|
STUDIO EQUIPMENTTHIS PAGE UNDER CONSTRUCTIONOkay, now that we've covered all the basics, let's go into the black boxes that make a bunch of equipment in a room into a studio.
FireHazard Studio EquipmentFireHazard studios has, I consider, a fair set of what a studio should have. Some things are missing, some things are a little overkill, but these are the personal purchasing choices I've made for the purposes of video editing, music production and sound recording.
MicrophonesA recording-type studio requires an assortment of these, ranging from guns, handhelds, dynamics, condensors, to the more esoteric types like lavaliers, bass mics and PZMs. For a bedroom studio, a couple of good, multipurpose mics are enough. Get good mics, since the investment in microphones will continue to pay off as long as the microphone works...mics aren't obsoleted when you upgrade your studio.
A goodly assortment of cables and spare connectorsYou'll need to link up all your stuff, and occasionally custom make new cables for strange situations. If you know how to make your own cables and have all the tools and parts available, you'll save yourself a lot of money and heartache when you need to hook weird things together.
Soldering iron, solder sucker, a can of flux, a vice, insulating tape, pliers, pointed cutters, etc...Electronic hobbyist equipment will be useful for making your own cables.
Amplifier and SpeakersGet good ones that can last. The budget market for monitor speakers exploded with the entry of the Yamaha NS10 monitors, which was quickly followed by wave after wave of new, small but respectable speakers on the market. Well-built amplifiers are also a good investment, but don't spend good money on amps that are too esoteric. The audio difference between a good basic amp and an audiophile amp is audible (barely) but the price difference is tremendous. Buying a set of matched amplifiers and speakers might not be bad as long as the amplifier can be used for other speakers in the future as well.FireHazard Studios features a pair of Alesis Monitor One speakers matched to a Alesis RA-100 Reference Amp. They have a good bass, sufficient punch for dance music and yet reasonably good for finding mistakes. Other possible speakers for you to look at are those from Yamaha, Genelec, K-Rok, Soundcraft Spirit and Tannoy. You may be asking, why can't I use a home hi-fi set? Why not, indeed. Home hi-fis are a good substitute for studio monitors. Just remember that hi-fis are designed to improve sound, not to show it for what it is, so your sound may actually sound better than what it actually is (bad for spotting mistakes). Remove the grille from hi-fi speakers if you can, since you'll get a more direct sound from the speakers. Also, there's been a spew of shielded speakers intended for computer use. Not bad if you're intending to do a lot of digital work. The same thing applies as home hi-fis, they're usually meant to improve your sound, so be wary.
HeadphonesSometimes it might also be useful to have a pair of good headphones around. Other than the obvious benefit of being able to monitor as loud as you like without offending your neighbours, you can also use it to allow singing or acoustic performers to have a monitor without letting it interfere with your miking. It's also a good tool for finding errors. I like headphones that shut out all other sound because of my DJ background and because they also allow you to concentrate on the sound better.
Mixers and Mixing desksThis isn't so useful for people who only record from one instrument, it's a necessity for everybody else. A mixer can be a simple 1-unit 19" rack module with knobs in front, or it can be a whole mixing desk, ranging from 4 to 36 channels of separate inputs. Certain mixers, called Portastudios (ever since Tascam started building them under that name), have a recording device built in for greater convenience. Although Portastudios are very neat and elegant devices, they may be obsoleted if you expand your recording studio, so consider that as a factor.Mixing desks are a standard feature in most studios, and they are usually considered the 'heart' of the studio. This is because everything is linked to the mixing desk somehow. Your instruments feed the mixing desk, which in turn outputs sound into your recording devices.
ChannelsMixing desks have number of inputs, known as channels, all of which within the same desk may or may not be the same. The most flexible type of channel will allow either an mic-XLR jack connection or a line-phone jack connection, by choice of a button press or break-jacking. An insert point may also be available to patch in an effects or signal processor once the signal is amplified to a healthy level. This usually occurs as a stereo phone jack or two separate phone jacks.A rudimentary or parametric equaliser might also be available for that one channel. For In-Line consoles, the equaliser might be able to be split somehow between the monitor and the input signals. A gain control will control how much amplification is given to the signal, while a fader will control how much attenuation is given to a signal.
Auxiliary sends and returnsAuxiliary sends might be available in channels to feed into monitors or external effect processors. Aux sends are usually classified as post-fade or pre-fade. The volume of the audio signal coming out from post-fade is affected by the fader level of that particular channel. This is more appropriate for effect and signal processors, as the amount of processing should fade up and down with the signal, as if the effect is actually part of the original sound. The processed sound can be returned into other channels or through dedicated Aux Returns, which are no-frills stereo channels. Pre-fade sends are good for stage monitor speakers, since no matter how soft the mixer operator decides to attenuate an individual's instrument, the sound will still be loud enough for the people on stage to hear themselves.Tip: for guitarists who like to feedback, you could use a pre-fade send into a monitor speaker, and feedback to that. The soundman can't muck up your feedback by his controls so easily and he can even fade it down at the end of the song while the feedback continues.
Routing and GroupingAn individual channel may also have routing controls. These are usually buttons that will direct the signal after the fader into separate groups or into the main stereo outputs.Groups are the places where all the disparate signals entering into a mixer are actually mixed. Simple mixers only have two groups, called the main stereo pair. Sound mixed into this Left-Right pair is sent out the main outputs for recording or monitoring. More elaborate mixers can have extra groups so that sound can be combined before combining it again for the final output. One common practice is to route all the mics that are picking up the drum set into one or two groups (mono or stereo drums) so that the entire drum set can be adjusted from those one or two groups. It is also possible to group the same signals in different arrangements to be sent to different outputs. For example, you can send a full mix to headphones for singers to listen to themselves and backing music while singing. At the same time, another group might be routing just their voices into a recording device.
Monitoring'Monitoring' is a term that is often mentioned in this page. Monitoring usually refers to listening to the sound going through a mixing desk as it is put to tape or as it is being played back. Monitoring can sometimes be a tricky business, as it is important to monitor the sound in a way that gives you an idea of what the finished mix will sound like. Also, you might have to deal with multiple instruments, instruments coming off from multitrack tape, instruments that need some equaliser adjustment, sounds with effects in them, and so on. Most difficult is routing the sound in such a way that allows you to listen to tracks on tape as well as record sounds to tape with minimal rewiring between each stage.Certain big, more expensive desks are designed as Split Monitoring desks. Monitoring in this way is accomplished by routing all tracks coming from multitrack tape into a separate section from the input channel section, known as the Monitor section. The channels in the Monitor section may be as comprehensive as the those in the input section, although they probably will not be able to amplify mics. The space-saving alternative to Split Monitoring in new desks is In-Line Monitoring. This works by giving each channel a second input (called the monitor input, line-levels, phone-jack only), controlled by simple knobs somewhere among the channel controls. For multitrack recording, you can feed the instruments into the regular inputs, and connect the individual respective outputs from the multitrack into the mixing desk. This way, when recording, you route the instrument signal into the multitrack and do a 'rough mix' through the rudimentary monitor controls (which feeds into the left-right mix). When you're ready for mixdown, you press a 'flip' button, which routes the multitrack outputs into the main channel controls, where you can use things like the equaliser and aux sends. At the same time, you can bring any sequenced instruments into the monitor inputs, and use them as additional inputs, effectively doubling the number of inputs available to you! I can't tell you how to make full use of a mixer here, because each mixer on the market has its special features and limitations. The best way to find out what you can do with a mixer is to get down and do some serious work with it.
Recording DevicesRecording devices include audio cassette, DAT, multitracks, hard disks, and so on. You've got to be able to put your track somewhere for playback. Audiocassette decks are essential: cassettes are the most convenient for letting others hear your work, you can take audiocassettes to various sound systems (like the car) for testing, and send them off to record companies for demos.Although you can get master quality out of audiocassette, you might prefer to use DAT for mastering. Because it's digital, it's inherently less prone to degradation due to age. If kept properly, DATs can last a long time. DATs are acceptable by CD pressers and record companies. Try to get a deck that doesn't have the Serial Copy Management System (SCMS), which was a little glitch that manufacturers put into their decks to prevent people from making CD-perfect copies again and again and again. Multitracks come in digital and analogue formats. Portastudios and dedicated decks can squeeze four to six tracks on Chrome and Metal audiocassettes, and these are great for doing roughs. Higher-grade analogue formats use 1/4" and 1/2" open-reel tape, a long-standing mainstay of a properly equipped studio. Digital formats are rapidly catching on, such as ADAT-XT and Hi8 Digital Audio Tape. These formats record about 8 audio tracks using higher-band videocassettes. Multitrack recorders are very useful. They can allow you to do multiple takes for later review, which permits to choose the best performances for all instruments. They can also allow you to record all the instruments at their healthiest volume levels while letting you readjust balance later in the final mix. Trying to do a professional mix without a multitrack is like going hiking without shoes. You can do it, and if you're either really tenacious or trained for it, you can complete the journey. Just don't expect to enjoy it or find it easy going. Hard disks are now being used for both basic (stereo) and multitrack recording. The humblest of sound cards (with the humblest of signal quality) allow you to record to hard disk. Several systems allow you to record multiple tracks, such as Digidesign's Session 8 systems. Macromedia has software called Deck II that allows you to have as many simultaneous digital audio tracks playing off your hard disk as your hard disk can allow. There are specialised hard disks out there for AV use, but just about any new hard disk should be more than fast enough for stereo recording. There are also outboard hard disk recorders, such as those built by Akai, Vestax, and Roland. These are better for people without computer systems, or who can't spare the computing horsepower to handle audio recording. The interfaces are also more dedicated than the general-purpose PC or Mac, so they might be more comfortable for some producers. One very important recording system is Pro Tools III by Digidesign. This isn't just a recording device, it's an attempt to cram an entire audio studio into one Mac. You can record tracks to hard disk, manipulate sounds in real time, and so on. It's also tremendously expensive, but just about all the best studios will have a Pro Tools system. Outboard EquipmentOutboard is called such because they are not part of the mixer system. They are modules that you plug into the signal path as and when you need them. Outboard equipment probably have the fastest turnover for any musician, due to their smaller prices and sizes than stuff like mixers. Also, they are designed to fulfil certain needs or fix certain problems, so they are sometimes bought as and when they are needed. More importantly, a lot of outboard equipment could actually be considered 'fashionable', in which certain pieces of new kit become the most desireable pieces of equipment among studio owners.Of course, eventually the accumulation of kit will settle onto a few trusty pieces that work best with the producer. That still doesn't prevent people from buying the latest toy in the hope that it will revolutionise their music. There are outboard units that handle every studio need (even basic mixing) in every combination, but here are some standard categories. PatchbaysPatchbays look like the rows and rows of jacks that are frequently associated with telephone operators of old (you know, the lady who has a head set, and plugs in connections to other people's phones). Actually, that's pretty much what a patchbay does: it brings out the most important and frequently changed jacks in a studio into one, localised, labelled location. It makes it easier to make rearrangements to systems without much heartache.
Compressors, Expanders and GatesEffect modulesDI Boxes, Preamps, EQs, etcNoisemakersFurnitureRacksChairsTreating a room for soundTalentThe most overlooked component of any studio, yet probably the most important. Without Talent, you have no song, no mix, no ad, no nothing! A good studio without talent will sound OK. A mediocre studio with talent will sound interesting. A good studio with talent will turn out the hits. |