signal has been routed to the mixing desk you can see what channels they are coming through (this will normally be the same as the input they are plugged into on the stage box unless there is an issue with one of the inputs.) now you can select the group outputs you want on individual channels, so for example select 1-2 and pan hard left to get 1 and hard right for 2. Then you simply go on logic and create a channel and select the correct input, the signal will now be sent to logic.

Simple Recording: To do a simple recording you have to repeat the previous steps, so for example if you were recording a drum kit you would route all the mics that are being used back to the mixing desk and select the correct outputs, pan left or right and selecting that input on logic. Once you have done this for all of youre channels being used you are now able to set the channels on logic to record and start a simple recording.

DI recording: A DI recording is when you plug in to D1 unit, which will change the high impedance, unbalanced signal and converts it to a low impedance, balanced signal. This allows the signal to be sent over long cable runs with significantly less signal loss.

Section 4- the patch bay

Out board equipment:

Delay unit dps db-7 Roland Dep-5 digital effects processor Yamaha spx 90 Samson Ps 11 power strip Samson s.phone headphone mixer/ amp Focusite platinum twin trak pro Alesis compressor Meequaliser vc5 TL Audio ivory series TL Audio- instrument compressor Mesa rectifier preamp

Line in- for instruments In send- insert send (to put outboard equipment on a channel on the mixing desk.) send to the compressor and then back to the channel.

Ins Return- insert return (for returning from the outboard equipment) Channel out-To use more group outputs use channel out. Tape send- An alternate way of sending the channel out Tape return- for returning outputs on to desk from soundcard Mon in- similar to tape return it is also used as an input

Routing to the compressor whilst recordingTo route to the compressor whilst recording we use the patch bay on the desk. First we would locate the patch strip for what channel we are on. After the patch has been located we would use a bantam lead to send the signal from the channel to the compressor, we would go from ins send to the left side of the compressors input, this is because the input is stereo but our signal is mono we just use the left input. We then use the compressors left output to send back to ins return on the patch bay. Once this process is complete the compressor while now be on the channel strip you are using. Finally once you have tweaked the compressor setting to your liking you can go ahead and record as you would normally but the compressor will be in your signal.

Routing to the outboard equipment after recordingRouting to the outboard gear after recording is a very similar process to doing it whilst recording however you would this time press the

rev button on the channel strip and once this is done repeat the previous steps to go from the patch bay to the compressor however once this is done you would have to re record the signal to logic.

Spreading your recording across the deskIf you wish to mix your recordings on the mixing desk rather then mixing on logic you will have to switch from using to top faders on the desk to the bottom ones which are meant for mixing. We first have to look at the logic channels, lets say for example you have 4 channels in you mix. In order to be able to get then channels on the desk you are going to need to change the outputs of the channels on logic. So for example if you wanted logic channels 1-4 on the desk channels 1-4 you will have to change both logic channels 1-2 the group outputs 1-2, then you will have to hard pan channel 1 to the left and pan hard right on channel 2. Now on the mixing desk you will have channel 1 of logic on channel 1 of the desk and channel 2 of logic on channel 2 of the desk. To get logic channels 3-4 on the desk you will repeat the procedure but will select group outputs 3-4 on logic instead.

Bouncing from the deskOnce you have finished with a mix on the desk and you wish to bounce it to logic you need to press the bounce button on all the channels you are using on the desk, that will send them to the top faders you must then set them all to the same group output and create a new audio channel on logic with the correct input.

Section 5- multi channel drums

Selecting mics:
Kick drum- Audix f14 (dynamic cardioid) Snare top- shure sm57 ( unidirectional dynamic) Snare bottom- senhieser (dynamic cardioid) Toms- Audix f10s (dynamics) Hat- Audix f15 (condenser) Overheads- neumanns (condensers)

Mic placement/ order of placement

1-kickdrum is postioned just inside the soundhole. 2-snare top mic is positioned at the side of the snare pointing towards the center of the drum. 3- snare bottom mic is placed directly below the snare, again pointing directly at the center of the snare. 4- the rack tom mic is clipped to the side of the drum and also pointing directly to the center of the tom. 5- the floor tom is positioned the same as the rack tom. 6- the hat mic should be positioned about 6 inches above the hat pointing as close to the center of the hat as possible. 7- overheads are positioned above the whole kit at a right angle. Imagine the mics as a flash light, if the flash would light the kit up the mic is in a good position. Both neumanns must be in a right angle and as close together as possible without touching.

Setting levels

Once you have routed from the live room back into the desk you need to set decent recording levels. This is done by getting someone to go into the live room and playing individual drums as you move the top faders on the correct channels up to a decent level, a good level would be around 6db.

Routing multi channel signals

To get multi channel signals from the live room you need to group the outputs on the desk, so for example channel 1 and 2 would be group outputs 1 and 2 and channel 3 and 4 would be groups 3-4. You must also pan hard left on the desk for 1, hard right for 2 and so on. You can now create you drum channels on logic and select the correct input.

Recording drums
Once the previous steps are complete you can set all drum channels to record as you would normally and you will have a multi channel signal and can then record to logic.