dc2daylight

When my DM3200 arrived, I unpacked it and placed it on my desk in the studio. Then I took the manual with me to JiffyLube to get an oil change for my car. While I waited, I read the manual cover to cover -- didn't skip anything. When I got back to the studio, I looked at the mixer and asked myself, "...But how do I make this thing work?" I struggled through it and got it going and working well, interfaced with my PT HD3 system and Lexicon outboard gear. Since I've been in pro audio for 35 years and working with digital audio since 1's and zeros were invented, I figured that if I had trouble with the setup, the average home studio operator would find it near impossible. Digital audio is every bit as difficult as analog and a lot more complicated. So I decided to make a DVD entitled "DM3200/4800 Quickstart Tutorial." It is designed to help someone get up and running with good digital audio (properly clocked, etc.) without too much hair pulling and cursing (mileage may vary). The DVD stars, well... me. I show the controls on the surface, the connections etc., tell what they do and how to set them up. Plus I go through the menus and automation (the contents of the DVD are listed on the webpage John links to on the first post.) https://secure.planesong.com/dvd.html If you get a security message for that page, just add an exception to view the page. Cheers.

John, I have fixed it; try again.

There is a video of the recording I did of "A Whole New World" up on YouTube. Since Aladdin was an animated feature, the songs were recorded first and then the pictures were drawn to match. Since there was no time frame to match, this was done without click or picture (hadn't been drawn yet). In order to do multiple takes and be able to (possibly) replace the vocals, we [let's not always see the same hands trying to answer laugh.gif ] videotaped (yes real tape) the conductor during each performance since they were slightly different. We synchronized all the machines with Lynx modules designed by my dear friend Gerry Block. The vocals were recorded live with the orchestra. They were surrounded by gobos, but were in the same room, Studio A at RCA/BMG. They had to have good sight lines with the conductor and each other since there was no click. The equipment was a Neve VR, and a Sony 3348. There were no orchestral overdubs or edits -- that's just the way it went down. The great writing of Alan Menken and magical orchestrations of Danny Troob were a pleasure to work with. At about 3:09 you can see a much younger ME sitting at the console, striped shirt and TIE! My how times have changed. Live Recording of

The 220 looks like an excellent choice for vocal recording. Hanging a blanket is a good solution. The high freq's are the most problem for reflection/phasing.

Reflections in front of the singer (behind the mic) a minimum of 3 feet from the mic. Behind the singer 6 feet, but infinity is better. It depends on the range of the voice, volume of voice, pattern of mic. For instance a hypercardioid has a pronounced rear lobe as compared with the cardioid pattern (perfererable). Tube mics (M49) tend to have a wider, gentler pattern than solid state mics (U87).

I agree with Steve -- Large diaphragm condensor, e.g. U87, M49, M149, TLM170, AT4030, AKG414, C12, C12A etc. with an outboard windscreen when required (almost always unless the singer is a real pro). Avoid reflective surfaces (glass, music stand) near the singer or mic. Here is an M149 in action. a TLM193 -- no screen (a real pro )

Good info, John. There is another type: Ribbon It is a mic with an element suspended vertically in the housing. It is similar to the dynamic design, except that the output is generally lower and the pattern is always figure 8. Examples of this design are RCA 44, RCA 77, Royer 121, BBC/Coles 4038. The sonic characteristics of the ribbon are "warm" "smooth" "rich." All of which translates into slow transient response, gently rolled off top end and a slight low end rise. They are great for close mics for brass in an orchestral setting.

happy tracking

Once you get into "far miking" you virtually eliminate ribbons (with few exceptions) and dynamics because of the lower output of these designs. Then you have to consider whether the room you are in will contribute attractive ambiance or a detracting tone. That will lead you to the decision between omni or cardioid mics. I use omni's in good sounding rooms and cardioids when I want to reduce the contribution of the room. One good possibility is the Oktava MC012 which can be purchased as a set with 3 capsules and a pad. They sound amazingly good and the noise floor is not too bad for the price. There are also some good sounding Chinese manufactured mics like MXL. Stick with small diaphragm condensors for your application, but be aware that all mics in your price range will suffer from inconsistent manufacturing and a relatively high noise floor compared with expensive mics, e.g. Neumann TLM103 or Microtech M930

Very Cute, Lazz. (Lahz)

A few years ago, I got a call from the brother of a director that I had worked with a couple of times. The brother (we’ll call him Joe) is a jingle producer who needed to record a jingle that included the opening of “Carmina Burana” by Carl Orff. Now this opening (“O Fortuna”) uses a large orchestra and chorus – something Joe is unfamiliar with, but through his director brother knew that I dealt with a great deal in film scores. I told Joe I’d be glad to record the project for him. That’s when he said he didn’t have much of a budget. Shoulda seen that comin’. I told him that since I knew and liked his brother so well I would work within his budget and charge about half my usual rate. He was delighted (amazing, huh?). I suggested I come to his home the day before the recording and we could do some pre-production planning. OK. So I showed up at his place and after the water was served, I asked to hear the synth mockup of the project. No surprises: it was in fact “O Fortuna” just like I had performed 100 times as an orchestral trumpet player. I asked about the percussion players, if they were supplying the instruments or was he having them rented. “Like what?” Joe asked me. I said, “Well let’s go through the score and check it out.” “You can read that stuff?” Joe asked. “Uh… yeah, just part of the package, Joe,” Says me. I then point out each of the percussion instruments called for like timpani (he got that), Gran Casa which prompted the first of many, “What’s that?” from Joe. When we finished the list, Joe said they would be rented and I said “Cool.” I faxed in a mic list to Henson Recording in Hollywood (the old A&M records studio) and the following morning, showed up 2 hours before the downbeat as is my custom for the opening day of a scoring project. So far so good. The excellent crew and I had all the mics popped for polarity and the rest of the tech items out of the way when the musicians began to arrive about an hour later. One of the first players to arrive walked in wearing a baritone saxophone around his neck (I guess the carrying case had been stolen somewhere along the way). I told him that he was in the wrong studio, that we were doing an orchestral recording. He informed me that Joe couldn’t get the contra bassoon player called for in the score, so he was filling in on bari sax. Cool. We were Orff to a good start! When Joe arrived, I asked him how he was going to generate click. This is important since there are a couple of tempo changes within the first 8 measures. Joe told me he wanted it to be conducted freely by a friend of his. “But, Joe, we are going to have to overdub the chorus later and without some kind of reference the conductor won’t be able to duplicate his conducting performance in time to get the choir in on the second note of the piece.” Joe says, “Oh.” I then suggested that we do what I’ve done dozens of times in the past, dating back to “Beauty and the Beast”: video tape the conductor so that he will be able to see himself conducting and match it… or we could just let the chorus watch the video and follow that. Joe thought this was truly an amazing idea, and it had been about 10 years before. Still was, I guess. Then the rented percussion began arriving and I saw part of a drum kit show up. It was a crash cymbal. So I blamed myself for “explaining” the day before that “piatti” were like, oh… you know: crash cymbals. [NOTE TO SELF] The old clock on the wall (one of the few remaining analog devices in the room) finally made it to 10 am and we began recording. As is my usual style, I was very active on the talkback, negotiating with the percussionists about volume and beater choices; negotiating with the brass about volume and note length and other style questions – questions for them, but not for me after performing it so many times. There was a lot of negotiating with the bari sax – no matter how many socks I put on the only SM57 in the room, I couldn’t get it to sound like a contra bassoon. I was shocked. By lunch time, we had several good takes of the orchestra and the video of the conductor. Lunch arrived and Joe gave me a check for the fee we had agreed upon. After lunch the chorus showed up and we began the dance again with me on the talkback asking for various changes in style, vowel modification and timings. We of course tripled the chorus for extra size. Before the recording of the chorus was over, Joe came over and put another check on the console in front of me. A couple of hours later the mix was in full swing and we were getting a good facsimile of “O Fortuna.” Joe put another check on the console in front of me. I finished the mix and everyone thought it sounded great, bari sax and all. I got my last cup of coffee for the day and picked up the checks which now among the 3 of them totaled my regular fee. I asked Joe why he had given me extra pay and he said that as the session progressed he realized that without me there, he would have never been able to pull off the recording no matter how much time he spent trying. I said “Cool.”

Players who work in film are generally a bit quieter during recordings than the ones who are in a concert environment. We do accept some level of "stage noise" but try very hard to avoid it. I'm currently mixing an all synth film score here at my home 5.1 studio. After the new year I have a couple of projects: one with director Spike Jonze (Being John Malkovitch, Adaptation) and another with the Coen Brothers. I don't know where or exactly when -- the nature of the business.

Help yourself to any of the pics on flickr or my site. You are more than welcome to use them any way you'd like. http://planesong.com/mf.htm Air is a great studio! I'm not a composer. I decide on instrument placement, mic selection and placement, record and mix the score. The composer for 'Twilight' is Carter Burwell and we mixed at his studio in NYC on a Euphonix System 5 console.

The recording setup for the score for "Twilight" Comments posted on the photos are welcome.

I would go with a DI for the bass for a number of reasons. The NT-1 would likely overkill for the kick, plus it could likely distort with the high SPL from the kick. The pg58 may take a little placement tweaking so that you get enough bottom since there is a steep rolloff below 200 HZ. The kick should have a lot of energy around 40 Hz, +/- depending on size and damping. Putting the mic fairly close to the batter head, inside the drum should use proximity to good effect and still retain the natural upper midrange emphasis of the mic response curve.

The opinion, which I gladly gave, was free.

Hi John, I mostly work on large format consoles, but occasionally track vocals on "location." When I do that, I don't use much processing, just a little protective limiting to eliminate "overs." I did a project recently for a live CD and chose a Microtech Gefell M711 as the vocal mic and went through my Millennia Media HV3D and a DBX limiter set on "polite." After I got back to the studio, I brought out the EQ and compression I wanted to use as Protools plugins. I like the Oxford EQ very much and a variety of compressors. In short I would not buy a vocal channel strip for my own uses.

I'm amazed at the low, low cost and pricing by the song. Mixing and mastering (in ProTools) is a service I offer to the community at a substantial discount off my rate card prices, but it is an hourly cost after an estimate upon hearing the material. I don't see how mixing and mastering ANYTHING more complex than 2 elements would take less than 4 hours which for 74 pounds per song is less than 20 per hour. Not really professional wages. MP3's.... Our audio society is becoming very polarized with initial tracking at 96K or higher and 24 bits, then the public wants to transfer it to an ipod with a bit rate of 128. MP3's are definitely not suitable for masters. My only haggling story in this regard is offering to evaluate a recording and giving an opinion led to the "client" sending me the raw tracks and asking me to mix them -- 4 songs -- and he only had $30 in his budget. I gave him the opinion I had promised and told him I really couldn't be of any further help. (HELP!! )

I'm with Steve. The purpose of a direct box is to make a high impedance, low level signal (guitar, bass, etc.) compatible with a mic pre that is looking for a low impedance, low level input (like most microphones). If you are using a typical mic then there is no reason for a DI. When recording guitar, bass etc., the chain should be: instrument=>gadgets/FX boxes/pedals=> DI=> mic pre=> compressor (if desired). The pedals are expecting high impedance/low (microphone) level and will be happy, but without a DI before the mic pre, the sound will be thin. Note the compressor will look for line level, not mic level.

It is typical to record takes until one is excellent, except for a short section or 2 which are "punched in" (recorded over) to improve. Takes are much less mechanical sounding and once fixed are.... perfect. you're right, the studio is a totally different environment from live. Headphone balances are the biggest challenge IMHO. The engineer may want some people to alter the volume to improve the recording, some things might be isolated, etc. So every player will feel a little out of sync with what he is used to on stage. As far as whether to hire a "ghost" band or not depends on how the project is labeled. Is it a single vocal artist or is it the band, e.g. Paul McCartney or The Beatles? If it's the latter, Ringo has to be there.

Good advice, Prom!! HERE IS AN ON-LINE WAVELENGTH CALCULATOR. Saves wear and tear on the gray matter I agree that it is good to have mics equidistant from sound source. However, it isn't 100% possible if there is more than 1 source (consider the size of a drum kit) unless the capsules are 100% coincident. HERE IS A DESCRIPTION OF VARIOUS STEREO MIC TECHNIQUES. I generally find the XY method is not spacious enough and prefer the AB method. Plus most of my work is large ensembles and mixed in 5.1. Since my work winds up on DVD's and in living rooms, I still have to be very careful about phase, which is the basis of PRO LOGIC surround decoding. We often talk about phase as a negative, which it certainly can be. It is also one of the cues that allows us to hear in stereo/surround, along with volume difference, time delay (directly related to phase) and frequency content. In my work, I have a minimum of 5 mics open all the time -- the Decca tree (3) and surrounds (2). Discription of Decca tree: AEA's description of the M50 as a large diaphragm mic is incorrect. It is a small diaphragm surrounded by a plastic sphere to tailor the directional characteristics of the omni capsule. My last comment (I promise ) is that even with severe phase differences, the sonic effect is dependent on the relative volume of the signals in the mix. An exaggerated example: if the overheads in the case of a drum kit are turned off, there is no phase problem, but as the faders are brought up in the mix, the phase relationship becomes more and more apparent.

Obviously, the place to start is a great sounding drum kit and player. It makes life lots easier. As far as mic choices, Kick - D19 for a warm fat sound, 421 for snap Snare - sm57 top and bottom HH - KM84 -10 dB pad Each Tom - 414 -10 dB pad Overheads - KM84's, 414's for brighter sound, Coles 4038 for smooth ambience (note that the Coles are figure 8 and work only in a good room.) I realize these are toward the high $ end but they work great. Lots of people use 421's on toms for the presence rise, but the off axis response is not so good making placement more difficult. Nightwolf is right about the importance of overheads. Without them, the cymbals sound off-axis and filtered, being picked up by the tom mics. My 2 cents.

Hi Jeff Given your needs, the only mic that comes to mind for both applications is the AKG 414. A bit pricey, though. At a mid price point would be the Audio Technica. It will be difficult to find only 2 mics ideal for acoustic guitar and vocals. I suggest a total of 3: I prefer a large diaphragm condensor for vocals and small diaphragm condensors for guitar. The small diaphragms will be prone to Popping P's on vocals. The larger diaphragm will have less (not none) of a problem with that, but won't be quite as crisp on the guitar. There are several choices for guitar. I personally most often choose the AKG 460 with the CK 61 capsule (some have the CK1 which I find a bit bright), but they are likely out of your budget. The mics that would be in your price range would include: MXL 990 for vocals MXL 604 and Oktava MK012 Would be good choices for guitar. All of the mics I suggest will be less consistent in manufacture than the more expensive mics, e.g. AKG, Neumman, etc., so make sure you will be able to exchange it if you get a bad one. Happy recording. Check out the picture links in my signature and add comments if you like.

How's this for Irony? I just finished typing a reply, but navigated in the wrong direction and lost my post. Shoulda backed it up. It might have said: There are at least 3 levels of backup. The 1st is the change as the song evolves, e.g. mix data. Save early and often, say every 5 minutes or so. The 2nd is at the end of a session/day. This I backup to a different hard drive using a program that looks only for changes on the master. Very fast. I wouldn't argue with anyone who backs up to more than 1 drive, but that works for me. The 3rd level of BU is archival. This is at the end of a project that you want to save for more than a month or two. For this, I keep the master drive and print all the data to a DVD. Hard drives are just not suitable for long term storage because they are fragile and susceptible to magnetic damage or deterioration. On my business PC's, I'm using a program called Memeo Auto backup or something close to that name. It cost $30 and is programmable to keep specific folders backed up to a different drive (in my case a terabyte Western Digital Firewire) and it works on networked PC's. My 2 pence (oops I mean cents -- just got back from London )