Audio Reviews

Research On Cymbals

2011-11-27T21:58:00.000-08:00

An Option Of Cymbals
Musical use Cymbals are developed in different category of metals, when you have tried using the basic cymbals and sense the urgent need to spice up your cymbals enhancement, then there are lots of types of cymbals available that can take your cymbal preference far beyond the standard ride, crash and hi-hats method.

China cymbals typically have a bell with a shortened cone shape, with an outer rim that is turned up in reverse shape to the main bow of the cymbal, and are mounted with its bell side down. China’s provide a darker, trashier unusual cymbal sound; this became fashionable with drummers in the 70’s and 80’s. These days China cymbals are obtainable in a much wider range of sizes. Rock and Pop drummers usually invert them and mount them upside down.

Splash cymbals are smaller versions of crash cymbals, generally measuring between 6"-12" in diameter. Splashes have a quick, bright attack with little sustain, creating a swift burst of sound that’s remarkable for accents when a standard crash could be too much.
Sabian APX Ozone, Zildjian EFX cymbals, and Meinl Generation X Trash have holes in them, producing a drier range of sounds and shorter sustain, somewhere in between a Crash and a China. The Meinl Filter China has holes in it that give it a quieter, shorter sound than a standard China.
Stacked cymbals layer 2 or more cymbals on top of each other, creating a quick, focused burst of white noise-like sound. These include the Sabian Chopper, Meinl Generation X Signature Benny Greb Trash Hat, Meinl Generation X X-treme Stack Effects, Sabian Mike Portnoy Max Stax Pack, Paiste Noiseworks Triple Raw Smash Cymbal Set, and Meinl Generation X Electro Stack 8" and 10" Effects, among others. With their harsh, almost electronic timbres, many of these stacked models are ideal for modern genres like techno and drum’n’bass.
Conclusively, there are a number of metal percussion instruments available now that really can push the envelope, challenging traditional ideas of what a cymbal is. For example, Zildjian’s Spiral Trash Effects Cymbal features a hanging metal spiral that creates wave-like sounds. Factory Metal Percussion creates a variety of cymbal-like metal percussion instruments mountable on cymbal stands, many of which include bells, jingles, and other effects. Hammerax is known for their absolutely unique cymbals, beautiful to look at and capable of creating a peculiar range of metallic sounds. So for the drummers and percussionists looking to expand their sonic expressions, these choice of Cymbals offer captivating choices. Just type "Effects Cymbals" in Google and you will see what I intended to tell you with all the other options of creative cymbals.
Cheers

Alphonso Soosay

Looking for that Factual Soundstage

2011-11-24T17:56:00.000-08:00

A Precise Balance of Soundstage
On hand there are issues to check when having difficulty in getting a smooth, flawless soundstage from your front left speaker across to the centre speaker and then to the front right speaker. On the other hand you have to know if the majority of your audio imaging appears to fold over into the centre speaker only.
If that is the problem you are having, then it’s time to cautiously measure the centre-speaker distance (inches or cm) and level (volume) program it in your Dolby Digital receiver's setup menu. This also applies to all other speakers’ connected to your Dolby Digital audio system. Many Hi-Fi and Home Theatre disciples seem to run the centre a little too loud, not sure why. For that reason you have to fine-tune the centre speaker level for its quality of sound and loudness (85dB), make sure its dialogue has good tonal and clarity, but not louder than the other channels. Use the volume test meter (VU) to read the volume level. A perfect balance between the other speakers has to be there with links to where you are seated.

Make an effort to place your Left and Right speakers so their front panels are even with the centre channel, then move the centre channel slightly further back, if possible wall-mount it just below the Home Theatre screen or Plasma TV, that’s just another option. When the three main front speakers form a logical “Arch” facing your sweet spot settee, with the centre speaker slightly further away, then you will experience favourable improvements in the front soundstage.

Centre Speaker Intelligibility
Even though most conventional forward-firing speakers are directional to a degree, it also depends on the output frequencies of its sound. Especially high treble can be quite directional, and lots of midrange sounds, where most voices exist in. It’s easy to confirm this effect by just standing in front of your centre speaker and walking well off to either side, or "off-axis". You will hear the midrange and highs become less detailed and voices become a bit lifeless. Characteristic and accuracy are among the prime requirements of any centre-channel speaker. If you seem to have trouble understanding movie dialogue, then start with increasing the volume of the centre speaker using your Dolby Digital receiver’s speaker setup menu, and then try these solution:
In situations where centre channel is above the full-size TV, then it will be well above the height of your seating area, you will have to modify the focus issue by getting a couple of rubber doorstops and wedge them under the rear part of the speaker base so that the front of the speaker fires directly towards the listening sweet spot. Most quality centre channels have broad horizontal dispersion, but it’s always important to have the centre speaker aimed toward the listeners. Options are if your centre speaker is on a shelf beneath the Screen or TV; angle it upwards towards the sweet spot area. You must have noticed that in large movie theatres the centre channel is always behind the centre of the screen and carefully horn-loaded to direct the dialogue over a broad horizontal angle and a narrow vertical one, to avoid sound bouncing off the ceiling, which can hinder its clarity. Similarly never position a centre channel more than 15 inches above the LCD or Plasma TV display.

When you reposition a speaker when you feel like may significantly alter its sound. So, it's very dependent on your particular setup,
The tonal changes that can occur are generally minor but in some unique cases they can be quite audible. But with a bit of fiddling with the two fronts and centre speakers placement you will be able to restore the tonal balance.
The results can be charismatic, Just changing the centre-channel location will certainly determine how neutral or transparent your centre channel loudspeaker will sound, and how well it will tonally blend with your front left and right speakers.

It is exciting to experiment with multi speaker placements for best results, and most of the time it can take a whole day or two. But if you can identify obvious tonal differences between your centre and the main left and right speakers and you find those tonal differences distracting, then it's a must to experiment with your speaker’s placement. Every room is different, so experiment with different locations, even sliding the speaker a little to the left or right.

For a superior centre channel sound coverage especially with a large 100 inches screen and a front mount projector, experiment using two centre channel speakers, one above and one below the screen. This is a advantage for several viewers at the same time. When two centre speakers running in parallel it will image the dialog to the centre of the screen, the effects will be just like your local Cinema, This dual centre-speakers configuration will also reduce the effect of the location on the tonal balance. Even when you are walking around the room, the tone of the dialog (voice) is captivating.
Enjoy your Music.

Alphonso Soosay
Audio Recording Engineer
Perth

Room Reflections & Absorption

2011-11-23T17:54:00.000-08:00

Hi-Fi & Home Theatre
If you want to hear a superior and more balanced sounds of CD’s and DVD’s in your home Hi-Fi or Home Theatre system, the one aspect most people often pay “No” attention to is the listening room itself. Although audio speakers most of the times get the blame of being "too harsh or too bright" or "too boomy," But majority of the time it’s often the reflective or absorptive nature of the room’s furnishings and ornamentation that are determining the audio speakers' sound rather than any ingrained problem with your quality speakers.

Any ideal "Hi-Fi or Home Theatre" listening room needs a touch of reverb to help increase the perceived loudness of the home speakers and also to prevent the room sounding unnaturally dead. Also the reverb time needs to be roughly equal at all frequencies across the audio spectrum if coloration is to be avoided.
Consciously, modern loudspeakers designed for home listening have their tonal balance in synch so they will sound refined and natural when heard in living rooms that are "typically" furnished with rugs or carpet on the floor, upholstered furniture, curtains of some sort, and book-cases on the back wall.

However in a fancy situation where tiled floors, with walls of exposed glass or face brickwork used, the problem will be when using balanced normal speakers it will cause too much midrange and also treble energy bouncing around the room. With midrange and treble sounds boosted, these surfaces react like mirrors and light, reflecting the high-frequency energy from the speakers.
Using an Equalizer (EQ) can be of a small help, but a healthier approach is to make the first move by solving the problems in the deflective areas by means of using rugs, curtains and perhaps a tapestry or two to break up and absorb some of the high-frequency liveliness. Using upholstered furniture benefits a lot with acoustic control, also boxed enclosure and bookcases will break up and disperse sidewall reflections. The thicker the floor carpets with under-pads, the more unique absorption will take place of reflected treble and midrange energy. Taming the multi reflections of a bare room is very interesting and it can go a long way in getting that ideal balance of smooth highs, clean midrange and deep bass that we all would like from our own preferred speakers.
Happy Listening.

Alphonso Soosay
Audio Recording Engineer

The Options of "Pitch Correction"

2011-11-15T22:18:00.000-08:00

"Auto Tune"

Greetings to the Millennium. Creative Music is shifting; we are into an outburst of inventive audio technology.

"Auto Tune" can be useful audio-processing "Pitch Correction" software developed by Antraes Audio Technologies.

Initially, Auto Tune was mainly used as a logical way to cover the mistakes (out of pitch) of a Singer in Recording Studios. Recording Engineer's select the vocal track and then define the "Target Key and Scale". The vocal track is then processed according to how much pitch correction is required, just a touch, to correct minor pitch issues or applying a great deal to create a certain vocal effects like "Cher". This is done effortlessly by clicking and sliding the incorrect note to the correct note. Auto Tune works as either a plug-in for RTAS equipments to auto tune in real time or as a Standalone editor. What formulates the auto tune processor to sound so extreme is that it makes minor changes in pitch and pulls them dramatically into key.

It's important to remember that audio recording is not a competition; it's a creative process of expression. Only genuine singers and gifted talents have to be at the session. The end result is when you are creating music with lyrics for entertainment; the main aim for the Artists has to be prepared the correct way (Performance with Emotion) so that Singers can perform on stage with no problems.

The reality is, in recording studios, Artists performance, enhancing studio tricks takes place with all kinds of technique's, from Pop, Rock, Jazz, Rap, Country to Metal Music. It is clearly obvious that various audio processes are used in the recording studio with audio dubbings, premix, editing, click tracks, drum replacement, quanitsing, layering of Guitar parts, pitch and timing replacements. A studio recording by a Pop Band is about as close to a real performance on stage as the Band is always happy to master all the corrections done in the recording studio before they perform Live.

Without a doubt of the exception of Jazz and Classical music, creating a Pop recording is not really about capturing a real musical moments like Jazz or Classical, it is all about creating the definition of what that composition is all about. Pop music can be subjective in many different ways. Pop songwriters form their understanding of how musical instruments sound through the recordings we listen to, some songwriters create new ideas as they move on to the final stage. The easily identifiable sound of Rock Drums bears little resemblance to the sound of a acoustic Drun Kit in a room, instead it is defined by the heavy compression, gating and reverb that characterises the genre. These artificial sounds already define what we expect music to sound like.
If Auto Tune is wrongly used by an in experienced user then it can take the Singer's expression right out of the track. Then again when used by an experienced recording engineer, it can make improvements on a less gifted vocal performance. It's a matter of how the recording and mix engineer uses the Auto Tune as a tool to get the job done for what he or she is aiming for, just by tweaking Pitch correction here and there or special vocal effects at certain parts of the song. Auto Tune cannot deceive individuals into thinking as substandard singers can be made to sound good. It does not work that way.

My point of view has always been, if you think you are a Singer and if you can't perform in the studio, (while you are given time) you will never make it in a Live Performance situation.

While "Waves" Auto Tune has been popular for many years, there are also other good applications that has been tested and performs the similar way, so look out for Melodyne, TC Helicon vocal processor, Apple Logic's Pitch Corrector, DigiTech vocalist and others. Auto Tune and the many similar software plug-in's can make a good Singer better and a better Singer an impressive Singer in terms of Pitch and Vocal effects.

Auto Tune is a tool that majority of Recording Studios, Producers and Audio Engineers use and its always available and used tastefully.

When is it considered cheating?
The truth is, if you are using Pitch Correction because you abviously cannot sing, and unable to hit the correct notes (can't sing in tune) on nearly every song, then that is considered cheating. Relying on it for your mediocre vocals to sound more perfect on key all the time, that's cheating.
If ever there is a project to embark on Actors as Singers who cannot sing and using Auto Tune is cheating.

Individuals who depend on a computer generated using Auto Tune to fix their non gifted mistakes should go back to their vocal teacher and ask them, if they have got the talent to become a genuine Singer. If yes, start taking serious vocal lessons to see if you can over come the assistance of using such a tool. Note; It can be very stressful at situations when Auto Tune has technical problems just like any other tools.

On the other hand, a few years ago I heard a duet recorded by Christina Aguilera and Andrea Bocelli. It was an exceptional song, but the producer blew it by processing all Vocals with Auto Tune. The question is, does Christina Aguilera really need Auto Tune? If you have heard Christina's voice "Live" you would agree that she does not need it al all. The same goes with Andrea Bocelli, does he need Auto Tune? You can by all means go for pitch perfection, but that perfection can cause high drawback with vocal tone. Christina Aguilera and Andrea Borelli's vocal style has a registered-persona that should be respected. So, the use of Atuo Tune in that song in my opinion was disrespect to both Singers and this happens a great deal these days in "Live Concerts". I consider it as a discredit to the professional Singers.

When is it considered "NOT" cheating?
It is not cheating if it is used purposely trying to enhance your voice as an effect. There is no harm using Auto Tune as long as you create something beautiful to listen to. As for me it is a creative correction tool and it is just as legitimate as creating new sounds on a Guitar or electric Piano with my final mix in the studio. If it sounds good then you have succeeded something for the audio market.

Generally in Recording Studios, Singers, Producers, and Recording Engineers are simply trying to express their interpretation of the song they are working on "Vocal tonal perfection" which will please as many of the audience that they are attempting to reach as possible. So when recording a good Singer, it is not cheating to use a good technology of the day to fine tune a Singers voice which makes it sound creative in a peculiar kind of way.

Auto Tune can also be used on a Guitar or any musical instruments to change the timbre of certain notes, this actually enhances as special effects to the original sound. But if you cannot play the Guitar then do not waste your time and money using Auto Tune.

People know what they like to hear and do not like. The buying individuals have the last say, and they will also let the music industry know when its not acceptable to use Auto Tune, its only then that the use will come to a halt. The consumers are always correct so its not fair to discriminate the music entertainers as they are only trying to create new sounds and trying to be as perfect as possible.

It is true that an excellent Singer does not need pitch correction. On the other hand, some good Singers do make mistakes in terms of pitch and that is quite normal. and in those situations the Singers simply do it again and again to get it corrected. In real term it can be difficult for any Singer to focus on Lyrics, Structure of Melody, Pitch, Tempo, Phrasing and Emotions at the same time. So that's why producers in Recording Studios are never happy with a single take performance as it is never perfect, producers normally work on a composite of the two best takes, edited together to make one good take. Can this be considered cheating? The answer is NO because the most important part of any vocal production is the "Performance and Emotion", so its not the "Pitch", it's the performance and emotions that captures and sells the artists. Performance and Emotions are what connects the audience with the Singer, and aften one shot is all you get at that "Live Concert", even worse if the Singer is ad-libbing. When a Singer achieves a great performance with good emotions but slightly pitchy here and there, then Auto Tune can be used to correct the pitchy parts without sacrificing the great performance and emotions.

A famous Singer with impressive performance and good emotions "Cher" had used Auto Tune on her recordings (Believe) in 1998 and it worked really well to her advantage as an effect, it did not affect her Singing as she can genuinely sing. However, her producer for that album used Auto Tune to create a specific, obvious sound as part of her artistic creation. It's futuristic effects on her vocals is an integral part of the subsequent record, and believe me, it became the biggest hit of Cher's career. To this day, in recording studios, the distinctive "Auto Tune" sound is often referred as to the "Cher effect".

Other Recording Artists who have used "Auto Tune" just to name a few for vocal effects are: Black Eyed Peas - Boom Boom Pow / Rhianna - Live Your Life / Jamie Fox - Blame It / Chris Brown - Forever / Draft Punk - One More Time / T-Pain - Buy You A Drank / Kanye West - Heartless.

Note: Auto Tune is an Audio processor created by Antares Technologies. In the beginning it was mainly designed to correct pitch problems in Recording Studios. This has saved lots of unnecessary studio time and stress out of the Artists.

These days it is also used for the big time "Pop Live Concerts" all over the world. I suppose show producers are using it to smooth out pitch imperfections with artist's voice to give the impression of an even more perfect show. That's "Show Business".
Cheers

Alphonso Soosay

Basics Of Human Hearing

2011-11-08T22:12:00.000-08:00

"Your Ears"

When you are at your place listening to Pop / Rock / Jazz or Country music in your recording studio sitting behind your recording console / equipment or even on stage if you are performing. What is that one important thing that makes your job easy to communicate with? When Singing, playing the Piano, Guitar, Acoustic Drums, Audio Recording or working on your final Mix. "Its Your Ears".

There is no subsititute for good natural hearing. Without a healthy condition ears, a career in or even the simple enjoyment of music would be impossible, even with today's digital hearing aids. If you do not protect your ears from the early stages, your chances of a long, prosperous career as a musician / singer or music lover could be easily be ruined. So if you are not careful, you could become problematical with hearing and have to always ask people to repeat what they are saying; in some of the worst cases, you could live the rest of your life with a constant buzzing or humming noise called tinnitus in your ears. Hearing conservation is a serious issue for anybody and music professional and general music hobbyists; you need to understand how your Ears work and how to protect them.

Generally speaking you would know by now that sound is nothing more than waves of energy. The strength of those waves is called Sound Pressure Levels, or SPL's which are measured in decibles (db). The higher the SPL, the louder the sound, and the worst it can get for your hearing. The frequency spectrum of sound waves can be understood very simply: the slower and more widespread the sound wave, the deeper the sound; the higher and tighter, the higher the frequency. Frequencies are measured in hertz or cycles. Human Ears can only pick up a limited range of the aural spectrum generally 20Hz (very low Bass) to a maximum of 20,000Hz (20 kilohertz- 20kHz), but in general most of us are unable to hear past 16kHz as we reach our adulthood.

As you might know that sound comes through our ear's canal as waves of energy, where they meet the eardrum, which is very similar to a stretched drum-head skin on a drum kit. The Ear drum causes the bones of the inner Ear to vibrate, which in turn causes the cochlea, or inner Ear to vibrate. The cochlea is filled with tiny hairs, and when the fluid in the inner Ear is vibrated, the energy is transferred to those hair cells, which translates the vibration to electrical energy which is then sent through the auditory nerve to the brain. I hope it is not complicated but you will find it interesting in the end.

Hearing loss can take place from various reasons. In fact, hearing loss can be a common birth defect, nearly one in every 1,000 babies are born with some degree of hearing loss. While we naturally lose a degree of hearing as we age, the most prevalent reason for losing hearing in today's age is overexposure of any kind of loud sound. Remember this simple modus operandi, time + exposure = loss. When you expose your ears to loud music, you damage the tiny hair cells inside your inner ear. Sometimes this damage is temporary if the exposure was limited for a short time. Have you ever had your ear's ringing for a couple of days after a loud live concert? So if this happens too many times repeatedly over a long period of time, then that's where hearing loss comes in and sits for a long time.

Always try to limit your exposure to any loud sounds. At the majority of live concerts you will experience SPL's of about 110dB decibels or greater, depending on where you are sitting or standing. At 110dB, OSHA (the Occupational Safety & Health Administration) recommends only a half hour of exposure per day. Help your cause by wearing earplugs; reducing the SPL's by even 10dB to 15dB can allow you to listen to a concert without risk of hearing damage for up to two hours. There are a number of companies now offer custom fitted musician's Ear plugs with a filter to allow unattenuated high frequencies to pass through, presenting a much better listening experience. Earplugs can cost in the region of $120/- plus a visit to your audiologist, but you can purchase universal-fit versions for as little $25/- to $50/-.

If you are a Guitarist or Musician, there are a couple of "Be Concern" things to deal with from the start. Always keep the volume low of your guitar amplifier, only bring it up to the required volume when really required. In reality no one truly needs their amplifier to be cranked up to volume 10 from the start, do they? Believe me, its not a pleasing experience for any audience or for your Ear Drums to have loud ampiifiers on stage competing for volume.
As with today's technology, just leave it to the mix engineer to do the mix for the front house speakers so that audience will enjoy your music as properly mixed. Good music should sound as if it is coming out from a CD player. That's why your personal sound on stage should not be too loud, and it will make it easy for an sound mix engineer to create that healthy sound mix which is so important for your paying audiences.

Latest technology "In-Ear Monitoring" has been the choice for professional concert tours since its introduction in the mid 1980's. Reducing the loudness on stage by using these monitors in your ears as a replacement from deafening floor speaker wedges can help you stay healthy and still carry out your performance without any loudness issues.

See your audiologist for routine hearing tests regularly, at least once or twice a year if your livelihood depends on your Ears and by doing this you are making sure that your Ears are in good health. If you do not have health insurance just like many musicians and freelance audio engineers that I do, then consider other options like a hearing screaning which can cost in the region of about $120/-, which is a small investment for a lifetime of hearing. You can also check with your local universities and teaching hospitals close by for a free Ear checkup. You might be lucky and have an audiology clinic nearby that can help you meet your hearing requirements. Very importantly, always use your commonsensical at all situations. By keeping your Ears healthy it will prevent you from being one of the many musicians who after years of overexposure is still healthy by means of hearing. Be aware of your noisy surroundings and your options, and you too can have a long prosperous Audio career creating and enjoying your quality music.
Happy Listening.

Alphonso Soosay
Audio Recording Engineer
Perth

Endorse Your Music Online

2011-11-02T18:09:00.000-07:00

"Undiscovered Song Writing Talents"

Thousands of independent Songwriters, Singer and Musicians have made it through Online Sales. Being successful as a song writer in show business at any level requires dedication, perseverance, enthusiasm, and passion. In simple philosophy, it's not a good idea to wait for a recording company to discover you as they are always too busy. In this modern world it is possible to reach out to your audience and find them. You have to start taking charge of your own produced music career progression. Start working on it as soon as possible.

According to the internet media statistics, more people are downloading their music through various mediums, including popular sources such as I Tunes and others. That is just one example of how music sales in general are changing and it's an indication that online sales are on the big time increase.

In my search, this is one of the trendy sites out there for "Undiscovered Song Writing Talents" on the web. Anyone can sell their own composed music productions (CD) on "CDbaby" right now. One of the best things about "CDbaby" is that if you sign up for digital distribution through them, they will send your music to ITunes, Rhapsody, Napster and others available through their online contacts music stores at no extra charge.

The only thing you have to do is send them at least a couple of CD's, home produced with front covers, recorded and mixed correctly should be good enough as long as it sounds and looks respectable. Importantly do not forget your biography, it should be a one page and should be interesting to read, so create an exciting story, just explain where you and your band came from and how you got into the music scene and up to the current stage. Use your news paper reviews and magazine articles written about yourself or just create one. Remember, these online investors will set you up with a personal page on their internet site where your creative music will be for sale. Currently I believe when you register online, there is a one-time fee of about $35/-, it is an affordable cost for any song writers. Note that "CDbaby will also hold on to about $4/- for every CD sold and 9% of digital downloads sales. Importantly, you will have to make decisions on your own CD cost which is a good thing. Try to keep it within $15/- range so as to get a bigger volume of sales. Check on CDbaby.net for more details.

So, when you have decided to sell your music online try to have a Facebook or MySpace site setup. MySpace is a social network website, note, SnoCap is a flash program where you can use it to sell your music and apply it on your MySpace page. Do not be concerned about how much MySpace commercializes music; believe me, it is a huge exposure for it connects you with lots of people worldwide. For your info, this online service is actually reasonably easy to use.

The sincerely thing about online sales is that, you set your own cost for your songs. Market it as a SP, EP or LP as a whole album; it's up to you. CDbaby.net will setup a small window on your profile where your Fans can buy your music directly. It is as simple as that. There are other distribution methods through SNOCap as you might be interested in, so check them out at: SNOcap.com. Actually there are quite a few websites online right now that allows you to upload individual songs or upload an entire CD that required to be distributed through their site. The solution I would recommend is to go for as many as possible and monitor them daily.

Majority of individuals who shop online these days are about 90%, these are the people who are looking for exactly for what they want. That means that exposure is the solution for an "Unknown Artist" because that's the only way to nudge into that 90% of online music shoppers. Please do your research on the other many online sites available and select the online site that suites you best.

Hopefully this should cover the basics on what you can do with your composed music in terms of online sales. Keep in mind that this is not a get-rich-quick scheme to selling music online, please make sure you have some real creative quality music content to distribute before jumping into deep waters. If you have already got some exciting creative music composed and has been recorded then why not toss them out to the online market, you have got nothing to lose, time is money. It will be a waste keeping them on your shelf. Just try your Luck and you will never know as you might just be astounded by the outcome of the results. So, Good Luck with online fishing.

Please note that it's your responsibility to communicate with your download buyers at every level. Let the world know exactly what they are buying. From the day you start sending out your songs, make sure you check it every morning and keep your website up to date. If viewers like your songs, it will be the first place they will go and see what you are up to and also check where and when your next performance is. Use mailing lists, email lists, local news paper, Fliers and posters to promote your Gig's. Send your mastered CD's to radio Stations and popular DJ's. Many local commercial stations have "Music Specialty" shows now and then. Try to get your latest CD into their hands, make friends with your local radio and TV stations. Offer to play at any of their live charity functions they may be sponsoring. You must be creative. if you can win them over as your fans then the radio stations will be able to help you along the show business way.

Send all your recordings on CD to "APRA" and apply for full membership. Your innovative recorded music is protected legally.

Your music buyers can be certain of what they are reaching for if you include detailed description of your Live Performances, Location and Date. Also include photos of your CD's where possible as it will make your page even a cut above others. Make it easy and clearly state your return policies on your site in a spot where buyers can easily find it. Respond promptly to all enquiries. Show buyers that you are listening to them and really care by courteously responding to any questions they might have before, during and after the sale of your CD. There is always things to learn from their opinions and you will develop effectively with each recordings.

At the mastering stage of your CD, make sure to include a Universal Product Code (barcode) and register your product with "Sound Scan", as this service can be used to track CD sales. This site also gives permission to Recording Companies, A&R research Managers to notice and track any sales from their head office.

Online sales option are: WWW.dittomusic.com/sell-music http://www.gotthembeats.com/ http://www.songcastmusic.com/ http://www.tribeofnoise.com/ http://www.vibedeck.com.com/ http://www.webcrawler.com/ WWW.info.com/SellMusicOnline WWW.selldownloadeasy.com/

Other options are: Look for a Music Publisher. A music publisher is in actual fact a copyright administrator. I am always amazed by the many ways a music publisher can turn music into richness. Publishing companies have the ability to collect and produce income from your original music recordings. Lots of independent artists and musicians make a living off their music because they have an experienced music publisher. If I were you, I would send my music to as many music publishers as possible all over the world. Example: Abet Music - Contact: Tony Nersoyan. Big Fish Music - Contact: Chuck Tennin. BMG Music Publishing - Contact: Scott Francis. Dream Works/SKG Music Publishing - Contact: Molly Kaye. EMI/New York - Contact: Evan Lamberg. Fox Music Publishing - Contact: Mary Jo Mennella.

When each and every stage is accepted and concluded, do not forget to look for a Music Booking agent. They are also known as venue booking agents or Talent agents for the Entertainment Industry. Music agents are responsible for the organisation of Live Music scenes in the Night-Clubs and Live Concerts. Your music agent will be able to get you and your Band booked to perform Live Shows. It is the booking agent's job to make sure that you as a Singer are performing for the correct Live audiences, they monitor your performances and get you and your Band more public exposure. The majority of experienced music agents work closely with music promoters all over the world, radio stations and Record labels to effectively promote your music. It is also your Booking Agents responsibility to take care of your negotiations with venues and show promoters.

When and if you are looking to promote your live music the good old tasteful way, then these contacts below will definitely come in handy in your favour.
Focus Promotions / Brian Davidson Management / Booking Entertainment.com / Perth Professional Entertainment Services.
Good Luck to you.

Alphonso Soosay
Perth

Tips for New Singing Talents

2011-07-12T00:54:00.000-07:00

So You Want To Be A "Singing IDOL".

A Review By:

Alphonso Soosay

Okay, the challenge is, do you think you have got what it takes to be the next unique “Singing” sensation? If the answer is “Yes”, please read on.
Here are some guidelines for talent / noticed in the music showbiz world.
What is A&R? It is the short form for "Artist and Repertoire" which is the department that is vital to a “Recording Company's” existence. An A&R Manager is responsible for decision making of new performing artists, songwriters, employing producers and then developing singers as professional artists. The A&R person is also the main key link between the performing artist and their record company.

1) Please note that it can be tricky to get one foot into a show-biz door. But on the other hand if you are on the way to become recognised and develop into one of the top singer in show business, then you must try to stand out from the crowd, you must be willing to work hard and love what you do. You must be really passionate about music. But the most important thing is to enjoy what you are doing as it creates joy and happiness for other people to enjoy, remember, you are in the entertainment world.

2) Practice makes your performing perfect and the last thing you would want is to get noticed before you are primed. Take vocal lessons if you feel it is necessary, rehearse on a regular basis and make sure your live show is to your satisfaction before putting yourself out there. Always maintain an open mind and try to get your head around at all the different variety of music out there.

3) Get a video demo done when you are ready and try to put at least three of your best songs on it and have it ready at all times for any A&R manager that might pop in at one of your live sessions. Confidence in yourself is the key, so make sure it is to your satisfaction.

4) Do you have your own Facebook or MySpace page setup? If not, its time to create one for yourself as a Singer including a brief biography of yourself from day one, insert your latest songs as video footage to You-Tube and not forgetting a recent picture of yourself, it doesn't have to be a fantasy, just current with the best shots you have. Note: Utilising the free online media such as You-Tube and MySpace are excellent ways through which new up and coming acts may establish a lucky contact with A&R managers from any part of the world.

5) The most common comprehensive way to build up your singing confidence is performing live as often as you can, video recording it as often as you can, observe the playback and correct the mistakes yourself. Remember, there is no Gig-show that is too small when you are starting out. Performing at any club & school functions, talent quests to local festivals or holiday events all help.

6) Performing for live audiences is really an important step for a new talent singer, getting all the exposure and experience up on stage in front of live audiences is a step to confidence and achievements. If you look around, there are lots of competitions that take place all year round and you are entitled to enter these competitions as an unsigned performing singer, this is where Show-Biz talent scouts hang around.

7) When you are hand picked and confirmed to perform for a show by any show promotor, always try promoting it yoursel first. Get involved with your local weekend news activities, Express Magazine or try creating your own and invite all your friends over the weekend. Don't forget to inform your local suberb news paper of your performance, find out who writes CD and Gig reviews in your area, forward them your detailed information and invite them to your performance.

8) Music recording companies always fancy an already established Fan base, creating one and keeping your Fans up to date is very important. Social networking sites like Facebook are a super easy and fun way to keep in touch. Informing your personal contacts about any upcoming Gigs and make sure at every show you have a small table near the entrance area where new fans can sign up for your mailing list, a monthly e-mail letter to your fans will touch them and they will be happy to know all the latest gossip (who said what) about your last music performance. So you are creating a news letter gossip which people love and will remember you for a long time.

9) Its a known fact that fame very seldom happens overnight. If you want attention from a recording company, you must have the active responsiveness of the public. The other option to get your music to an A&R person is to create a gossip among your fans and get them to invite the A&R person to your next gig. Promote yourself online and locally and don't wait for an audience to find you, tell your mum first, then your closest friends and your many friends at work.

10) So, if you would like to be in the music business, you must keep up to date with the Australian, American and British music scene. When writing new songs, always try to get hold of knowledge of what the market is listening to and get motivated in that area, if that is your style. Success in the music business at any level requires passion, dedication, persistence and enjoyment. When you are performing, dress according to your style of music, make sure it’s enjoyable music that people around you can sing along too, a good audio recording (CD) can be a bonus income at your gigs, at all times put up a good show even on a bad headache day, create a worthy fan base and have the enjoyable fun to your advantage as you perform on every occasion.

11) Remember: Singing is a talent that most people have and singing is about life. People like to sing because they can show their different emotions in a song. Singing is all about freedom and makes anyone feel good. Singing is a expression within a person and it will communicate within the Singers to the listeners. Singing is an essential part in people’s life as it is also a stress reliever and it is a wonderful vocal instrument that God has given to all Singers. Singing is all about expressing emotions, joy and pain. Singing allows a singer’s feeling to come alive and singing is a genuine way of expressing their emotions like feelings of desire, feelings of sadness, feelings of love and romance and whatever feelings they might have at that time.
Professional Singer’s sing with their feeling’s most of the time, when they are sad they will sing to a more gentle song, when they are angry they will sing a difficult song, when happy they will sing just about anything, and when they are relaxed they will sing easier songs, and when they are joyful or motivated they will sing real entertaining catchy fun songs.
Hey! Enjoy singing while you can as it is also a stress reliever after a hard day’s work.

12) As a Singer, it would be wonderful to write your own songs as you will benefit with Royalties. Song writing is the focal point of what makes many Singers and Bands breakout into their adaptable air of superstardom. A Songwriter’s inspiration for a song is the point of magic. Writing impressive songs is a replica of vision, there is no denying of that. When it comes to serious song writing it’s all about work of art and rewrite until the whole song is packed together into a perfectly balanced slice of truthful way of life. Sometimes it does not matter if the meaning of the song is lost on some areas (it can be subjective) because most song writer will present their own meaning, so in the end it will sound true to that song writer and this will eventually come through to the listeners. When you are listening to a gifted songwriter you will hear that he or she writes about Love, Pain, Happiness, or Universal practicality.

13) So, you have decided to become a Singer singing great songs that you will want to hear yourself on the Radio and TV. The point to note about good Singers is that most of them have extraordinary voices plus a huge vocal range. That is why after a while they become "Divas". They inspire their Fans and audience to sing along with them and most audiences love that. Sometimes while in the shower most people think that they can sound "just like them". Ha, ha, ha. As a new talent Singer you will have to work on "Compulsory Foundations" that will get you to become a successful Singer in no time. Practicing exceptionally on every of its musical scales daily is the way to success. So take action on: a) Vocal warm-ups (musical scales), it is a measure of its vocal range. Range is the distance between the lowest notes and the highest notes a Singer can sing. It is very important because you will be able to measure your singing base line so that you will be able to chart your progress as you improve. b) Most of the successful popular Singers know their range and which notes they can and cannot sing. I have noticed that most of them choose songs according to their range, example, if a Singer has a range of 12 notes, then choose songs which will fit into a 12-note range and the majority of Singing teachers will be able to help you find songs that are acceptable within your range. c) Importantly for you to know is the lowest note you can sing and the highest note you are most comfortable with. Then you must measure the range of the songs you have in your mind and you are thinking about singing. So it is a matter of listening to many of the songs in your list and in which you have decided which is best for you and importantly you must identify the highest and the lowest notes of each song. Note: the highest notes in most Pop Songs are generally to be found mainly in either the chorus or the bridge section. d) Look for a Musician friend with a musical instrument such as a Piano or Guitar to work out those high and low notes in real time. Check and see if these notes are in your singing range. If they are not, then you have two choices. You can either change the key of the song lower or higher or replace the song completly with another song. e) Make sure that you are singing songs that are within your range. Choosing a song that best suits your range will give you a far better chance to be noticeable as a good singer by the contest Judges, public and audiences. And finally if you are looking for the correct songs that will suit you, then there extensive hit songs out there on Radio and CD shops, not just for "Divas", but for every vocal range. You will just need time to find the right song to suite your singing style and range. That is what most of the popular Singers do and also the young talents that go for the Australian Idol and X-Factor contest.

To be a "Pop Star" as yourself, you must glitter your own light, be devoted to your own path, and pay no attention to the darkness. For that is when your Star will shine brightest.
Good Luck to you.

Alphonso Soosay / Audio Recording Engineer
Perth

Alphonso Soosay's Audio Interview

2011-06-21T20:10:00.000-07:00

Jeff Brown (X-Press Magazine)
Interviews
Alphonso Soosay (Edith Cowan University)
Final Mix (Audio) Interview

Q: Alphonso, How would you create an Analysis from a Completed Multitrack to a Two-Track Final-Mix? A: Okay, My way of creating an Analysis from a completed multitrack to a Two-Track final-Mix stage is only done after I have recorded that perfect song on a multitrack. “Final-Mixing” of a multitrack is where all the (sweetening) magic really takes place. So now coming back to your question, my method of Analysis from a completed audio multitrack to final-mix is using a six step principal. 1) I press the play button on the multitrack. 2) Then I make sure that every track has been recorded appropriately and importantly to make sure that there are no phase problems. 3) Very slowly I move up all the individual tracks at a Flat Response to the proper mix levels. 4) This is a stage where I start to listen very carefully and use equalisation to each track only if required and create a demo mix to my satisfaction. 5) Sit back and approach it as an out of the blue listener. It’s only then that I can analyse each track and which part of that song that can be made exciting. 6) I start tweaking the individual tracks one by one; creating meaningful effects (reverb, delay and compression) that will enhance (sweeten) that song. At the end of the Final Mix Session it is a matter of “The Good Ear” and “Balance”. Also a impressive mix is all about having sufficient depth with punch, clarity with focus and vocals that stands-out within all that many musical instruments that slither around it.

Q: On the very first time listening to a song, What do you focus on a song? A: Well, I focus more on its overall feel, its structure of melody, the Lyrics, intonation, the groove, what glues it together, what makes me tap my foot, and be pulled into the story of the song.

Q: Can you see in your mind's eye a final mix on first playback? A: Yes this is easy, to predict is something I can feel as soon as I playback a song when it is in the 4th gear that’s after the second chorus. It’s only then that I can hear and see a clear picture on the very first playback. The elements to lookout and qualify as a good final mix are: 1) Cleanliness, stereo track must be clear with good seperation, no noise or any anomalous artifacts, no hiss, clicks, or pop's. 2) Clarity, musical instruments and voices must be very clear, no mushiness or woody effects in the recorded audio, no particular bias to any form of Equalisation. 3) Separation, each and every track must clearly display separation in the musical instruments and vocals used, no bleeding must exist, no clash of frequencies (phase cancellation) with either track, each track must sound distinct and separate from teach other. 4) Level, final mix must display a good level that does not tire the listiner, any boost of unwanted frequencies ranges will tire the listener, and prove problemantic on certain playing mediums. 5) Balance, The final mix must not have any bias towards either side of the stereo field and must be sensibly spread with attention to frequency management. 6) Environment test, the final mix must sound acceptable in all environments, home hi-fi, car systems, studio and club reinforcement systems. The above are the basic criteria for a good final mix.

Q: What brings together a great song for you? A: Well, first of all a great song requires an outstanding structure of melody, upfront vocal or musical instrument performance with impressive music arrangements with a blend that complements it. Also importantly is an excellent recording that can be brought back to my home for pleasure listening. Note: A good song is not complete without an outstanding audio mix. This is something where I can listen to its music over and over and be happy with which usually translates into one where I can hear its musical arrangements even at very low levels with every musical instrument that was recorded. This is what brings a great song together for me.

Q: How do you put together a great album? A: producing a great album is all about devotedly work, impressive song writing, using singers with a enormous vocal range, finding the right professional session musicians for the job and quality audio engineering combined with exorbitant production, it must create a vision that flows like a drinking a glass of quality red wine.

Q: In what ways would you like to combine Analogue and Digital? And why? A: With today’s technology I have the options and the combination I would prefer is Recording in Digital, and then every track goes through an analogue processor device in the final stage for that warm and orderly sound. The reason is, when compared to today’s Analogue recordings, Digital prevails at the first stage because it is much quicker and it has more options at recording stage. For example, when an Analogue reel to reel recorder is compared with a 16 bit Digital recorder, the total harmonic distortion on an Analogue recorder is 0.2%, and on Digital recordings it's 0.005%. The Wow and Flutter on Analogue is 0.03%, and with Digital it’s unmeasurable. Analogue’s loss of Signal to Noise ratio during copying is 3db and with Digital recordings it’s rather unspecified. The fact is: In Real Life it is impossible to put the 100% warmth of analog recording back into digital masters. But with today's technology, a quicker and cheaper option is available. Example: the “Waves Master Audio PMX” plug-in on the Final Mix or Mastering; it brings back the richness and warmth of reel to reel tape saturation to any Digital Audio Workstation system. The “Waves Master Audio MPX” has adjustable tape speed, bias, flux, wow, flutter, and also with adjustable noise parameters; it provides comprehensive control over the contours of any sound. To me this sounds quite close to the real original Ampex tape sound.

Q: Let’s say that, You have mixed the whole album from Pop, heavy Rock to R&B, and Jazz to Classical. Do you have a different approach of mix for different style of music? A: Definitely yes, I believe the approach has to be different for the different style of music. The songs really determine the approach to the mix. And I love having the variety as it make my everyday most interesting; with the first listening-in it tells me what’s required in percentage (%). Vocal vs. Music / Hard Rock 40/60 / Pop 60/40 & 50/50 options / Disco 50/50 / Ballads 60/40. Country 60/40. Jazz 60/40. Rhythm & Blues 50/50. Opera 60/40. Classical 50/50. Plus there are processing options where you can put more spice (EQ/Compression) into its music if required. Please Note; Above percentage Figures given are only guidelines as each song is very subjective with different types of music arrangements.

Q: How long does it take to mix one song? A: Mixing one song can take anytime between 1 to 5 hours. It all depends on its musical arrangements and how the different tracks are arranged. Audio Mixing is where the magic really takes place and getting that perfect audio mix is a challenge. It’s only when it turns me on, then it’s ready to go on-air.

Q: While you are in the final-mixing stage, Can you tell if a song is going to be a hit?A: Yes, it is possible to know if a song is going to be a hit that is when that song has a very good structure of melody, a specific singer singing it with perfect intonation and presenting it with lots of expression/feel, this is the point where I start getting very serious and really giving it a glass polish all the way.
Hit songs tend to be like glue on your head; it really sticks in your mind even while sleeping.

Q: Do you have the freedom to get adventurous with tracks while you are mixing? How far will you take it from the original rough mixes? A: In the last 32 years of audio recording and mixing experience, most producers and songwriters would expect me to do whatever it takes to make their song even sound greater, that’s the freedom I get and it’s my duty to get adventurous within limits, and sometimes it takes precise skilfulness to get it there. I always use the basic rough mix as a road diagram, knowing that everyone has been used to hearing that version. Then I use my creative thinking giving it a real technical polish for the song’s sake in uplifting it. The difference one would hear is between an unpolished and a polished car. It will be that smooth.

Q: When you are working on a final mix, is the band or the producer with you? & Do you perform as a team along the way? A: At the very first hour of each song I normally start off the mix all by myself setting up all the basic levels, and then I would play the basic mix for the band and producer when I have it almost ready. Then I would get the songwriters and each musician’s input of their performances and make the necessary changes on each track before the final mix is confirmed. My habit is to encourage questions while I am at the final stages of mixing audio as it make easier for me to fill in holes in the mix especially with big band musical arrangements. Also, my aim in any audio music production is to always make sure that the songwriters, musicians, singers and the producers are happy in what they have created.

Q: Your Mix of “The Jackals” and “Great Aussy Bite” sound’s great on every kind of audio system. What’s your secret? A: The secret is to listen to its music (while mixing) at the correct levels (85dB) on small and large speakers and to focus on the overall music without distraction. Importantly, a productively balanced and successful sounding mix needs the ability to listen and focus on every single instrument in the main multi-track. It is extremely important to identify the different musical instruments in each track and to assign them to their Equalisation range which then creates a perfect sound stage for mixing. Also applying precise effects from Reverb, Delay to Stereo Compression is most important to achieve in each musical track and in their precise requirement areas. Many of my mixes are operational through either JBL’s 4315, B&W, Yamaha NS10 or Mackie-824 speakers. It all depends on the type of music I am working on at that time.

Q: If you were to compare audio-mixing to other art point of view, which would they be? A: Compared to other Art form, I would say that it has to be more artistic and technical, more like a cordon bleu, because I like to create my own detailed taste in sound for each artist. At the end of the day, all the musical tracks have to match in tone with a perfect blend, also getting that perfect mix for any type of music is a great challenge.

Q: In your Recording Studio how many speaker monitors would you use or require when you are at your final mixing stage? And what are the options? A: I wish to make this obvious that I am a mix engineer who trusts his room acoustics and using quality studio monitors. If you have got the room balance correct (flat response) then you are on the right track of just using one good pair of speaker monitors all the way. With 30 over years of audio recording and mix experience I have now discovered that using one set of good studio monitors is all I need and it is more productive than listening to multiple monitors which takes a lot of my time and causes distractions to my conclusion.
Options are objectively listening to the final mix on a Hi-Fi Stereo system and a portable hi-fi system in a different home situation room. So, from experience I believe it is best to have one good set of self-assurance studio monitors to listen to 100% of the playback time. I trust there must be a person responsible in terms of your audio monitoring systems otherwise you will run into producers disapprove of problems.

Q: What and when are your delightful moments with Audio Final-Mix? A: My delightful moments with Audio Final Mix is that when you hear producers and musicians say, “Wow that sounds fantastic”, and when someone else was to ask you, “did you do that final mix for that song? It’s truly a wonderful feeling when an audio mix engineer gets comments like that. As for me, audio mixing is very creative and subjective; delightful success also depends on its structure of the melody, up-front vocals, its musical arrangements and musical instruments used. My job as an audio mix engineer is to make sure that the producers, songwriters and musicians are happy when they collect their finished product.

Q: How does a person become skilled with audio-mixing? A: The customary way is go to an audio school where one will learn about "Postproductions" this includes everything that takes place after the audio recording sessions. Generally speaking, postproduction involves mixing the completed multitrack to a two track master stereo, and the final audio mixing requirements are: 1) adjusting track levels, which is the loudness of each track. 2) Control it's panning, between Left / Centre / Right placement of musical instruments and voices in the mix as stage imaging. 3) Using Equalization, which is cutting or boosting certain frequencies in the mix. 4) Using Special Effects, which is by adding basic signal processing to each track if required such as Delay, Reverb and Compression in order to achieve a more enhanced sound. 5) The final mix down, this takes place when all the recorded multitrack are mixed into a stereo source (CD or hard drive) suitable for mastering and distribution. Or the cherished way to learn the audio skill is to work under an audio mix engineer directly who knows all the tricks of the subject and shows you all the diversity that takes place in each song. It does not matter if you are a beginner or someone with some basic knowledge; nothing beats live hands-on watching, listening, asking questions, trying, making mistakes, succeeding swiftly, and importantly having an influential, creative audio mix engineer to show you the transformed stages that takes place in the final mix.

Q: I believe, you are keen on Audio Mastering. What is Audio Mastering? A: Audio mastering is the final stage of the music making process, before it goes to the pressing stage. Mastering is also about our music industry requirements, correcting reference levels and adding liveliness to its created music. Audio mastering is intended to make sure that your song is up to the highest quality of level, it is a stage where the final mix is checked for audio errors by using advanced EQ editing and noise reduction processors, apply cross-fading if required, intro and tail editing. Often, additional compression and brick-wall limiting is applied to the final mix in order to create a tighter sound and preparing it as commercial standard. Application of the red book standard is used for CD preparation that creates correct documentation to finalize the mastering job. Also, PQ coding is applied and the album is ready for retail sale.

JB’s Conclusion: Thank you Alphonso for your time, wonderful to have your insight on Audio Final Mix. Readers please note that Alphonso has been with the Audio Industry since 1965. In 1981 Alphonso Soosay designed and built the first floating recording studio in Singapore named “Audio Visual Workshop”, his article is in The Straits Times, 30th July 1981 page 4, titled as ‘Floating Idea Man’. His other credits are, produced albums for WEA Records Singapore and Malaysia as Recording Engineer and Album Producer, worked with “AVW” Production House as Audio Recording Engineer, Audio Mixer Engineer, Manager and Audio Visual Producer, he had also worked with many commercial audio visual productions and top name recording acts in Singapore and Australia.
Jeff Brown.

2009-11-13T00:14:00.000-08:00

Home Theatre Oversight
A Review By: Alphonso Soosay

Did you make any mistakes when setting up your Home Theatre System?
You think that you have spent quite a lot of your cash in setting up your new home theatre but something tell you that it just seems not as it should be.
The most common mistakes many of us make when trying to set up a home theatre system.

Buying the Wrong Size Television
Every person I know wants a big projection screen, Plasma or LCD TV, on the other hand, a huge TV system is not always best for a particular size room or viewing distance. A good rule of thumb to follow is that the minimum optimum viewing distance from the viewer to the TV screen should be about 2 to 2 1/2 times the width of the television screen. In other words, if you have a 68-inch television, you should not sit closer than about 14 feet from the screen.
Buying the correct Projector
As the movie industry moves towards digital presentations, the door has also been opened for the general public to bring digital technology into their homes.
From DVD’s, Blue ray’s to projectors, we are seeing that digital technology is improving and allows for more storage memory, quality resolution and a real life imaging system. Seeing movies in a theater is a thrill. Bringing movie sized imaging into the home has been a problem, until now. With the new DMD chip, home viewing is now enhanced in many ways. The resolution and sound quality doesn’t have to be lost in home theatres. Keep reading for more tips on the latest and what to look for in a home theater projector. So, finding the right home theater projector is simply a matter of knowing what to look for. Before you buy a home theater projector, always ask a few questions about its resolution, lumens and contrast ratio. These are the important factors in determining the quality of images you will receive from your projector. 1) For bright, bold images, look for an ANSI lumens rating of at least 1100 and a 150W UHP lamp life of 2500 hours. 2) A contrast ratio of appox. 600:1 will allow for deep, vibrant colours on movies, pictures, video games, and sports television. 3) The number of pixels in your DMD chip will also determine the range of colours contained in your projector. 4) Remember to check out the lens on the projector as well. Ask if the projector adjusts the focus and zoom manually, automatically or both. 5) Other extra features to consider are the outputs and video signals. For instance, is your projector compatible with DVD or Blue ray players, HDMI, & component outputs MP3’s, or computers? Be sure that your projector includes multi video signals like NTSC, 4.43, PAL, PAL-M/N/60, and SECAM.
Room Windows
Most Plasma or LCD TV systems perform very well in a semi-lit room, however, darker is better, especially for large video projection screen. Never place your TV on a wall opposite windows. If you have curtains to cover the windows, make sure they cannot pass light through into the room when they are closed.

Buying Low-cost Speakers
Some people spend a small fortune on audio/video components, but do not spend enough thought on the quality of the loudspeakers and subwoofer. This does not mean that you have to spend thousands for a modest system; but you should consider quality speakers that can perform the piece of music work accurately.
With so many choices of brands available, it may seem difficult, but the ultimate thing to do is to actually listen to speakers at a home theatre showroom before you purchase. Do your own comparisons. Take your own CDs and DVDs with you to hear what they sound like with various speakers.

Unbalanced Speaker Levels
You have connected and placed the speakers at the right position and turned everything on, but it does not sounds right; the subwoofer overwhelms the room (booming), centre speaker dialog cannot be heard over the rest of the soundtrack and the surround sound effect is not effective. This can be easily solved.
Generally Home Theatre receivers have a setup menu that allows you to note the size, as well as the distance of the speakers from the prime listening position, but also includes a test tone generator to assist in adjusting the sound output level of each speaker.

User Manuals
Some times you may think that you know how to put all the equipment together. No matter how easy it may looks, it is always a delightful idea to read the owner's manual for your components, even before you take them out of the box. Get familiar with functions and connections before you hook-up and set-up.

About Service Plan
Although service plans are not needed for all items, if you are buying a large projection screen or flat panel LCD or Plasma Television, it is something to consider for two reasons:
1) The sets are big and house calls are costly when paid out of pocket.

2) If you have a problem with a Plasma or LCD screen, you cannot repair the individual defect; you will most likely have to replace the entire screen which probably means the entire set.

What You Are Really Looking For
Although considering by brand is a good starting point, but it does not guarantee that the "top" brand for a particular item is right for you. When shopping, make sure you consider a variety of brands, models, and prices into consideration. Also, avoid prices that seem to be too good to be true. Although a high-priced item is not necessarily a guarantee of a good product.

Cable Mess
Most people are all guilty of this. Every time a new component is added to our home theatre, we add more and more cables. Eventually it is difficult to keep track of what is connected to what; especially when you attempt to track down a bad cable signal or move the components around.
Here are two tips:
1) Make sure your cable runs are not too long; but long enough to allow easy access to your components.

2) Label your cables using cable markers, colored tape or other marking so you know what is going where.

Avoid using Cheap Cables
There is constant debate on whether it is necessary to purchase very high priced cables for a basic home theatre system. However, one thing to consider is that the thin, cheaply constructed cables that come with many DVD players, VCRs, etc... Probably should be replaced by something that is a little more heavy-duty. The reasons are that a more heavy duty cable can provided better shielding from interference, and will also stand up over the years to any physical abuse that occurs along the way.

10) How to get Professional Help When You Need It
When you have done everything right to your knowledge and you have connected all the components, you have also adjusted the sound levels and you have bought the right size Plasma TV using good cables but it still not right for your liking. The sound is outrageous, the Plasma TV looks inferior. What can I do?
Instead of spending more time and money, or returning it all, consider calling the people you bought the system from or a professional installer to assess the situation. You might have to gulp down your pride and pay about $60 or more for the house call, believe me, that house call investment can rescue a home theatre disaster and turn it into home theatre in a pot of gold within an hour.
Cheers

Alphonso Soosay
Home Theatre Consultant
Perth
2008

2009-11-12T22:09:00.000-08:00

Audio / Sound Accuracy
A Review By: Alphonso Soosay

What do we really mean when we talk about
"Loudspeaker-Sound"?

I bet you understand what I am talking about and we all have heard it, but what should a good loudspeaker sound like? If we are being true to the goal of seeking higher fidelity, then an ideal loudspeaker should have no "sound" at all. In other words, it should be completely transparent, an open door to the musical performance. An accurate speaker's role is to reproduce accurately the sounds of acoustic musical instruments and human voices exactly as they were present in the original source recording. The speaker should not add any sound of its own, it should not make Cello and Violins sound screechy or edgy, nor should it artificially add Bass emphasis to male singers' voices so they sound too bassy or "fat" (a common crisis of many cheap speakers).
So what sonic clues should immediately become evident?
What Characteristic do we listen for, and what weaknesses should we be
mindful of? Let's start with the midrange, which is where most musical content resides, and where our hearing is by far the most sensitive. (Yes, we all love Bass, but a speaker must reproduce the midrange smoothly if we are in due course
going to like it.) If a loudspeaker nails the midrange precisely, without harsh-sounding peaks, or dips that make the mids sound muffled and distant, it will tell your ears immediately whether you will accept it as natural and "musical." If not, you will reject it as tonally “false” or "colored," and music will not sound realistic.
We have all heard speech and we are familiar with the sound and nuances of male and female voices. And we have all grown up hearing pop music, which mostly features vocalists or groups of singers, as well as live choruses.
Therefore, a good place to start is with a good CD of an Individual singer or a group. If it's a female vocalist, does the voice sound smooth and clear? On the other hand, the vocal may sound too clear, with exaggerated "s's" and “t" sounds (that's called sibilance), which can tip you off to a speaker with a midrange peak that makes female voices sound sharp or shrill. Make sure you choose a recording that's smooth and natural to begin with many are not in order to properly judge whether a loudspeaker can accurately reproduce that voice. An older CD with a natural female vocal is Jennifer Warne's Famous Blue Raincoat. Norah Jones's voice on the DVD Live in New Orleans is a current recording that very naturally captures her vocals, without excessive sibilance or brightness. Likewise, Diana Krall Live in Paris is well engineered. If you are listening in stereo, the vocal should be naturally placed with the other instruments; it should not sound dull or muffled or sound farther back. The latter is a sure sign of a speaker's reduced or recessed midrange (sometimes termed "laid-back"), which will place midrange sounds farther away and make them less distinct.
A choral recording of men's and women's voices is an excellent test of midrange clarity and detail: Can you separate the four parts of a Chorus the male Basses and Tenors, and the female Altos and Sopranos? The Sopranos are the highest-pitched female vocals; the Altos are lower. You should be able to hear each section of a choir clearly. Speakers with depressed midrange response make all choirs sound somewhat muffled and blurred sounding. Almost any modern CD of Handel's Hallelujah chorus from "The Messiah" will do. Listen for each section of the chorus. This disc also features a very spacious and open sound with great Brass, Strings and Percussion (try playing it back in multichannel through Dolby Pro Logic II or Logic 7 processors; it decodes wonderfully) and very convincing hall sound and depth. And there are loud, exciting musical climaxes, with plenty of cymbals and drums. Good quality speakers should remain clear and not get muddy during the loudest peaks in the music. This CD is a great choice for anyone who finds some older classical works boring and ponderous.
A well-recorded male vocal such as Michael Buble, Harry Connick's voice on the soundtrack CD from When Harry Met Sally (any track except track 1, which has harsh trumpets), or James Taylor's concert DVD Live at the Beacon Theater, should be smooth and natural, with no fuzzy or low Bass emphasis. Speakers with an elevated upper Bass hump will make most male voices sound thick or fat, rather than natural and real. These recordings also have excellent acoustic and electric Bass lines, respectively, with crisp sounding Cymbals and good Acoustic Drums. On loudspeakers with good Bass response (even some bookshelf models like JBL’s have clear, smooth Bass to about 80 Hz) you will be able to follow each individual Bass note very clearly. A speaker with poor or uneven Bass output will make Electric or Acoustic Bass sound like a dull thump, with individual notes hard to distinguish.
Some classic rock recordings like Dire Straits' Brothers in Arms are very well recorded, with natural sounding vocals, deep Bass, and guitar lines that is not harsh. Likewise Eric Clapton's Unplugged DVD is an engineering stand-out. You will likely have your own favorites that you have heard so often your “Ears” will tell you when they sound "right" on good quality HI-Fi speakers.
If you are considering speakers for mostly home theater use, the same standards apply. A speaker that is smooth and accurate on music alone will be just as neutral and transparent with movie soundtracks. I do not believe that there is a separate category of speakers which are "good for home theater" or "good for music only." The same standards of fidelity apply. Center-channel speakers pose a particular challenge to any manufacturer, because the tonal (timbre) match between the center and the front left and right main speakers are very important. If there is no reasonably smooth tonal match, character's voices will shift its tonality as they move across the stereo soundstage and the seamless blend of dialog with music and sound effects will be broken. So listen to center speakers for any "boxy" effects. Speaking voices heard through a good center should not sound like a disembodied voice inside a box (compressed). It should seem natural and not change tonal quality as the actor moves across the stereo stage from left to right, or vice-versa.
I asked Tom Cumberland of “B&W Speakers and an experienced engineer involved in the audio business for many years in the UK, how he judges loudspeaker sound: His answer was: "As an electronics person, I always listen for listening fatigue, which shows up as non-linearity’s in a loudspeaker's sound. With amplifiers, listening fatigue can result distortion and other artifacts. With speakers, non-linearity’s show up as peaks “You cannot just listen for a few minutes," notes Tom Cumberland. "You have to listen for at least an hour to music or watch a whole movie in your home theater. If the speakers cause listening fatigue, it will show up with longer-term exposure."
I also asked Michael Barnes, the founder of “Norh” speakers, on what he listens for when assessing prototype speakers: "As the designer of “Norh” loudspeakers, I in actual fact analyze and compare the connections between the data from double-blind listening tests to laboratory acoustical measurements.
For those of us who do extensive listening, we become adept at picking out fairly quickly when the loudspeaker is coloring the sound. For most people who do not listen to loudspeakers for a living, this process can take some time. Regardless of the experience level, however, the individual results are shockingly consistent from double-blind listening tests. An inexperienced listener and even listeners who claim they are tone-deaf, eventually in a matter of time will have the same conclusion as the experienced listener. This process lends itself to listeners becoming more and more satisfied with the sound of a good speaker over time and more and more frustrated with a bad one.
"An analysis of why this happens shows that it is related to amplitude and balance in relation to the source material. Even using source material that is colored on the original recording and there are lots of recordings like that it will still sound as good as it is ever likely to sound when reproduced on properly designed loudspeakers. This is because the odds of a colored loudspeaker lining up in exactly the inverse coloration of a bad recording are simply impossible in the long run. The amplitude, or volume level, has a dramatic effect on the blind listening test. Two identical loudspeakers with one set just slightly higher in amplitude will consistently result in the louder one winning the listening test.
Since a colored loudspeaker will have broad variations in amplitude response throughout the audible frequency range there will inevitably be certain sections of the performance that are unnaturally louder than they should be. The inexperienced listener may conclude early on in the listening session that this is a good thing because it is a louder thing, but as various source materials are used and as various instruments or vocals on the same source material coincide with this unnaturally loud frequency region, the fatigue and the imbalance begin to become apparent and undesirable." There you are, I hope you did get some basic knowledge on understanding of Loudspeaker accuracy.
Cheers

Alphonso Soosay
Audio Recording Engineer / Musician
Perth
2005

2009-11-12T21:57:00.000-08:00

Home Theatre Calibration:

A Review By: Alphonso Soosay
Home Theatre room “Calibration” is all about, changing the settings on your audio or video equipment in order to maximize the quality of that playback device's output. The modification in quality can be very minor, or very substantial, to the point where it seems as if you are using a whole different system. Calibration has to be done very carefully in the form of a professional audio technician, or a do-it-yourself calibration disc.
There are many calibration discs are available today: three popular ones have been selected for your use, 1) Avia Guide to Home Theatre, 2) Digital Video Essentials, and 3) Sound & Vision Home Theatre Tune-Up. Each DVD disc is divided into two major sections. Section one is a general guide, useful when wiring your home theatre components together and placing your speakers in their permanent positions. Section Two is a collection of test patterns, for both audio and video, useful for calibrating your Home Theatre system. Each disc has distinct strengths, and buying the proper disc could make your life much easier.
Let’s start with the Avia Guide to Home Theatre.
The Avia Guide is the oldest of the DVD test discs, released in 1999. Needless to say, home theatre components have changed to a great extent since 1999. The Avia Guide is geared principally towards cathode ray tube (CTR) direct-view sets (the television that has been sitting in your living room for years). However, most of the tutorial section's advice still holds up, especially the sections on proper set up of a dedicated home theatre room; topics like ambient light management, speaker placement, and general acoustic advice have not varied much with advancements in technology.
The sections on preferred cable connections do not include DVI or HDMI because in 1999, there were no consumer-level electronics featuring these connectors. Furthermore, in the section discussing video technology, Avia talks about CRT projectors as well as LCD projectors; but not DLP, due to their relative scarcity in 1999, but this in no way reduces Aviv’s usefulness when calibrating DLP devices. The Avia Guide devotes as much time to multi-speaker placement and calibration as it goes to video calibration. There are sections on room acoustics and speaker placement for each set of speakers, as well as how to connect your speakers for the best possible sound quality. These calibration disc features a wide variety of test tones. In addition to the standard level adjustment tones for main and surround speakers, there are also several different test tones solely for subwoofer adjustment, to assist you in getting as flat a response as possible from your subwoofer. There is a separate section for tones used to verify that your speakers are now set up correctly. For more advanced users, there is a "reference tones" section specifically for use with advanced equipment like a spectrum analyser. The audio section of the Avia guide can help you make simple calibrations as well as more in-depth adjustments; how seriously your fine-tuning you accomplish is completely up to you.
The Avia disc has a huge selection of video test patterns, covering many different aspects of home theatre calibration; some of these are relatively simple, and some are not. Patterns for the "big five" video adjustments (brightness, contrast, hue, saturation, sharpness) have audio and video descriptions to go with them. While the narrators refer more to CRT displays than digital projectors, the patterns themselves are useful for both, as they provide consistent source material. Other more advanced patterns can reveal the accuracy of your projector's colour decoder, or with the help of some more advanced instrumentation such as a light meter or colorimeter help you to adjust colour temperature or grey-scale tracking.
Direction on the Avia disc is simple and intuitive. Similar test patterns are grouped in sub-menus, which are clearly labelled. Each and every pattern has a paragraph or two of text that describes what the pattern is used for and how it is used.
The Avia disc is a great choice for anyone who has never set up a home theatre before, but would like to learn and eventually perform more in-depth calibrations without hiring a home theatre technician. And while the narrators focus on CRT displays more than digital projectors, this just means that the Avia guide can be used on almost any home theatre systems in your home.
Digital Video Essentials
Digital Video Essentials is the follow-up to the successful Video Essentials from 1996. Released in 2003, DVE is fairly up-to-date in that it offers information primarily in the 16:9 aspect ratios, and includes an informative section on High Definition. DVE discusses some important topics for the first-time home theatre user, such as why the word "digital" does not automatically make a product better, or the effect of room environment on picture and sound quality. Unlike the other two discs, DVE discusses colour temperature thoroughly. However, it gives the user no way to set it, only an idea of what to look for. There are in-depth discussions on why progressive scan looks better than interlaced, and why component video is the best analogue connection choice.
Note: There are many topics included in the intro material that do not directly pertain to calibration. These explanations, covering everything from MPEG compression in DVDs to how HD signals are broadcast, may be confusing for the beginning home theatre user, as they make use of a lot of technical terminology and are accompanied by diagrams on-screen that serve no purpose and are not referenced in the narration. While DVE has more material relevant to front projectors, it reviews about how difficult it is to set these devices properly, and strongly urges viewers to hire a Home theatre certified technician.
The audio section of DVE goes into a discussion about the current state of audio technology, such as the differences between Dolby Digital and DTS, as well as different audio connections such as coaxial digital audio and Tos-link. It also has a guide on speaker placement for both 5.1 and 6.1 channel surround systems.
Like the Avia guide, DVE has many different test tones, and their level adjustment tones include a helpful visual diagram, highlighting which speaker the sound should be coming from. However, the added tones on the Avia disc, which allow you to eventually use advanced equipment (such as a spectrum analyser) to tweak every aspect of your system, are missing.
Patterns for the major video adjustments have tutorials describing their use. DVE also includes a "troubleshooting" section, describing common problems that could arise when setting these levels for example, crushing of the grey scale in digital projectors, compared to CRTs. There are many advanced patterns, and this test disc is great for anyone who knows their way around a colorimeter. DVE can be used in conjunction with more advanced calibration devices to set your projector up perfectly.
Direction-findings however, leaves much to be desired. While Avia's menu system was lengthy, it had the advantage of placing all menu items in a given submenu on the same page, which let you see all of your options at once. DVE often has sub-menu items spread out over three or more pages, making it difficult to see what your choices are. DVE is a good choice for advanced users of projectors and other high definition display devices. If you know what to do with the advanced test material, it will serve you well in calibrating your video system. If you are a new user with limited knowledge of the field, it could be beneficial to pick up one of the other two discs instead.

Sound & Vision Home Theatre Tune-Up
This disc is collaboration between the editors of Sound & Vision Magazine and Ovation Software, the people who brought us Avia. As such, the introductory material uses many of the same diagrams that Avia does, simply replacing the narration and the narrators with more up-to-date information. It also goes into some topics that were not covered in the other two discs; namely, Sound & Vision discusses how audio and video equipment puts off heat, and that not ensuring proper ventilation is a big mistake. It also discusses some of the downsides of long runs of video cable, and their effect on signal quality. Once again, however, there is no mention of DVI or HDMI; the disc once again shows its age, as well as how much has changed since 2001. Like Avia, most of the introductory material is centred on CRT based displays, and the narrators even say at one point that in order to obtain proper test patterns for front projectors, you would need to pick up a copy of Avia. The disc is in the 4:3 format, though it does discuss the benefits of widescreen and urges people to invest in a widescreen TV of some sort. HDTV is mentioned in passing, but only as an interesting concept that you might want to keep in mind. The patterns included can be used to calibrate DLP displays, though DLP is not mentioned at all. As for the test patterns, there are very few. Like the other two discs, there is in-depth discussion of the "big five" video adjustments, complete with visual demonstration and commentary. However, aside from a few selected grey scale and resolution patterns, that is the extent of the test material on this disc. There are short descriptions of the major audio test tones, explaining their use. For the most part, these test tones are taken straight from the Avia guide, and will help you to check the phase of your speakers, as well as balance their levels. Again, it is nowhere near as comprehensive as the Avia guide, but most people do not need that level of complexity, and this disc is perfectly adequate to properly balance your 5.1 to 7.1 channel speaker systems.
I believe this disc is best suited to beginners, as it gives a good overview of how home theatres work and what their setups involve. The basic five video adjustments are useful, and for those just starting out in the field of home theatre, this could help guard against becoming overwhelmed with the sheer amount of information available. If what you are looking for is a good discussion of how to set up a home theatre without the technical terminology or confusing advanced test patterns, give the Sound & Vision Home Theatre Tune-Up a try. If you already own Avia, all you will receive from this disc is updated introductory material.

Conclusion
Each of these calibration discs fits a different type of user. For a beginner, Sound & Vision's offering is more than enough to help you get your feet wet and perhaps arouse your interest. The Avia guide to Home Theatre is an excellent mid-range disc, with an enormous selection of test patterns and a helpful description for each, extending its usefulness from the new home theatre owner to the experienced projector user. Conclusively, Digital Video Essentials offers updated versions of many of Avia's most useful test patterns; it is still the most up-to-date of the three discs. And it sells for a much more attractive price than Avia at the moment.
Every home theatre owner should have a calibration disc on hand. If you do not own at least one of these discs, you can sure buy one through your nearest DVD Home Theatre stores.
Cheers and enjoy your Home Theatre pleasures.

Alphonso Soosay
Audio Recording Engineer
Perth
2000

2009-11-12T21:38:00.000-08:00

Artist & Repertoire (A&R) Manager
People who work in the front lines of music Scene

A Review By: Alphonso Soosay
The most important responsibilities of an A&R Representative at any Music Record Companies is to identify distinctive talents, create new song material for signed artists, They are the ones who will find the next big thing for the record companies, they listen to stacks of demo tapes and CD’s and go to as many live gigs as they can, and keep an eye on what’s hot and what’s not, music wise, and on the whole support the artistic and marketable development of the label’s artists. After they have signed a new act, the other part of the job kicks in. The A&R person acts as the link between the artist, their manger and the record company. They also deal with the artist manager, tour manager audio engineer, PR promotions, Journalist, & TV and Radio stations. They also sort out the record deal, and after that, pretty much everything else, now they plan the journey on how to make the album and manage the project within the label.
Their working hours normally starts at 10.00am till 6.00pm and then of to see artistes in the late evenings. They could be working until 2 to 3 am and at weekends too. There is no rest for A&R people.
The most sensational aspect of an A&R job is locating new talent. A&R representatives spend a significant amount of time weeding through the stacks of aspiring artists for a few diamonds in the basket. A&R are accountable for visiting clubs and other live performances to assess the potential of new and unsigned artists. They will also have to search for new talents, by listening to music demos and watching video tapes of performances by unsigned artists. In some cases, A&R representatives will attempt to attract signed bands or singers from other labels, either by offering a tempting contract after the bands original contract expires, or by buying out the existing contract. In addition to identifying artists, A&R representatives will search for top musical arrangers and hit song writers for new songs for the artists they have signed up. There are quite a lot of promising sources which must be evaluated, international songwriters, works submitted by independent songwriters, and past hits which might be re-arranged and re-recorded by the new artists.
Although a university degree is not required for A&R positions, record labels characteristically might give preference to university degree applicants. Since A&R work requires a special combination of skills, however, a few labels are willing to overlook education in favor of natural musical intelligence.
Anyone interested in becoming A&R representatives should consider university studies in subjects related to marketing and communications, such as promotions, advertising and marketing.
University degree in communications provides a strong starting point for work as an A&R representative. Since A&R representative is such a prestigious title, competition for the position is ferocious, even by the shockingly bloodthirsty standards of the music industry. As a result, applicants must have some preceding experience in Recording, Live Concerts and most importantly with the Music industry, also preferably with pervious experience in other music record companies. A good first step into getting this experience is successfully completing a music internship.
Here are some of the skills you will require to be a good A&R person.
1) Having good judgment in assessing artists, their music and their potential for commercial success.
2) Negotiation for the best deal for the record company while supporting the artist’s ambitions.
3) Understanding how songs work and how the albums are recorded and produced.
4) Capability to spot genuine potential in unique talent.
5) Having expertise to predict popular trends as years go by.
6) Outstanding verbal communications and negotiating skills.
7) Must be comfortable with outgoing socially.
8) Willing to take-on, long hours when required.
9) Having computer skills, emailing documents and filing information electronically.
10) To get the best response in all your dealings with potential signing and their managers.
If you have these above talents then it could be your kind of job.
For Musicians and Singers, this could be a job for you someday when you have the experience
of the above in years to come.

Cheers

Alphonso Soosay
Audio Recording Engineer / Musician
Perth
2000

2009-11-12T21:21:00.000-08:00

Microphones for Acoustic Drums:

A Review By: Alphonso Soosay

Selecting and placing microphones is the most important part of any recording. Make sure that you are equipped with the correct undersatnding and to make the right choices with microphones so that the first recording take can save you a lot of valuable time. Here you will find a collection of guides on basic microphone placement for a variety of Acoustic Drums and its recording situations.

Essentially,tuning your Acoustic Drums is so very important before you start any audio recording session. Tuning is subjective (high or low tuning) depending on the type of music you are performing.

In general I would prefer to tune my botton drum heads tighter that the top heads.

I had very good results with Toms and Snares using Sennheiser E604, Shure SM57
For Kick Drum: AKG D-112, Shure Beta52, Sennheiser E602,
For Cymbals/ Overheads: AKG C451, or AKG C414

To begin with: The fewer microphones used to record drums, the fewer problems there will be in the mix-down. This is because when multiple microphones are used near a sound source, comb filtering and phase shift effects will occur. Microphone placement is critical and should not be overlooked. It's better to capture the drum sound properly than to try and fix it in the mix. A good number people however want control over individual drum source and that means more microphones.

Secondly: The less processing of the sound the better and more natural your sound will be. By processing I mean anything that alters the sound like equalizers, compressors, noise-gates, reverb, and other special effects. I have used recording drums directly from the pre-amp to Digital and then into my recording system. The PreSonus DigiMax offers an 8 channel microphone preamp with ADAT optical output. Priced reasonable and sounds superior too.

Tips on Miking and Recording Drums:
It's better to re-position the microphones and find the sound you are looking for, than it is to "Fix it in the mix". If you find yourself saying "We can fix it in the mix", then take a break and re-think your approach to the recording. Why are you here? You must focus for the original tone like acoustic instruments.
Purchase the best quality microphones (Neumann or AKG) you can afford! Or Try and get a medium grade microphone. You may not get a bunch of microphones but you will get a much better sound.
If you feel stress, you must try to relax and calm down. If however you are not properly prepared, and you don't know the song or musical arrangements, then STOP! Go back to the studio and learn the song well.
How much time do you spend on Equlisation with a poorly recorded track? I
can tell you it's not worth it. Use the right microphones for natural tones.

Stereo Pairs:
If you can get away with a stereo pair then by all means do so. It's best to use a stereo pair positioned in the X format but you can also try Mid-Side and Spaced-Omni approach. When using a Stereo Pair setup I must say that the drums sound best when the microphones are positioned in front of the drums (towards the audience) anywhere from 2 to 12 feet and anywhere from 4 to 8 feet off the ground. Rule of thumb: The higher above the ground the more cymbals will be heard -lower, the more the kick drum will be heard. The closer to the drums and you hear more direct drum sound (dry). While placing the microphones further away the you will hear more room sound (wet). Find what works for you by using your ears; A) Really! If you can have an assistant move the microphones while you are monitoring, this way it’s probably better control on what you are focusing for.
Make sure you test what the stereo pair sounds like in mono. You can do this by using the pan-pot, positioning and moving it to the center position. If it sounds thin and phased or if it sounds hollow then you need to reposition the microphones. The AKG 415 is designed to not have this problem. You can also use a dual mic like AKG's C414 mic and similar condenser microphones.
One of the main problems with getting a good loud drum sound is that the cymbals bleed into the tom and snare microphones. Ask the Drummer who is involved to move his cymbals up as high as he can comfortably play them. This moves the Cymbal sound source away from the tom-tom microphones. The AKG EB-415's have excellent off axis rejection, meaning they only hear the drums and not the cymbals. You can also count on the Shure SM57 for snare and toms as well. I know of many many albums that have been recorded using the Shure SM57 on snares and tom-tom's. Also while recording see if the drummer can play his/her drums harder than usual and play the cymbals softer than usual. This creates a better and natural control with recordings.
For Toms and Snare:
The best sound I have heard are on the AKG 415 and Sennheiser E604 they’re about $600.00 each I have use these microphones at my recording sessions. Also tested the Shure SM57 which sounds excellent on toms.
For Kick Drum:
Nothing beats the AKG D-112 for the solid kick drum. If you place it near the beater you will hear more (a lot more) of the click, or attack/snap sound. If you move out towards the front of the drum (away from the drummer) you will hear a more rounded thump or the actual sound of the drum itself.
You can always place two microphones in the kick drum: one close to the beater and one out away towards the front. Either way, make sure you test it with the bass guitar and listen for any harsh or competitive frequencies.
For Overheads:
Try AKG C415, AKG C100, or AKG C414.
If you have not read the Stereo Pair paragraphs above, you should
take a closer look. Most of the information there also applies to overheads.

More Microphones are available from other brands. Check with your supplier.
Cheers

Alphonso Soosay
Audio Recording Engineer / Musician.

Perth.

2000

2009-11-12T19:51:00.000-08:00

About Audio Mastering

A Review by: Alphonso Soosay
Audio Recording / Mix / Mastering Engineer / Musician.
Perth. Western Australia

Audio Mastering is the process of preparing and transferring recorded stereo audio tracks from a source containing the final mix to the actual master. The audio master is the source from which all CD copies will be produced from.
Many home studios hope to perfect their productions by creating their own mastering on their studio computer. However, few seem to accomplish the cool results they are after.
Audio Mastering is what establishes commercial recordings apart from home recordings.
Mastering is a fine art and audio mastering engineers refer to themselves as the “Ear” in the final steps of audio post-production process. The format choice of audio recording these days is digital. Audio mastering suite is where all your songs are checked for errors, technically polished and your album is prepared for international market sale. So, audio mastering usually considered best left to a specialized mastering engineer as the positive impact is powerful with international reference standards.
However, if you are just creating demos, then there is no reason why you should not try using some simple mastering (software) for your own recordings. This can be a learning stage. At the same time, not many home recording studios realise just how much goes into audio mastering and not every home recording artists has what it takes to do a professional job.

The process of audio mastering varies depending on the specific needs of the audio to be processed. The process sequence is not limited to the following.
1) Recorded audio tracks transferred to Digital Audio Workstation.
2) Process audio track to maximize the sound quality for public listening.
3) All Songs must be sequenced as they will appear on the final product of a CD.
4) Transfer final master to Red Book compatible audio CD. Options are quarter or half inch reel tape, DAT tape, Umatic tape or CD Rom. This is the basic process.

Audio mastering mainly consists of the following five basic procedures:
1) Equalisation.
2) Compression / Limiting.
3) Reverb / Echo.
4) Categorise the songs to the producers / recording company’s sequence.
5) Normalisation.

The Guidelines below are mainly descriptive of the Mastering process and not considered specific instructions applicable in a given situation.
Rule of thumb is subjective as every music is different.
Note: Actions taken during Mastering:
1) Apply noise reduction to eliminate hum and hiss.
2) Flaws in stereo tracks to be edited.
3) Stereo mix width to be adjusted.
4) Ambience to be added
5) Use of Equalization if necessary
6) Volume to be adjusted
7) Compression to be applied
8) Checking on dynamic expansion and apply brickwall Peak Limit to the final stage of two tracks master.

Note: There is really only one rule to follow when it comes to using the “brickwall limiter” It has to be at the end of the chain to prevent any "peaks" from occurring. Otherwise as mention earlier the order is determined by your goals for the piece you are mastering. Mastering engineers are paid well because of their experience in assessing the overall mix's strengths and weaknesses and then being able to develop a plan of attack to remove or reduce the weaknesses while maintaining or enhancing the mix's strengths. Processors are used when there is a reason and need to do so. Sometimes you might not need to add equalization at all if the mix-down engineer had the troublesome frequencies under control, or you might have to surgically remove an irritating frequency.
Experiment by changing the order in your plug-in chain a few times. How did it work when equalization was put before compression and Vice versa? By this way you are learning and gaining experience in the use of audio processors.
Note: Other responsibilities in audio Mastering are, undertakings such as editing, pre-gapping, leveling, fading in and out, noise reduction and other signal restoration and enhancement processes can be applied as ingredients of the mastering stage. Mastering is a vital part of the recording process, so much so that a substantial amount of deep understanding is associated with it. Today, the tools for quality mastering are finally within the financial and technical reach of anyone who is serious about recording. Remember 90% of audio mastering is not in the processing tools, it’s in the “Ears” of the Mastering engineer. Unless you have the ears of a mastering engineer, you cannot expect any plug-in to make magic for you. Besides, much of the point of using a mastering engineer is to bring in an objective set of ears to make any needed changes prior to release.

10 key points to know and what it takes to get best results with mastering.
1. Processing. This is where your songs would be running through a powerful and transparent equalizer in order to properly balance the tracks. Then additional compression/ limiting, reverb/echo is applied followed by properly sequencing the song orders; cross-fade editing is applied to the final mixes in order to give the song a more commercial sound. Audio tracks are generally normalised to the uppermost peak level within the audio industry recording requirements, this increases the amount of audio information to its correct level, meaning it takes full advantage of its volume without distortion.
The other part of audio restoration is getting rid of noises like clicks, scratches, crackles, pops, vinyl hiss, tape hiss, static noise, hum, buzzes, pitched noises, excessive high or low frequencies, and creating a warmer tube amplifier sound.

2. Patience. A good mastering engineer must carefully listen to the given audio tracks and know that not every adjustment is going to work out. You have got to test, tweak, and compare until you get the best possible rich sound.
This means you never know how long it's going to take to master even a short track. It may need a wide range of adjustments, or not much at all to bring out the best possible sound.

3. Good ears. Most important piece of device used in mastering is the mastering engineer’s ears. Just like a photographer or artist who needs "good eyes" to create the picture with the best colour coordination, a good mastering engineer needs "good ears" to pick-out potential technical problems. And find the best combination for all of the sounds.
This often takes training and a natural gift to be able to do this well.

4. Experience. Mastering is not something you can automatically do a great job with after reading a book or having just a little bit of hands on training. Every audio you encounter is going to require different adjustments to some degree.
Only when you have gone through experiencing a wide range of music and situations, it’s only then that it’s going to allow you to know the best solutions for all of your music.
Mastering engineers take your final mixes and match the sound of all the tracks and balance between tracks and anything else that required to be done to sweetening the tracks before being burnt to the pre-master CD.

5. Knowledge of the equipment. This goes back to having experience. It often takes an engineer a good amount of years and clients before they feel fully comfortable with their tools. Monitoring is usually done on flat/accurate full range monitor systems in acoustically treated rooms. Simply knowing what needs to be applied to your music is pointless if you do not know how to do it the technical way with your processing tools.

6. Ability to communicate with your client. Sometimes there could be a problem with some mastering studios, where they do not listen and communicate with the clients first before mastering.
Some of them try to produce and process it their way where the whole sound changes. I have seen this mistake made in the past years.
As a mastering engineer, your job is to help complete the client's vision. If you cannot get a clear picture of their final vision, then you are going to have a lot of unhappy clients.

7. Cost. Mastering costs can vary greatly depending on country to country and where you go. How much audio mastering companies charge generally reflects on quality of equipments and experience? Most high-end mastering facilities will end up charging between $2000/- and $2500-/ for a CD project. Some will charge you by the hour, where you could sit with them and go through the changes with them as the clock keeps ticking. It could cost between $100/- to $200/- per hour. Then there are cheaper mastering studios and more expensive ones which do not necessarily reflect the quality you will be getting out of them.

8. Can Mastering be done yourself using Pro-Tools or Logic?
The answer is yes. If you are just working on your own songs as demo, there is absolutely no reason why you cannot go ahead and try to Master your recordings yourself with this new digital age. The majority of the budget mastering tools nowadays come in the form of plug-ins, Pro-Tools, TDM, most of them are designed especially for use with final mixes and these plug-ins would probably provide better results than using cheap analogue outboard equipments. Your ears are very important, with digital recordings there are no set rules such as what ratio and threshold to set your compressor, limiter, equaliser or what levels to set your songs at. Golden rule, never to go over the top with anything, if you hear an audible difference or problem then you have used too much of either settings. Always compare your masters with original final mixes at equal volume. Truthfully use your ears and if your studio monitoring system are not good enough, try to purchase or borrow better monitors or most importantly make sure that your mastering room acoustics are properly set-up.
Take note: Wait for a few days after you have finished your final mix-down to let your ears get refreshed, then listen to your tracks again and find out what’s wrong with it before trying to master it. Only add on what your track requires, if you cannot hear anything that’s unsuitable or you do not have any idea how to fix the changes then send it to someone else with more experience to master. A second opinion helps.

9. Professionals mastering your music
If you have decided to get the professionals to master you final mix, then ask them what formats they support. The most common and popular formats are WAV & AIFF. I suppose these days most of them should be able to accommodate almost any format.
Try to avoid MP3 as a source, because as you master nothing much can be done to achieve professional standards from it. If you are paying by the hour then most mastering engineers will allow you to sit in on your mastering session and allow you to give them your input while they work. When the mastering engineer and you are happy with the outcome the ultimate goal is usually the burning of a pre-master copy of your final mix which can be sent to a CD pressing factory along with your completed artwork for cover and centre label. From there the glass mastering takes place and your requested amount of CD’s are made, ready for distribution.
Note: If you are deciding to send your songs overseas for mastering remember not to add equalisation and compression on the final mix. Since you will be paying for it allow the mastering engineers to do it for you as the outcome will sound cleaner and within industry standards. Also avoid any sort of normalisation as this will give them some headroom to work with.
If you have any ideas for your mastering engineer of how you would want your final mix to sound, then you should make a separate set of your final mix and send it to him along with your “untouched” final mixes. This way you can compare the difference when you receive the final product.
Importantly make sure it is Mono Compatible, This essentially means that a stereo recording that can be presented as a mono recording commonly on radio without significant phase cancellation issues (out of phase). Keeping an audio mix mono compatible is very common, because most radio stations and some TV stations around the world are still broadcasting mono signals.

10. Copyright.
PQ Coding is a small part of editing and basically just the proper encoding of the tracks ID’s and information in red book form. It also provides location and timing of each track and Meta data (track names) on the CD. This includes setting up start & stop ID’s for each track, copy protection, pre-emphasis, ISRC codes, year and record label information. UPC codes, barcodes that you will find on normal packaging. All these are helpful to track and identify songs when they are used in copyright situations. Note: mastering engineer performs PQ coding just before burning the Master CD.

Furthermore, if you have never done audio mastering then you can never do a good job mastering if you are not clear yourself in what you want on the technical side of mastering. Discussion with experienced mastering engineers allows you to understand what can be done to your music during the mastering process.

Most mastering is done with specialised digital audio editing programs such as Pro-Tools, Logic Pro, Cakewalk Sonar, Sound Forge, Cubase, Abelton Live, Digital Performer, Audacity, Bias Peak, Steinberg Wave-lab, Universal Audio. Just to name a few. These offer good navigation facilities, the ability to zoom in on waveforms, pencil tools to draw out clicks, and plug-ins for mastering tasks along with the ability to host third-party plug-ins.

By using your “ears” and your technical experience of what each audio processor may provide, you start to develop strategies for making the audio master shine. The Mastering session ends when you have decided that you have achieved what you have wanted in your mind. Often that can be a fiddly decision. When it is completed you will hear satisfaction (well balanced and defined). Mastering audio is about listening and making judgments. It’s your ability to listen very carefully, knowing what tool and processors to apply and when, and with a strong internal sense of what good balance in sound is that leads to a successful session. Basically is an interaction of ear and mind. We all love good sound. As you master your work, you will become conscious of what that means, not only for others music, but more importantly for yourself.
Cheers

Alphonso Soosay
Audio Recording Engineer
Perth
2008

2009-11-12T19:32:00.000-08:00

Room Acoustics

Understanding your Monitoring and Recording environment
A Review By: Alphonso Soosay

Accurate acoustic treatment for a home recording studio cannot be undertaken based purely on theory that is because actual room formulas used are not precise for home recording studios and Building materials used may not have the same acoustic properties as stated in some text books and material catalogues. Professional recording studio acoustic engineers use a combination of maths and measurement to arrive at a correct solution and the acoustic measuring tools requires skilled operator knowledge, as well as being expensive.
Sound waves in a recording room are in a form of energy. When sound waves are put into action onto a wall surface, some of the sound waves are reflected back towards the source, some are absorbed and the leftovers are scattered deflection. Because of these deflections and reflections, we do not hear enough of the direct sound from our studio monitor speakers, what we are hearing is an appreciable amount of reverberation as the sound bounces around the room. However, different room materials and structures reflect different parts of the audio spectrum more efficiently than others.

Please do not get confused between soundproofing and room acoustic treatment.
Sound proofing is simply concerned with reducing the amount of sound getting into or out of your room, so the degree of soundproofing by no means defines how your home studio room behaves as a space for listening and recording music.
Acoustic treatment and sound absorbing materials attenuate or lower the noise level by absorbing part of the sound energy. Typical sound waves may consist of a mixture of low, medium and high frequency components. When acoustic materials are used at the appropriate thickness and configuration then they are capable of lowering the deflected frequency noise levels in a control or recording room, also they are used to adjust reverberation characteristics in audio rooms. Note: acoustic materials for Home Studios can be applied on acoustic panels plus using suitable acoustic textile fabric that will enhance the visual appeal of the acoustic panels to suite your control room / recording studio’s decor. Any ideal recording and listening room needs a touch of reverb to help increase the perceived loudness of the studio monitors and also to prevent the room sounding unnaturally dead. Note that reverb time also needs to be roughly equal at all frequencies across the audio spectrum if coloration is to be avoided. Reverb times of between 0.3 and 0.5 seconds are normally preferred for most home recording audio monitoring control rooms. Note: a home studio room feature to avoid where possible is any form of “Concave” structure such as bay-window or curved walls. These type of structure tends to focus reflected sound into just one area, just like parabolic reflector, which can seriously affect your home recording studio’s acoustic performance when you are anywhere near the focal point. “Convex” or irregular surfaces, on the other hand, are generally desirable, as it will help diffuse high frequencies leading to a more even sound field.
Having the most excellent digital recording console with an outstanding pre-amp, plus having the finest condenser microphone with an expensive pair of powered studio monitor is not going to guarantee you the best quality in audio recording if your room acoustics are not kept under your control.
Example: You have completed recording all of your tracks and they sound great to you at the early stage also everything went along as you plan, your electronic drums was thumping and sizzling, your Bass was pumping, electric Guitars swinging, and your Synth Strings and Brass arrangements are all slicing smoothly in and out of your mix. Then when you come to your final mix you noticed that something is not right. Yes, you noticed that the lead vocal is not sitting well in the mix (very thin). Then you are motivated to using the compressor and required plug-ins and still you cannot get the vocals to fit into your mix the way you were expecting. You start to worry and wonder why. It’s a common problem.
The truth is, unless you are recording your vocals in a vocal booth or in a control room of your studio that has been acoustically designed for sound recording, it will be almost impossible to get the vocals to stand out correctly in your mix. (Depth and tone accuracy with missing vocal harmonics).
The reason is: most home recording audio studios are located in an average home. Your walls are made up of plaster walls, plaster boards. If you are lucky, you may have pinewood timber; this will have acoustic fidelity of the room. If the walls are solid bricks walls, it will sound high-pitched, meaning false enhancements in the upper mids and high frequencies while it may be lacking in lower Bass frequencies.
Your home studio control room is part of your studio where sounds are assessed both during recording and mixing. In simple term, your control room must provide a good acoustic environment in which valid musical decisions can be in effect.
Recording vocals in untreated rooms such as these will produce less than favorable results. Please note that high performance condenser microphones have very sensitive pick-ups. Remember these microphones pickup and record the vocals perfectly, but they also faithfully reproduce every imprecise frequencies associated with the source signal as it bounces back and forth around the room going from wall to wall. If the room is proportioned then the problem can be compounded. Before you start doing up your room, try clapping your hands in your empty room and you will hear the ringing sound of these frequencies. These are called “standing wave” that causes distortion in audio recording.
Note, if you try using high compression during recording, it will bring up the overall level of the vocal but it will also lift the level of the unwanted distorted frequencies that will integrate them into the overall signal (causing distortion), ultimately this has effects on the accuracy and quality of your general audio recordings.
To get your vocals recorded correctly it needs to be recorded in either a professional built or acoustically treated room or just in a basic acoustically treated area in you family or lounge area that has some solid cotton material curtains on the window and carpeted.
The vocal booth is a very important tool in the audio recording process and from experience it is more important than most of the equipment you have in your studio.
When starting a recording studio, your vocal booth should be one of the highest priorities with a good audio recording pre-amp and quality condenser microphone.
As a general rule the larger the acoustic space, the more difficult and expensive it becomes in controlling the room acoustics. In actual circumstances, these room acoustic problems can be avoided at the studio planning stage by selecting the proper room dimension ratios that produce the most evenly spaced modes. Alternatively, nearfield studio monitors with a restricted Bass response could be used to avoid unnecessary rough room modes. (Note: room modes - causes spectrum of the reflected sound to vary at different points in the room).
Generally, if your home studio room sounds good for vocals, then it will sound good for music too. But watch out for those low frequencies room problems below the natural frequency range of human voices. The best-sounding home recording studios tend to have their modes fairly evenly distributed, so there are no drastic peaks or dips in the room’s response.
These days you can buy computer software programs, such as “Sonic Solutions”, Rivers Audio, “Pilchner Schoustal’s Acoustics X”, and others which will work out your room mode distribution from your studio room dimensions. These software programs are useful and educational too; moreover, experienced audio designers will as a rule measure the room before and after treating it, and then make all the necessary fine adjustments to ensure that the measured result matches your target figures that you have been aiming for.

Acoustic Control

A mixture of acoustic matters contributes to the "sound" of a room:

1) Room size: affects both the low frequency response and the room cut-off frequency, as well as reverb time.
2) Room shape and proportions (ect: room dimensions, parallel or non parallel surfaces): affect the resonance modes and the frequency response, and the diffusion of the reverberation;
3) Reverberation time: depends on the room size as well as the absorption coefficients of the materials used for all surfaces
4) Frequency Response: depends from size, shape and absorption coefficients, Doors and windows construction and placement;
Furniture, placement of equipment (mixer, effect racks, etc.), instruments, etc.
5) Placement of monitor speakers in a control room. It could be nearfield, flush mounted main monitors, or midfield.

Room Acoustics
Note that sound requirements for control rooms can be very different from those of recording rooms.
Control Rooms should be as "neutral" as possible, in other words they should not add coloration at all to the sound coming out of the studio monitor loudspeakers.
A more neutral "coding" of the sound during mixing/mastering ensures higher chances that the "decoding" on any given system will be closer to the original. Any coloration added during mixing/mastering can potentially be made worse due to additional colorations during playback on other systems and cause extreme irregular frequency responses.

Recording Rooms on the other hand not only can, but should have character. Depending on the kind of instruments and musical style, the requirements might vary. Recording rooms do not need sound "neutral" like control rooms, nor should they always be symmetrical.
Usually larger studio facilities have a selection of different acoustic spaces with different characteristics:
"Live" rooms, with longer reverberation, for instrumental recording ”Dead" rooms, with little or no reverberation, for vocal or speech recording rooms with variable acoustics (using moving or rotating panels, or curtains)
Generally speaking, vocal and speech recording rooms should usually offer a relatively dry and uncoloured acoustic, to achieve maximum clarity. This can be both provided by a very absorptive small room, or in a neutral sounding larger room.
The acoustic of instrumental recording rooms might vary between relatively dry (0.5 -0.8 sec reverb) to quite reverberant (1.2 -2.5 sec) depending on the musical style.
Sometimes classical music instrument and choir require longer reverberation times that can only be achieved in concert halls or churches.
Isolation Booths should be as dead as possible in order to minimize transmission of sound across the rooms they connect.

Room Size and Reverberation Time
Room size affects the lowest frequencies that can be played back with support from the room own resonance modes as well as the reverberation time.
In larger rooms, the natural resonating modes start from a lower frequency, the critical range between 20 and 200 Hz compared to small rooms. As there are less resonance peaks and gaps, a more even frequency response is easily achieved, and besides the reverb. time can be relatively constant across the sound spectrum.
Reverberation time is generally longer in a larger room, as it takes longer time for sound waves to travel from one surface to another, and more time for the sound energy to be dampened & absorbed by these surfaces. The effective reverb. Time depends on both size and the absorption coefficient of the materials used.
A Control Room should ideally not be smaller than about 100 m3 (for example’s x 6.5 x 3 m), if frequencies down to 25 Hz have to be played back with natural mode reinforcement. Unfortunately many control rooms do not even meet this basic requirement.
Recording Room sizes can vary, depending from what should be recorded: a booth for dry vocal or drum recording could be a few m3 size (for example, 3,5 x 2 x 2,5 = 17,5 m3), while a room for ensemble recording should be at least 150-200 m3 in size (for example, 9 x 5,5 x 4 = 198 m3), to provide adequate diffusion and a rev. time of about 0,5 -0,7 sec.

Control Rooms
In modern design of Control Rooms, the tendency is towards a symmetrical layout, but without parallel surfaces: slanted walls contribute to diffusion (denser reverberation) and avoid slap-back and flutter-echo effects, as the sound waves cannot bounce back and forth between the two parallel surfaces. For the same reason, the ceiling of a Control Room is not parallel to the floor, but usually is lower near the front wall, and higher towards the back wall.
Slap-back and flutter-echo are undesired phenomena which would greatly compromise the acoustic of the room, so they should be avoided in any case.

The standard size of a modern Control Room is about 7m length by about 4 to 6m width (4 m for the front wall with flush mounted speakers, and 6 m for the back wall with diffusers). The height varies between 2.5 (front) and 3,5 m (back). The effective height of the structure is often a higher value, if large amounts of wide- band absorbers are to be fitted in the ceiling.
It is important that the back wall is about 3 -3.5 m away from the mixing position, so that the reflections from that wall (usually fitted with diffusers) arrive about 18- 22 ms after the direct sound from the main speakers. This time gap is important to avoid comb-filtering and smearing of the stereo image. Larger time gaps are undesired, as it would be perceived as a distinct echo reflection.

In a control room the reverb time should be as short as possible, and in any case shorted as the reverb of the recording; otherwise it would mask the sound of the acoustic spaces being recorded.
The standard reverberation decay time RT 60 (the time the sound energy of the reverb takes to drop 60dB from the direct sound emission) for a modern Control Room is between 200 and 300 ms. Larger Control Rooms (over 60 m2 area) might have higher RT 60, but it is important that the level of the reverberation remains as low as possible. This requires large amount of wide-band absorbing elements, usually placed on the ceiling (these are usually based on some kind of rock, glass or wood fibre wool, between 10 and 50 cm thick depending on the lowest target frequency to be absorbed, enclosed in supporting wooden or metal frames). If some surfaces are using materials that absorb only in the mid and high range (like carpets or curtains), special low frequency absorption elements must be used to compensate and achieve a linear response (bass traps, resonators).

A completely dry room is not desirable, as it causes listening fatigue: the ideal goal would be to receive dry, coherent sound from the monitor loudspeakers within the first 20 ms, undisturbed by any early reflection, followed by a diffused wash of reflections from the room with about .2 or .3 seconds of decay time.
Cheers

Alphonso Soosay
Audio Recording Engineer
Perth
13th July 2006

2009-11-12T19:26:00.000-08:00

Basic Audio Recordings

A Review By: Alphonso Soosay

Let’s go on to the project of the top ten recording basics that can help you get the best tracks possible with your home recording studio environment.

1 .Do not make haste in hooking up your musical instruments and vocal microphones. It should be marked and connected properly. Make sure all connections are solid and use the best cable you possibly can. “Canare” and “Beldon” cables are quality and popular studio cables. Make-up your own studio cables to your requirements if the cost is an issue. It will be cheaper to buy the cables by the roll and solder the audio connectors to the cable yourself.

2. Read the manuals of all audio recording equipment you are working with. Even if it's just a quick read to get to know the terminology and ins and outs, give yourself the best shot at making sense out of your new audio equipments.

3. Know your levels! Are you operating at microphone or line level? This is very important. Basically, line level is the language spoken by DVD, CD and Tape recorders, consoles, effects units and compressor/limiters.

4. Microphones for acoustic Piano, acoustic Drums, acoustic Guitars and acoustic Bass do operate at microphone level. For turntables it must go through a preamp to bring them up to line level and low impedance.

5. Know what you need for your particular recording situation.
a) Microphone preamp (found in a console or as a standalone)
b) Turntable -Phono preamp (for inexpensive alternatives try)
c) Electric Guitar and Bass if using a “DI” Box.

6. Always aim for the highest level to your recording device. Whether you are using analog or digital equipment, make sure to get as much level on CD, HD or Tape as possible. However, be careful with digital devices, sometime your meters may read in the "legal" area and you will still be overloading your converters. Judge your audio on playback not when you record. When you are recording you are seldom hearing the signal that is actually on your CD, tape/hard drive, because you are listening to input. Play-back your signal and assess it then. With determination, go over from the top so you can train your ears to hear distortion. Once you hear digital distortion you will never forget it. Analog distortion is not linear, in other words there are grey areas where distortion can actually be a good thing. If you are recording in an analog experiment with various levels and see if you like what you are hearing at high levels.

7. Keep track of your audio recording projects by writing down what you record on a track sheet or on your screen. Knowing what's there during the session is not as difficult as remembering what you did weeks or even months ago. Immaculate records keep you from accidentally erasing your precious tracks.

8. Practice tight punches in your head before you execute them. If you have an undo function on your digital recorder please use it, as it saves you time.

9. Keep your sessions running smoothly by notating which parts of a song correspond to what track numbers on your recorder. Getting back and forth to the spots the artist wants to work on will keep things moving and fresh. A good performance is essential to a good track.

10. Keep your recording equipment clean at all times! Cover your audio recording console when not in use, it will keep the dust out of the faders and electronics. Put your microphones away in a safe when you are not using them, when kept in the open, moisture can gather on the diaphragm and affect its performance. Remember, clean Audio equipments will always sound clean and will be kept away from errors.
Cheers

Alphonso Soosay
Audio Recording Engineer
Perth
2000

2009-11-12T19:15:00.000-08:00

Recording Brass Section:

In this interesting feature, let me get into some techniques on how to record a Brass section. Recording live brass is a lot of fun and it's not that difficult to achieve.

The Basics:
By following a few simple guidelines, you can get a great Brass sound. First, keep in mind that horns play best as a section. There are numerous cues and signals that a section gets from one another that make them play as a team. Taking one horn and multi-tracking it over and over will not give you this "team" sound. Your best bet is to find a group of players from a band, or better yet, session players who have played together time and time again. Remember, this is an ensemble, complete isolation is impossible. Putting the players in separate rooms defeats your purpose. A certain amount of leakage is inevitable and not necessarily a bad thing. However, you can give yourself more flexibility when mixing by placing the players properly in the room. The placement of the players and use of a cardioid Pattern mic will limit the leakage into opposing mic’s. I would prefer to use one mic for the trumpets. This puts the blend responsibilities on the players, where it should lie. Also, the less mic’s you have in the room the fewer Problems you'll have. Expect a lot of trumpet leakage into the other mic, simply because they are the loudest of all the instruments. By close Miking the trombones and Saxes you will
get more level onto tape and help with the trumpet leakage.
The mic for the trombones and Saxes can be six inches from the bell. If you were Miking these instruments solo, you would have the luxury of backing the mic’s up a bit. On Saxes especially backing up the mic is desirable because the sound of a sax does not come solely from the bell, but from the keys as well. So if you back it up a bit you will get a better sound. However, in ensemble the closer scenario is better. Track Layout for Flexibility and Big Sound
By taking the three groups of horns to three tracks on your multi-track, you will give yourself the best possible opportunity to blend the horns during mix-down. If you are looking for a bigger sound, doubling is great way to make your horn section sound huge. To save tracks on the second pass of a double you might combine the Saxes and Trombones together and only use two tracks, one for trumpets and one for sax and trombone. This way you have the best of both worlds, individual tracks on pass one and the big sound of a double.

Expect a lot of trumpet leakage into the other mic, simply because they are the loudest of all the instruments. By close Miking the trombones and Saxes you will get more level onto tape and help with the trumpet leakage. The mic for the trombones and Saxes can be six inches from the bell. If you were Miking these instruments solo, you would have the luxury of backing the mic’s up a bit. On Saxes especially backing up the mic is desirable because the sound of a sax does not come solely from the bell, but from the keys as well. So if you back it up a bit you will get a better sound. However, in ensemble the closer scenario is better.
Track Layout for Flexibility and Big Sound By taking the three groups of horns to three tracks on your multi-track, you will give yourself the best possible opportunity to blend the horns during mix- down. If you are looking for a bigger sound, doubling is great way to make your horn section sound huge. To save tracks on the second pass of a double you might combine the Saxes and trombones together and only use two tracks, one for trumpets and one for sax and trombone. This way you have the best of both worlds, individual tracks on pass one and the big sound of a double.
Cheers

Alphonso Soosay
Audio Recording Engineer
Perth
2005

2009-11-12T19:12:00.000-08:00

Recording Acoustic Piano

A couple of months ago at the “Paramount Recording Studio” I made another study of some basic techniques for recording acoustic piano. I tried some recording tests using various miking position and different pattern choices; acoustic piano lends itself very well to stereo recording. There are a number of Miking techniques you can use, depending on the sonic characteristics you are trying to achieve. If you are in an acoustically poor room, the piano should be best micked up close so you don't have to fight with bad ambience problems (acoustic problems). If the room is a good one you can move the mikes back and get more of an open sound. Just a foot either way can change the tone a lot, so be sure to experiment with placement and never settle with the quickest way.

Basic Techniques:
Here are some techniques I have used with my audio multitrack recording sessions.
Open the top lid to the acoustic piano. The two condenser mikes are placed about 6 feet high next to the piano and just inside the outer lip of the lower frame. The on-axis (center) part of the mikes was pointing towards the strings at a 45 degree angle. You can move the mikes back or closer to get more ambiences to suite your choice of sound. Getting the right sound and tone is very subjective and will vary depending on the type of piano, the player and the pressure used, type of music, and the room acoustics itself. I have used large diaphragm mikes (Neumann 87) in spaced pairs rather than in a cross configuration. This is because the cross configuration works best with smaller capsule microphones like the AKG 451-E. Because of the capsule geometry in larger diaphragm microphones, the off axis response can be Boomy in the cardioid pattern if not used correctly. If you use cross, you are exposing this off-axis side of the mike to the center of the instrument. Spaced pairs are a better way to go with large diaphragm microphones in cardioid pattern. Again, you must experiment with it in your room as it works in a different way in different rooms because of the acoustic differences.

Picking a Pattern:
When I have decided on the mike positions, I then experimented with switching the different patterns on the microphone. I tried from full Omni to Cardioid, passing super and hyper cardioid along the way. I recorded parts of each mike pattern and then listened back; I could actually hear the various tone and acoustic difference. I then decided that a wide cardioid was the best sound choice for the type of Ballard songs we were recording at that time; wide cardioid has a broader pattern and lets more sound in from the rear than regular cardioid. This again is very subjective with different rooms. As far as Equlisation used, I added 2dB at 10K only to get some "Air" on tape. It feels more live and naturally.
At that time I was recording on to multitrack analog two inch tape and I use a bit more EQ in this situation than I do with digital, the reason is because if you add EQ later for acoustic piano, during the mix, you also boost tape hiss. This EQ is a very subjective issue depending on your recording system.
Cheers

Alphonso Soosay
Audio Recording Engineer
Perth
2002

2009-11-12T19:05:00.000-08:00

Recording the Voice / Vocal

A Review By: Alphonso Soosay

Close-Up Microphone Placement:
The most frequent method of recording a singer or a person speaking for any purpose is the direct on axis close proximity placement technique. Producers frequently call this "On Your Face". It has a number of incentive, which are; precious sound, superior articulation of consonants, up front or principal sound, and closeness warmth. At the same time it also has a number of weaknesses, which are; the need to dee-ss, strong popping, the lack of depth, and lack of natural room tone. Exactly how close the microphone is to the mouth should be set for each speaking person. Listen for the balance of attributes verses disadvantages and move the microphone accordingly. The starting point can be about 4" from the mouth directly on axis. You may even angle it by up to 90 to help smooth out the offending sound component. The microphone design must be very clear in it's off axis response for this to work. Have your assistant move the mic in and out from the voice, about 2" to 6" while the vocalist or speaker is rehearsing and listen for the proximity warmth boost as it balances to consonant brightness. The Pop filter should always be employed when close miking the human mouth.

Variable Placement:
A more common technique is the variable placement in front of the mouth. Most microphones cannot be used this way due to the unevenness of the off axis response. However a microphone with smooth off axis response can excel at this placement technique if the recording room is of a certain acoustic merit. The first advantage is if you can learn to use it in your recordings, has your room the natural room tone. The balance between voice and room is set by the distance to the mouth and the placement of the speaker in the room. Each room has its good spots and we hope you can find your own in your room. Listen for a short (0.9 ms or less) reverberant quality. A good starting point for this technique is around 12" from the mouth. By working with your colleague move the microphone in and out while the vocalist/speaker is rehearsing and listen to the voice for room tonal balance. Be careful not to get too roomy because it is hard to reduce later in the mix. By getting a little room tone in with the voice a more natural and comparatively rare sound will emerge. This technique gives natural depth of vocals/narration and applies to scenes where the talking head is not "in your face". You should notice that the need to de-ess and filter at low frequencies is reduced. The proximity warmth is replaced by natural room warmth, which is again rarer in today's recording. The recorded natural depth has the power to draw the listener into the recording rather than blow them back in their seats. This adds another trick to your engineering collection.

Top Head Placement:
Sometimes the direct on axis techniques of close and loose do not produce the desired effects. This is when creative recording teams start to discover new ground. First, it requires a microphone that’s off axis response is extremely clear. By having the colleague move the microphone from the nasal area up, a different blend of "direct to room tone" can be discovered. If the speaking is very breathy and a lot of explosives or has a very strong "s" this high on the head technique should be tried. Also if the speaker is very diaphragmatic with their speaking technique and produces too much warmth from proximity effect this should be tried. The human head is a nasal resonator; try pointing the direct axis of the microphone at the nasal cavity, just above the eyebrow. While the speaker is rehearsing change the angle from direct on axis to 45 down and even 45 up. You may even point it over the head, you will not know what can work if you do not try. Just imagine that there is only one way to record a speaking voice, and that is with the microphone pointed straight at the mouth. If the microphone is of a certain quality level with respect to off axis response a whole new vista can be dissevered and used in your daily technique. Sometimes the microphone can wind up over the head pointed down and away from the speaking voice.

Lower Chest Placement:
Another technique that can be cultivated is the diaphragmatic placement. This technique of microphone location cannot be used easily if there is a standard music stand involved. The reason is; pointing the microphone at the chest cavity will be obstructed by the music stands itself and cause reflections from the music stand to smear the voice. Of course high tech anti-resonant or mesh music stands eliminate this problem. If the script is one or two pages or learned by heart then this should be tried. What it gives away is; natural diaphragmatic warmth. Start with the microphone about 12" from the mouth, low and at the centre of the chest cavity. Try angling it up and down 45 while the singing or talking head is rehearsing. Listen for the balance of articulation in the consonants to the lower mid frequency roll that the human chest cavity produces. You usually can find a very "ballsy" sound that is again different from the "in your face" sound most engineers discover and produce. One good reason to use this modus operandi is if the vocalist/speaker has an extremely strong "S" or really or is very nasal and honky sounding.

Backing Vocals:
Recording backing vocals successfully can be challenging because of the various factors that come into play. The following concern can and will have an effect on the outcome of your tracks:
1) The relaxedness of your vocalists. It’s your responsibility.
2) The competence in the group of singers.
3) Responsibility of the get-together in the room and around the microphone. It must be guided by the recording engineer as the engineer will be able to hear the different voices through the studio monitor speakers.
4) Directional response of the condenser microphones used.
5) Sense of balance within the group.
6) For a bigger and thicker sound, use the available tracks to record on.

Starting Point:
Let's start with the source and that is the singers. A background vocal session can be as simple as having one person sings all the parts up to a full choir of 25 or more. Making your singers comfortable in the room and with their headphone audio feeds can make the difference between a smooth running session and revolution. The best way is to go into the studio and personally listen to each set of headphones to make sure both sides are working, the volume is relatively the same between sets and that the headphones are comfortable and clean. There's nothing disgusting than putting on a greasy set of headphones. Also make sure there are plenty of copies of the lyrics (in large type) on music stands! With pencils on each stand. To keep reflections off the music stands, put a piece of acoustic foam or carpet on the stand.
Being able to use the same brand of headphones for each singer will save you a lot of volume hassles, but studios usually have a mix of brands. Some headphones are just louder than others so having a headphone distribution box with separate volume controls is necessary to making everyone happy with their individual levels. They say that one man's perfect level can be another's ear-shattering experience. It will be a good idea to put a carpet down on the floor to de-accentuate ground noise and toe tapping, in addition, try to build a "room" around your singers and alleviate any large room reflections.

Number of Singers involved
The number of people in your group will effect how you place them and the setup of microphones and the directional pattern. If you have 1-2 vocalists you will generally choose one mic with a cardioid pattern and have the duet arrange them around the mic. For 3-6 singers you might have to set a mic in omni-directional and arrange the singers around in a circle, or break them into two groups with two cardioid microphones. For 7 – 15 back-up singers use omni-directional microphone with singers all round the microphone with group harmonies at a different distance. This is something that can be heard in the control room monitor speakers very clearly. The producer or the recording engineer has to guide the different harmony groups with their microphone distances.
To make it even more interesting you could face the microphone back to back and have the group sing in a circle again as with the omni mic. What you gain with the two microphones of course is that you can send the signal to two separate tracks in stereo. The logical split for a group like this would be male/female or low and high part of harmony. For a larger group you will have to use more microphones. Some years back, at No Sweat Recording studio and Paramount Recording studio I recorded a 15 piece choir and broke them up as follows: Bass, Tenor, Alto and Sopranos all grouped in a large horse-shoe pattern around the room. Each small group had their own cardioid pattern microphone; some groups were larger and had two microphones). This choir doubled on tape sounded absolutely huge when split out in stereo. With a smaller group around a single microphone, getting and keeping the proper balance throughout the session will be one of your main focuses. The first few takes will tell you who sing louder and needs to be moved back and which parts might sound better more on-axis to the microphone. Use your ears and move the singers around to your ideas. To keep them in the right spot (distance) use a very simple trick. Before the session starts go out and tear off a few pieces piece of white console adhesive tape and put it on the microphone or music stand, one piece for each singer. When the singers are on the scene and you have got the blend you want, then tell each singer to take a piece of the tape and put it right in front of their toe. This will give them a mark to come back to repeatedly after breaks in the action and will keep the blend smooth. Make sure before you start your session that you have large amount of tracks to record on. Depending on the size of your group and how substantial of a sound you are aiming for you might need more tracks than you originally anticipated. Following these guidelines will help keep your session on track and your tracks sounding professional.

Polishing Up:
After you get all the tracks up in the mix (minus the lead and background vocals for now) it's time to see what works and what needs to be moved around. There's no mix on the earth that's not going to need some music re-arrangement inserting and dipping to make it work a cut above. This is where automation comes in very handy (digital automated console). What I am talking about is building-in audio-mix dynamics where it is needed. In a beautiful world, all tracks would rise and fall tastefully when needed. This gives the piece a human feel and effects us on many levels as listeners, especially emotionally. The aim of the feel has to be there 100%. However, with modem multi-tracking, MIDI and other things that tend to separate musical performances in time, it's often impossible to build dynamics during a performance. This is something you will have to create in the final mix. The feel of your music. Use the available special effects (reverb and delays) to enhance your music. This is where the audio engineer puts on his listener's hat and builds in the necessary dynamics. But we are getting a bit at the forefront of ourselves here. Before we get into fader moves let's discuss EQ and Compression, the two items that will let our tracks compete with others and sit in a place where they can be heard.

EQ:
EQ stands for equalization. As you might know EQ comes in a few different configurations. Getting the hang of when to use it and when to leave things alone only comes with learning to trust your ears. What you should try to cultivate is frequency sensitivity. The best way to do this is to mix time and time again. Throw up quick mixes and listen to them dry with just left and right panning and fader levels. Get to know what is covering up what and what is working. To hear what is working listen to your favorite CDs, then listen to your mix (with a bit of luck in a comparable style). Assess your own mix against the finished product. This sounds uncalled-for because the originals have had the benefits of mastering and hours of tweaking, try it, because, it is very revealing and good ear-training. Once you target an area then try to fix the final mix up a bit here and there. For instance, let's say that you find that your Bass is non-descript and total muddiness has occupied the bottom end of your mix. First, pull some musical instruments down a bit or out completely to see if this helps. It could be that your problem could be solved by changing only levels between the bass guitar and bass drum. Once you trim and tuck the levels a bit, compare again and see if there is improvement. After you mess with levels and perhaps left and right panning, then get into using some EQ. If it's still muddy try taking some low end out of an instrument or two. Note: there must be some good definition on bass notes and a clean deep thud on the bass drum. Then compare once again and see if you can hear a difference. Is your mix getting closer or farther away from the original? At this stage, you must listen to quality SACD’s on professional mixes and try to get your own ears tuned into what the professionals are doing. (Listen to your favorite high quality CD’s). Do this ten times with your mixes and finished CDs, and see how you start to listen differently to all music. It makes a big difference.

Compression:
Getting to understand what Compression sounds like is another ear-training exercise. You will need a compressor and some tweak-able tracks already on tape. Start with the compressor set at Zero threshold, 3: I compression and unity gain at the output. Pick a few different tracks for this exercise. Something like a vocal and then something with some transients like a snare drum. Take the threshold and move it into the minus area (increasing the amount of signal being compressed) and hear what it does. On the other hand, return the threshold to zero, then take the ratio and crank it up and hear what that sounds like. Put on your favorite CD’s and see if you can spot the instruments that sound similar to what you heard. Get used to "hearing" compression on those tracks. You will get deeper into EQ and Compression as the progression goes on.
How to Best Record Vocals:
1. Pick an isolated room or corner away from any noise source. (Air conditioning ducts, etc.)
2. Put down a carpet and cover your music stand with a towel or rug to avoid reflections.
3. If the area is open and too live, fasten some diffusion by putting up a curtain, quilt covers, blankets or a rug on opposing walls.
4. Try a number of microphones if you have the resources or before the session, ask the singer what’s their favorite microphone is and see if that helps or your studio microphone is better.
5. Have a sharpened pencil handy for the singer(s) and have printed/typed lyric sheets (in a large font) ready for yourself and the singers.
6. Make sure the music stand area is well lit.
7. Check the headphone-mix yourself in the studio on the same headphones as the singers will be using. Do not take for granted that the mix sounds the same in the studio as it does in the Control Room.
8. Know your digital counter locate points so you can instantly find the recorded song location for any line on the lyric sheet.
9. Practice your punch-inn’s (re-record a section) in your head before you execute them, especially if they are tight.
10. Keep your track sheet updated as you go, it is easy to forget what went on at a session if you don't write it down.
11. If the singer is unsure of what their vocals sound like, record the track once and have them come in and listen on the control room speakers.
12. If the singer is having problems with pitch, have them take one side of the phones off so they can hear themselves in the room. Be willing to try different phones if you have them, sometime the singers can hear themselves better on different headphones.
13. Never use reverb in the headphone mix, a singer can usually hear pitch well if the tracks in the headphones are dry?
14. Use a bit of compression going to tape. It will sound tighter.

Stereo Delay:
In addition to pitch adjustments you can also adjust the delay of the left and right output of your device in stereo. You will soon notice that it’s just a taste of this effect to give you the sound you are hunting for. The increments are usually given in milliseconds. You can easily visualize the amount of delay you are dialing in by thinking of each foot back you are from your original source is equal to about 1ms of delay. So if you wanted to create an effect that you are listening to something from 20 ft you would dial in 20ms of delay.

Microphones for Vocals:
There are so many microphones on the entertainment market right now, and it’s complicated to know what to purchase if you are a first time user. With my experience using all types of microphones in the last 30 years, I am at this point able to help you make the most of the ten tested positive choice stated below.
These microphones are of top quality and would improve the quality of any audio recording projects used. The first 5 are classic condenser microphones and the following 6 to 10 are quality dynamic microphones. So in total you have 10 tested top quality microphones for your audio recording projects.

1) Neumann U-87:
This microphone is the grand daddy of the Neumann microphones and occupies a well deserved place in some of the best microphone studio lockers around the world. It handles world class Vocal recordings, acoustic musical instruments and percussion recordings at the highest levels.
2) AKG C414EB:
The 414’s has been around for quite some time now and has become a favorite microphone for home recording studios and demo Vocals, percussion, acoustic drums, acoustic guitar and wind instrument recordings.
3) Sennheiser MKH800:
I had the opportunity to use this MKH800 microphone for several audio recording projects and I was very impressed each time with the results, a very tight sounding microphone. This ground-breaking microphone has an LED under the capsule for precise placement; it is multi-pattern, also offers a double-axis swivel mount and boasts a frequency up to 50 kHz, something different.
4) Soundelux U95S:
Although this brand is not as universal as AKG or Neumann, Soundelex microphones have a solid reputation among audio professionals. The U95S is a multi-pattern tube microphone that can deftly record vocals, acoustic instruments and more.
5) DAP 4006:
This made in Denmark, is one of the best kept secrets in professional audio recordings. These DAP microphones are nothing short of stunning and provide remarkable clarity and true to life reproduction of anything you choose to record, It may not be cheap but you will get all the extras for what you pay for.

The following five are popular and practical dynamic microphones:
6) Sennheiser MD421 ll:
Like the popular SM 58 and 57, this microphone from Sennheiser is a studio favorite. Unlike the SM57, it can be used for tom-toms with great results. It was originally designed as a broadcast microphone and excels at vocals and speech recordings; also it can be used for miking electric guitars.
7) Shure SM58:
This is a Shure challenge and true dynamic microphone and is the elder brother to SM57; in fact the only difference from the SM57 is the ball windscreen. What that means is that this microphone can act as double duty, for vocals and miking up musical instruments. Its most popular used is for stage vocals, electric guitars, tom-toms and even bass drum because of its built-in low-end roll-off.

8) Electro Voice RE20:
This versatile RE20 is another microphone that’s found in the microphone lockers of recording studios around the world. It works well for vocal recordings and very well on Snare, Tom-Tom’s, Kick Drum and miking guitar amplifiers too. It has a two position low end roll-off switch.
9) AKG D112:
The D112 has built a solid reputation as a Kick Drum specialist in recording studios around the world. I have never found a better microphone for Kick Drum’s.
10) Coles 4038 Ribbon:
Ribbon’s are in the dynamic microphone category like the moving coil SM57 and SM58, they are known for their ability to pick-up the warm and realistic tones associated with acoustic musical instruments. This microphone has always been admired by the many studio recording engineers throughout the world.
Cheers

Alphonso Soosay
Audio Recording Engineer
Perth
2005

2009-11-12T18:54:00.000-08:00

CLUB AUDIO REINFORCEMENT

The person held responsible for the sound in a Nigh-club or Theatre, is as important as any Musicians or Singers on stage.
As an audio engineer or an audio operator, ironically, you are doing your most excellent job when you are least noticed, also when everything sounds crystal clear and in the right perspective, the audience takes for granted the knowledge and effort that went into the presentation.
I hope this will be a consoling thought when you are winding up cords or battling with heavy road cases at 3.00am. After watching the musicians skip out the stage door with their musical instruments.
Hopefully, this article will make your job a little easier and inspire you to pick up a pen and communicate your own questions. We will focus on club style sound system, which will typically involve questions about doing sound in rooms that hold up to 1,000 people. And now we shall begin our discussion with a consideration of several factors that come into play when you are assembling a sound system for Club work.

SIZE OF VENUE:
The room you work in may range in size from an intimate (50 to 200) setting to a mammoth, warehouse like showcase club. (Metropolis in Fremantle). The shape of each room, and its resulting characteristics, will have effects on the sound. To a large extend, your job involves making educated guesses about these effects in every situation you encounter. Taking into consideration the fact that you probably have a limited amount of equipment at your disposal, it is important to make the absolute most out of it. You really would be surprised at all the minor changes you could make that yield major differences in your results.
Angling your horns more efficiently, for example, through a better understanding of directional characteristics, can make a world of differences, as can careful selection of crossover points. Learning how to gauge and assess the effect reverberation will have in a room will also help provide clues to optimal placement of speakers. Multi level venues (example, Metropolis in Fremantle) could require a zoned, or split, system that would use upper and lower speakers to cover the balcony and ground floor.
Sometime, you will encounter oddly shaped rooms where, no matter how you aim your speakers, you cannot cover the whole area evenly. In those cases you may have to add extra speakers to your system. (Side firing and raised).

You would generally, want to know in advance the shape and size of the venue you will be working in. It would be a great idea for the sound man in charge to keep a log book of the venues you work in often. The log book should have a page for each venue, with information like the managers name, the telephone number, the location and size of the load in door, the stage size and headroom (watch out for low ceiling), the main mixing board location, monitor mixing location and electrical notes including the location and number of outlets and breaker panel and location of where the lights are powered from (I am sure you don’t have effects on the sound. To a large extend, your job involves making educated guesses about these effects in every situation you encounter. Taking into consideration the fact that you probably have a limited amount of equipment at your disposal, it is important to make the absolute most out of it. You really would be surprised at all the minor changes you could make that yield major differences in your results.

SPEAKER PLACEMENT:
Angling your horns more efficiently, for example, through a better understanding of directional characteristics, can make a world of differences, as can careful selection of crossover points. Learning how to gauge and assess the effect reverberation will have in a room will also help provide clues to optimal placement of speakers. Mulit level venues (example, Metropolis in Fremantle) could require a zoned, or split, system that would use upper and lower speakers to cover the balcony and ground floor.
Sometime, you will encounter oddly shaped rooms where, no matter how you aim your speakers, you cannot cover the whole area evenly. In those cases you may have to add extra speakers to your system. (Side firing and raised).

DETAILS OF VENUE:
You would generally, want to know in advance the shape and size of the venue you will be working in. It would be a great idea for the sound man in charge to keep a log book of the venues you work in often. The log book should have a page for each venue, with information like the managers name, the telephone number, the location and size of the load in door, the stage size and headroom (watch out for low ceiling), the main mixing board location, monitor mixing location and electrical notes including the location and number of outlets and breaker panel and location of where the lights are powered from (I am sure you don't want your system to contain dimmer buzz).
Have a drawing made of the club's layout and this would be helpful. If you have readies who work for you, copies of this information in their hands will save everybody’s time.

THE CREW:
One factor to take into consideration is how many people are going to help you move the gear, which may help you decide between putting your amps into a rolling rack or individual cases.
If you have a fairly small portable system, a bread van will probably be your transportation. The next step up would be a small truck or an old bus with their seats removed.
For a much bigger set up, the best transportation is a good 18 x 24 feet box body trucks, these can come with either a ramp or a hydraulic lift gate. Remember, whether its you or hired hands (readies) who do the work in setting up, sound work often requires supreme amount of physical exertion.

CUTTING COST:
Without compromising your quality one bit, you can cut costs. If you possess any carpentry or electrical skills, there is a point at which it may be more feasible to build. Rather than buy some equipment. Your handiness and ability to learn these things could also enable you to make your own minor repairs on equipment. Tracing and eliminating shorts in cords by building a continuity tester. Another way to save money is to buy from discount departments in as large quantity as possible. Getting microphone connectors from a distributor in quantities of 100 pieces will save
You up to 50 per cent of the cost of buying 10 of them 10 separate times.

SIZE AND LOCATION:
The prime consideration is the type of music you are involved with presenting. If you are working with one band all the time, you can design a system to specifically meet their needs. However, if you are working with several bands or artists, you must concern yourself with having a more flexible system. The size of the band will determine, among other things, how tight the stage set up will be and how many microphones you will need. It’s good to know before hand exactly what you are in for with each job. Shall we take a good look at the mainstays of equipment? Speakers, There are several ways to go about transforming electrical impulses into sound waves, and the speaker system you work with should utilize their different characteristics to fit.your needs. The smoothness of direct radiator units, which can utilize reflex principles to reinforce bass reproduction, may be combined with high efficiency and increased projection ability of horn units. Your concern for mobility, cost, and efficiency will also help determine your arsenal of mains and monitors.
The type of power amplifiers you need will best be defined by the equipment you have to drive. There are many different good types of amplifiers in the market today, well respected old standard and young competitors with new attractive audio and visual features.

YOUR EARS:
The Mixing board, (the heart) is what you perform on during the show. Although you haven't spent years playing scales on your board, yours ears should be finely tuned to the subtle (or dynamic) effect that each knob, lever, and switch has on the sound. With the many good boards on the market, your personal needs and resources will define the board you end up with. It can be a mono 10 channel output or a 36 channel in line board with 8sub stereo unit.

THE MIXING BOARD:
With the latest and most popular in line boards, which includes a line input, microphone input, insert point, and tape send / return, The microphone inputs for each channel can supply 48 volts phantom power independently, and there is a switch to select the line or microphone input The equalization section (example) HE: 10kHz to 20 kHz, High Mid: 500 Hz to 15 kHz,.. . Low Mid: 100 Hz to 1.6 kHz, and Sub LF: 20 Hz to 100 Hz.
Of course, there are pan pots and buss assign switches that let you route the signal to the stereo mix buss and / or any of the eight group (output) busses. Stereo connections include outputs to the control room monitor system and two track mix down deck, insert points for the stereo buss, and returns for the two tracks... All tape sends and the two track returns are factory set to accommodate OdBV equipment, but they can be adjusted for
+4 dBu operation by removing several resistors from some of the circuit boards. Please do not try this at home unless you are an electronic technician or very sure of what you are doing. The mixing board also includes an oscillator (1 kHz), for lining up live recording situations.

MICROPHONES:
Today, there is a big variety of names and many different types of microphones available for a variety of uses. But it is safe to say that for club work you will be dealing almost exclusively with un-powered dynamic microphones. It’s very important to know your specific requirements and the application of each microphone.
To mike up a bass drum, for example, this calls for a microphone with a large enough
Large diaphragm (example, AKG D 12) to reproduce low end noise without distortion. And must durably handle high sound pressure levels. Uni-directional microphone, which reject or reduce the sound picked up at the sides and rear of the microphone, are favorably applied where feedback from monitors or bleed through from other microphones may be a problem. Omni directional microphones pick up sound equally from all directions, and are useful when bleed through is not a problem or, in the case of miking a drums set.

THE EQUALISER:
An equalizer is a pretty marvelous piece of electronic circuit, to say at least, in the hands of a capable engineer or operator. This device enables you to control the volume of certain determinable segments of the sound spectrum.
Different equaliser device the sound spectrum in different ways, simple treble and bass tone controls divide it into two affectable parts.
A graphic equaliser usually divides into, 10, 15, or 31 parts, while other types of equalizations, like the parametric and Para graphics, let you focus in on the exact point you wish to affect.

THE KEY MAN OF THE SHOW:
This is where your job as a sound engineer, businessman, craftsman, turns into being an artist. To a large extend YOU, in conduction with the band you are mixing are responsible for how the audience receives whatever the group is trying to convey. You are the middle man in an artistic exchange, and hopefully you will have a sense of responsibility that translates into doing your best in every situation, regardless of a number of factors that might affect your own level of inspiration. (The fact that you had only a few hours of sleep in the past few days, or the band does not come close to your personal taste in music.)
If you have worked with a couple of bands then you could be in touch with the music as much as, if not more than, any member of the band.
Also, you will have to be aware of the songs, (on the ball) that is, if you know where, in the second song of the third set, the guitarist is about to jump into a magnificent lead solo which needs to be boosted with effects at the mixing board Details like this can make the difference between good and great produced mixed sound.

Alphonso Soosay
Audio Recording Engineer
Perth
2005

2009-11-12T17:48:00.000-08:00

Home Theatre Speaker Position

The way you place your Home theatre Speakers in your room correctly will formulate a remarkable transformation in a way they will sound overall. With the appearance of “Home Theatres”, a lot of listeners have found or at least have come to feel that their choice of speaker positioning is pretty much determined by the realities of trying to squeeze a "Movie theatre" into a living room. And there is some reality in that, since we usually begin with the Stereo pair and then a centre channel speaker right below your big screen and go on from there to fit the surround speakers, including the .1 subwoofer, into a family room area. With the help of another person, you can adjust positioning your speakers so that your speakers will work effectively with your environment.
Let's fire up with positioning the front speakers for maximum Hi-Fi musical impact. This sound will put the defining stamp on the way your “Home Theatre” or Stereo system will sound.

Main Speakers:
Most listeners begin the positioning of their main left and right speakers (that is the front speakers) it should as a rule be separated from each other by a distance that's a little less than that between the speakers and your seated listening position. You will generally get the best imaging and other spatial qualities if your speakers and your normal seating position form an almost equilateral triangle.
The optimum placement height for main speakers is normally with their tweeters at about the same height as your ears when you are at your normal seat. With compact monitors, there are accessory speaker stands to achieve the right height if you are not using existing cabinets or hi-fi furniture. You can tilt your speakers towards ear level if the proper height is not possible.
The best high-frequency dispersion, producing the widest "sweet spot" in which you and others can sit and enjoy optimum high-frequency definition, will result when your speaker enclosures are positioned vertically rather than horizontally. If you need to place compact monitor enclosures horizontally, the speakers will still perform very well, but the seating area where you will enjoy optimum sound will become narrower. I suggest you position the tweeters to the outside away from the centre line.
If you sit equally distant from both speakers, angling the speakers inward about 5 to 10 degrees usually produces the best convergence of high frequencies where you listen. Different listening positions may require different toe-in.

Room Boundaries with Speaker Relations:
Positioning of your speakers with respect to the walls, floor, and ceiling of your listening room will often affect their sound in major ways. The closer you place speakers to the boundary surfaces of your room, the greater the proportion of bass in their overall sound. This is due to the enclosing, "focusing" effects of nearby surfaces on longer-wavelength (lower) frequencies. Positioning the speakers near the intersection of two surfaces (wall and wall, wall and floor, or wall and ceiling) will produce more apparent bass than placement near a single surface. The greatest proportion of bass is delivered by placement near three intersecting surfaces in a room corner near the floor or ceiling, where the convergence of the two walls and the floor/ceiling produces an amplifying effect that is a bit like that of a megaphone effect. And the least bass comes from placing a speaker away from all boundaries. Your own tastes should decide what proportion of bass response seems right in your room and adjust correctly.
The blend of the three dimensions of your room generally will produce at least three points in the room where the frequency response you experience related to a given position (of either the speaker or you) will either greatly increase or almost disappear. The most obvious effects are on low frequencies, but mid-frequency effects, while usually subtler, are also often present. Keep in mind, then, that very small changes in positioning (of the speakers or you) may produce major or subtle changes.
Distances of speakers from the walls can make great differences in the number, strength, and particular frequencies of secondary reflections, changing frequency-balance, sonic spaciousness, and definition. Most listeners prefer their speakers at least a few inches from all walls, but the choice is yours to determine by listening. You will have to experience these changes with movement of the distance of speakers.
You in Relation to the Speakers:
Where you sit in relation to your speakers obviously makes a difference too. The proportions of the particular triangle formed by your speakers and you really matter. The overall distances involved also matter. As you get further from the speakers, more sound reflected from your room's surfaces (in contrast to the sound coming directly from the speakers) reaches your ears, and the original spatial relationships in a recording are changed as your room "takes over." Sometimes the result is a mellower, more "integrated" sound. Other times, it's a more strident or annoyingly "echoey.". Once again, the particular dimensions of your room play a part. And depending on what seems more realistic and enjoyable to your ears, you may choose to sit at a great distance or have close-up, "near-field" sound.
Keep in mind that, as mentioned a moment ago, the proper "toe-in," the right speaker height, and a reasonably symmetrical distance from the speakers all tend to work together to deliver the best high-frequency definition and imaging.
Room Boundaries and You in Relation:
Changing your own position with respect to a room's boundaries may also bring a big effect and sometimes for only a small change. Getting further from the wall behind you may make sound more precise and localized. Getting closer may make sound more "mellow" and integrated. Coming too close to back wall, side wall, or (especially) a corner may trigger a major peak or cancellation of a

Certain band of frequencies.
With respect to your own positioning, that it may or may not be easier to change your own seating location than to move your speakers. As with so much else in life, the one certain rule is that you should not fix, or worry about, what is not broken (audibly in this case), especially if it means moving heavy furniture.
As you consider the three relationships we have outlined, the idea is to manipulate whatever variable is easiest and most productive for improving your listening experience.
Be sure to base your judgements on listening to a good variety of recordings of vocals, and acoustic instruments, soloists, different movies and musical instruments to most easily recognize tonal balance shifts.
Positioning Surround Speakers:
Generally surround sound is meant more to create greater depth and overall ambience than to localize effects as coming from a particular spot. This is especially true of Dolby Pro-Logic surround sound, in which both surround channels carry the same (monophonic) information and cannot be differentiated from each other. With Dolby Digital and DTS surround sound, there is very definite localization of some surround effects. How much you prefer to these localized effects vs. overall sonic depth and diffusion is up to your listening preferences. If you are listening to multi-channel music, you may want the maximum localization of instruments. But if your main concern is the surround effects in movies, they tend to depend more on front-to-back and from side to side movement than on specific localization. You can locate and aim your surround speakers to produce the effects you prefer, whether precisely pinpointed or pleasantly diffused. Although some people prefer to have their surround speakers behind them on stands at ear height, most find it easiest and best to mount compact monitors on the walls, at least two feet above your ear height when you are seated. Look out for matching speaker brackets to make wall-mounting convenient.

If your listening room is small, aiming the speakers to diffuse their sound somewhat may produce the best overall surround illusion. They can be mounted, for instance, on the side walls and aimed to bounce sound off the rear walls, or vice versa. If you opt for localization of sound from the surrounds, the speakers should face your listening spot, aimed at or slightly above your seated position. Speakers mounted on the side walls generally will sound best when placed a foot or two behind your seating area. Our illustration shows some typical placement options.
The Centre Channel Speaker
This speaker obviously belongs in the very centre of things up front. Most centre channel systems, including ours, are designed for placement (preferably) right on top of or (less so) right under your TV monitor. The front surface of a picture tube is very active in determining the way a centre channel's sound diffuses, and for this reason most centres are carefully equalized for a position in direct proximity to the tube.

If you have a freestanding projection screen, it generally works to put the centre channel immediately underneath it, either as high as it can go without intruding on the screen or, in the case of wall-mounted screens, without getting above your seated listening height.
With one-piece projection system, the only easy choice in most cases is placement on the wall right above the top of the screen, tilted down toward your seated listening position.
Placing Subwoofers:
Most listeners, especially those with Significant Others whose tolerance for audio equipment is already strained by acceptance of a pair of highly visible main speakers, tend to position the solid cubic presence of a subwoofer wherever they can squeeze it in unobtrusively.
But you can do far better than "wherever," without a lot effort and domestic conflict. And if you are critical about low-frequency response, there's quite a bit of useful experimentation you can do, especially in combination with the crossover, level, and phase controls of our subwoofers.
There is no argument among audiophiles that the greatest bass output from a subwoofer comes from corner placement. The natural megaphone-like flaring outward of walls from a room corner focuses low frequencies as we indicate in our discussion of main speakers -giving them no place to go but toward you. In the case of subwoofers, there is no automatic penalty in overall balance for 1 maximal bass, since your main speakers can be located elsewhere. It still may be too much bass for your room or your favourite listening spot in the room, but unless you are seated a "null" spot, where radiation from the sub is cancelled or diminished by out-of-phase reflections from elsewhere, there should be plenty of bass from corner placement.
Just in case if you are seated in such a null spot, your only real choices are generally to move either the subwoofer or your listening position until bass returns to the point that satisfies. Cranking up the Level control or changing the crossover point almost certainly will not help much. But flipping the phase control 180 degrees sometimes may make a difference, especially if the null is a product of cancellations caused by interaction with low frequencies from your main speakers.
If you are in the opposite sort of situation, where direct and reflected bass waves converge in phase and produce a strong peak at your listening location, you can if you like deal with that both with changes in placement or in the position of your sub's level control (or, less likely but possible, the crossover frequency chosen). Let’s say "if you like" because there is no such thing as too much bass for some listeners, and we do not want to be dogmatic. You are definitely the one, who has to be pleased.

As you go outward from the corner along one wall or another, the general consensus is that while bass output diminishes somewhat, it also becomes more uniform throughout the room, with fewer of the "standing waves" that produce peaks and nulls at various points. From experience, many people have found that corner placement provides the most uniform bass output as well as the strongest bass, but our own experience, while it does not directly contradict his, is that away-from-the-corner placement produces better balance in many situations. Any event, the level, crossover, and phase controls give you immediate adjustments for changes as you go outward.

And, both with corner and out-of-wall placements, very small changes in positioning can make major, differences in apparent balance. This is a fact that makes it very comforting during the setup of a sub to have a friend who will move the sub while you listen. If you are undertaking this kind of fine-tuning, we strongly recommend using music with steady low frequencies (such as Ballard music) or steady-state test tones, (not movie material). The latter is just too unpredictable and without real standards for comparison.
We come now to the inevitable reality for some people that the placement of a Sub really comes down to: "Where I can get away with putting it?" A room has only so many places for visual considerations, make sure it not in your way or for anyone to trip over
And in such a case, the idea of "near-field" placement, right near your listening position can make sense, at least if you can dress the cables going to the sub so that they are not in your way. Because low frequencies below the 160 Hz point are non-directional, you will not be able to tell that they are not coming from the same general area as the rest of the sound from your speakers even if a Sub is very close to you. So there is no theoretical reason not to place the sub nearby except the obvious one that this placement is the complete opposite of corner placement. Bass frequencies, instead of being focused by walls, spread out in all directions toward those walls away from where you are sitting with near-field placement.

This is where the controls on the subwoofer can become critically important. You may have to turn up not only the level control but also the crossover control. And the phase control can make a major difference here. Keep in mind that having to crank up the level of a sub located right next to you may increase the perception of any hum in a recording or piece of audio equipment, or the Sub's own background hum from grounding or other anomalies.
Since the objective of most people who buy Subs is to make sure of plentiful low frequencies, the only situation most of us will run into that makes subwoofer placement really difficult is the factor we all fear the "bad" room that just will not let you get satisfying amounts or quality of bass. There are rooms with troublesome dimensions, especially as you approach a perfect cube (with a closed door).

In such a case, the answer for some people is two subwoofers, placed carefully to work with each other. This can also be true when the problem is too much, or too uneven, bass. For excellent results from this solution, the two subs do not have to be identical. It may be fine, in fact, to use two lesser subs to equal the performance of one with stronger specs.

Finally, there are people who feel that the best way to find where to position a subwoofer is to place it temporarily right in your favourite easy chair and then walk around the room, checking how the Sub sounds at various points. The idea here is that the point that sounds best as you walk around, poking your head into corners etc, should be the final place for your sub. It's an interesting theory, and it from time to time works. But since the spread of bass from a Sub placed at your listening spot may be far different when heard at a distance in a corner than it is when the sub is placed very close to that same corner, this idea is not a reliable rule of thumb.

By now, you have noted that I have said almost as much about subwoofer placement as we have about other speaker placements combined. This does not mean it's difficult. I get virtually no inquiries about subwoofer placement from customers, which is a good indication that it's not something over which people lose much sleep. A good powered subwoofer is such a pleasure when used with a good main speaker that enjoyment is definitely the reach of decision.
Cheers

Alphonso Soosay
Perth

2009-11-12T17:35:00.000-08:00

Singapore 60’s Memories of Alphonso Soosay

A Review By: Alphonso Soosay

The wonderful part of being with a successful Singapore’s Pop Band in the 60’s was knowing the countless lot of impressive bands and talented singers performing here and there in Singapore, in spite of these happenings, I must say that, the very first successful recording artist in Singapore was “The Crescendos”. Then rolled up the second successful recording artists “The Quest” and within a year appeared the third most successful recording artist “Naomi & The Boys” in 1965 who achieved a first Gold Disc in late 1965.
Successful recording artist meaning, best sales of records, having repeated No: 1 hit songs on radio and high numbers of popular radio request daily followed by performing in Pop Shows at National Theatre and all other venues organised by top Show promoters followed by weekly Media coverage. Back in the '60s, Singapore bands were so big that it was able to topple international acts like Cliff Richard and The Shadows, Dave Clark Five, Garry & The Peacemakers, The Ventures, Jumping Jewels, The Monkeys, The Beatles and many more on Singapore's, Indonesia’s and Malaysia’s pop music charts.

Every one of us has our own memories of the 60’s to cherish in our own ways.
As for me:

Susan Lim of the “Crescendos” always had that natural Connie Francis style of singing.
Their first record, Mr. Twister, surprisingly outsold Connie Francis’ version. This convinced Philips Records International about the depth and marketability of Singapore talents,
Susan Lim’s No: 1 hit was Mr Twister / Frankie, for “Crescendos”.

The “Quest” perfected “The Shadows” sound with ease. Reggie Verghese was an outstanding Shadows lead guitarist. The Quest had very successful stints in Hong Kong.
Shanty was the No: 1hit for The “Quests”. By: Bass player Henry Chua.

Naomi & The Boys had a very extraordinary sound of their own with Naomi’s outstanding voice that handled the lyrics with ease along with superb feel and diction.
A new lineup of “The Boys” emerged in1965 with Robert Suriya (lead), Peter Thomas (rhythm), Moses Tay (bass) and Alphonso Soosay (drums) which lasted until late 1969.
Happy Happy Birthday Baby / I Know / Its All Over, was the No: 1, 1965 hits for “Naomi & The Boys”.

These were the top three in terms of No 1 hit contributions made in Singapore’s 60’s music scene plus they all had other follow-up No 1 hits too. These top 3 groups had to compete in the weekly top 10 chart with International artists like Cliff Richard & The Shadows, Beach Boys, The Ventures, Jumping Jewels, The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Gerry & The Peacemakers, Elvis Presley, The Monkeys, Yardbirds, The Mamas & Papas, Aretha Franklin, Supremes, Johnny Cash, Wilson Picket, James Brown, Otis Redding, Neil Diamond, Mannfred Mann and many more western pop stars.
These top three were Singapore pop stars who gave Singaporean’s Indonesian’s and Malaysian’s pride and joy of Asia’s best pop music.
On Record; These top three were selling records in the range of 25,000 units within three months of sales and most importantly clinging on to the top spots of local music charts (which is non-existence in today’s Singapore English local charts), this was a tremendous achievement back in the 60’s when the population of Singapore was considerably much smaller compared to these days.

Looking on the other side, Singapore’s 60’s was not about the top 3 only; there were many other outstanding rocking bands that made it a golden era for Singapore pop scene. Groups that made big hits too were The Checkmates (No: 1 hit song, Sylvia) plus with most popular on stage Cyclones, Siva & James (No: 1 hit song, Oh No She Didn’t Say) handling most of the vocals, they were a team, resident-band performing at the most popular Tea- Dance club called “Golden Venus” and stage concerts. Checkmates with Cyclones were the solid Rhythm and Blues band I have heard then, my favorite. They played music from groups like Rolling Stones, Animals, Manfred Mann, Yardbirds and Kinks, that’s why they were known as the musical heavies. Other popular pop groups that had No: 1 hit songs on radio were The Thunderbirds, Sonny Bala & The Moonglows, The Dukes, The Trailers, The Siglap Five, The Jets, The Stompers, The Bee Jays, Charlie & his orchestra, Maurice Patton & The Melodians, The Sun Downers, The Commancheros, Straydogs, Cells Unlimited, Pests Infested, Clansmen, Wes Cossacks, The Antarctic’s, Diamond Four, The Swallows and many many more.
Singers that made it as recording artists were Reyes Sisters, Rita Chao, Sakura, Vernon Cornelius, Henry Suriya, Wilson David, Paul Cheong, Bryan Neal, Bobby Lambert, Anita Sarawak, Evey Lyn, Lara, Mona, Keith Locke, Ronnie Ong, Ismail Haron, Jefri Din, Kassim Salamat and many more.
Not forgetting talentime winners like Cynthia Lau, Eunice Sim, Tidbits, Sugiman, among others also contributed to the rich history of Singapore’s music.

At that time Charlie & his Orchestra were the most popular Ochestra for most TV musical shows and there was also a talented musician Horace Wee, a member of RTS orchestra for talentime shows on TV. He had great local supporters and I still remember him leading the RTS Orchestra’s performance of “Guantanamera” on TV which attracted a huge number of reviews on the media and fans too. I also remember a lovely pianist I used to listen to, Peggy Tan. Then came Sunny Low & his dancers appearing on most stage and TV shows. This is the kind of pop groups, music and entertainment that we all grew with. For me, it brings back warm memories of our younger days in the 60’s, when our lives were definitely simpler, more innocent and carefree than today.

There were money making Show Promoters like Robert Chua, The most creative person I have worked with. Others were Johnny Young, Fernando Young, Michael Tan and K V John as big supporters of Singapore pop groups. In the very early 70’s came the big time promoters like Jimmy Lee and Watson Tay who managed the biggest entertainment booking agency in Singapore named “Quill International”. They also brought in top International artists where local artists had a chance to meet and perform on the same stage.

Promoters from The Redifussion Discovery team, Mike Ellery, Larry Lai, Joseph Goh, Tan Swee Leong and Eric Lim. This proactive team created talentime shows where some of the 60’s talents were groomed for lucrative recording contracts.
This team created all kinds of contest, Elvis Presley, Cliff Richard, Connie Francis, The Shadows, The Ventures, Jumping Jewels, Paul Anker, Johnny Ray, Millie Small and many many more.

Recording Companies like, Philips, EMI, Cosdel, Decca and many more big recording companies were looking out for potential musical talents in a very big way. 1960’s, were the best years for recording artists in Singapore.
Philips Vinyl Record productions were relatively well produced and were made in Holland. We had to live with of poorer quality audio recording facilities which existed in Singapore then. Now looking back, I must say thank you to the support and interest shown and given by the music industry multinationals, Philips Records, Singapore bands were given a platform for their tunes to be recorded and distributed and very often making it into the Singapore and Malaysia’s English Pop charts, elbowing comfortably next to the top hits from USA and England then.
The cost of an EP was only $4.00, SP was $2.00 and LP’s were $10.00 each.
Young Singaporean’s saved from their school pocket money to support their favorite groups by purchasing their records and watching live shows. I remember, there were strong but friendly rivalry between supporters of different pop groups. All these were part of the fun within a big family of local music lovers. Mind you, no fights at all at live shows.

In mid 1960’s, it was Dr. Goh Keng Swee the Minister for Finance then who officially opened Singapore Philips Phonographic Industries Ltd. "Maju-lah Singapura" Singapore's National Anthem was also recorded on Philips label with The London Symphony Orchestra. Conducted by Leopold Stokowski.

Radio Singapura and Redifussion were the official radio stations for the pop artists then.
Show promoter Robert Chua came up with names like The Star of Stars that toured the 11 states of Malaysia. Johnny Young came up with the Early Bird show at Capitol cinema; someone else created Musical Express at the Odeon cinema and many more.

Pop Inn TV show was the hot TV entertainment for western music lovers. Many of the local pop groups used to dream of appearing on that show.
Istana Pesta TV shows were featuring all the top local Malay singers like Julie Sudiro, Ahmad Daud & his dancers, Rahim Hamid, Kathina Dahari, Ahmad Jais, M Ismail, Rafael Buang, Ernie Djohan and many more.

My teenage memories of Singapore’s local music instantly bring back names like The Patricians and McCoy’s. There was one of the first teenage pop groups to appear in Singapore’s first black & white TV. I believe I was inspired into music by these groups. They were very popular on Black & White TV, radio and Redifussion those days, even before Crescendos’ and The Quest dominated.

In the 70’s, my memory brings me to the popular “Xperiment” formally known as Commancheros with Joe Chandran, Family Robinson at the "Lost Horizon" (shangri-La Hotel), The Garrisons, Top Cats at the "Pink Pussy Cat" with Ronnie Ong and top of the chart Western Union Band. These were whopping night club and household names, and then guess who came into the top of the charts? “October Cherries”, I believe, they were known as Jade & Pepper when they first started off, then changed name to Surfers.

As I move into the 80’s, I remember a new wave of Singapore acts; voted the best SBC talentime vocal winner “Ann Hussein”. Eurovision song contest winner “Ali Ahmad”, there was no lack of good talents then. Well-known pop group like “Gingerbread”, voted by SBC as the best pop group in October 1985 with a No: 1 hit song “Roses” followed by many No: 1 hit songs. Then there was a follow-up by another popular group “Tokyo Square” with number 1 hit song, “Within you will remain”. There were many other professional popular pop groups like Hangloose, Tania, New Faces, Zircon Lounge, Sweet Charity, Black Dog Bone, Street-smart, and Eurasia, also a great Rock singer named Ramli Sarip. I believe audio recordings by these groups are still popular at sing-along Karaoke lounges in Singapore and Malaysia. This was another big achievement for the Singapore pop scene.
I left Singapore in late October 1985 for Perth, I believe, from that time on, musicians from the Philippines came into the Singapore market in a very strong way. It was sad that Singapore’s musician union could not do anything to help local musicians to gain jobs in the night club scene in Singapore.

I have noticed that after speaking to many musicians and singers who left Singapore as far as 30 years ago still think very sentimentally of their early lives and enjoyment they had in Singapore’s music entertainment life.
If only someone could write a real book of facts about Singapore’s music scene through the years since the early 1960’s up to date, then, this would be a real treasure of the century. The only person I could think at this stage is Siva Choy who was the active musician then, a journalist writing about the music scene of Singapore with media Fanfare and others.

Note: 1
Singaporeans also adopted International artists like Anneke Gronloh, the Blue Diamonds in 1960, and The Fabulous Echoes as our own even though they were not born in Singapore. Also adoption from across the causeway, The Strollers, The Falcons, Teenage Hunters, Frankie Cheah, The Jayhawkers all these artistes also contributed to Singapore 60’s shows that kept Singaporean’s still talking about the good old days.

Note: 2
60’s music finds its origin in several places, starting as far back as the big swing bands of the pre-war era that the 60’s kid’s parents listened to as youngsters. From memory, a few of the most famous bands were Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, Glenn Miller, Muddy Waters, Bob Wills & the Texas Playboys. Later followed by pop style, Dave Clark Five, The Spencer Davis Group, The Swinging Blue Jeans, The Mamas & Papas, Simon & Garfunkel, Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Four Seasons, The Shangri-Las, The Shirelles, The Drifters, Gary Lewis & The Playboys, Quincy Jones, Burt Bacharach, then followed with singers like, Aretha Franklin, Supremes, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, Sam Cook, Wilson Picket, James Brown, Otis Redding, Ben E. King, Carl Perkins, Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, B.B. King, Neil Diamond, just to name a few. Also some of the biggest names in early 50’s & 60s music all came out of one and only recording studio then, the "SUN Record" Company, based out of Memphis, Tennessee.
Between 1965 and1967 the world saw the most amazing experience and changes in rock music ever, the Beatles and the Beach Boys, perhaps were the two most innovative recording groups of the mid 60’s. Although there were so many other great pop rock groups at that time, as for me I must say that, The Beatles and Beach Boys created such enjoyable lively pop rock music ever then.

Cheers
Alphonso Soosay
Ex “Naomi & The Boys” drummer
Perth.

2009

Basic Audio History

2006-09-01T01:09:00.000-07:00

Home Listening Audio Experience over the years.

A Review By: Alphonso Soosay

The insight of this article is to surround a preview of audio technologies that has been and is in the consumer market. Today’s common audio term with “Home Theatre’s” is the “Dolby Digital Surround Sound”, an experience that is being enjoyed in home theatres all over the world.
Not long ago, the world has entered into the “Third Age” era of reproduced sound, which is “Dolby Digital Surround Sound”.
The “Stereo” era was the “Second Age” and before that the “Monophonic” era which was the “First Age”.
During the “First Age” era, the idea was simply to reproduce the timbre of the original sound. No attempts were made to reproduce directional properties or spatial realism.
The “Second Age” has provided great listening pleasures for four decades. Stereo has also improved the reproduction of timbre and added two dimensions of space. The right and left channel spread of musical performers across a stage.

Monophonic Sound:
Monophonic sound is a single-channel, unidirectional construction of sound reproduction. All essentials of the sound recording are focussed using one amplifier and speaker matched together. No matter where you stand in a room, you hear all the elements of the sound equally (except for room acoustic variations). To the ear, all the elements of the sound, voice, instruments, effects, etc. Appear to originate from the same point in space. It is as if everything is “expressed “to a single point. If you connect two speakers to a Monophonic amplifier, the sound will appear to originate at a point equidistant between the two speakers, creating a “presence " channel.

Stereophonic Sound:
Commonly called "Stereo", is the reproduction of sound using more than one independent audio channels. It was an idea to create a pleasent and natural impression of sound heard from various directions as in natural hearing. On playback, stereophonic sound attempts to create an illusion of location for various musical instruments within the original recording. The audio recording engineers goal is usually to create a "stereo image" with localisation information. Many listeners assume that "Stereo Sound" is richer and full sounding than monophonic sound. This is not true, as stereo and mono can have equally detailed abilities to play recorded notes. The spatial illusion is what sets stereo recordings apart from mono recordings. When playing back stereo recordings, best results are obtained by using two speakers, in front and equidistant from the listener, with the listener located on the centre line between the pair of speakers.
Stereophonic Sound, has a more optimistic type of sound reproduction. Although not totally practical, but some stereophonic sound lets the listener experience the true sound staging of the live performance. It all depends on how the final mix is created.
Radio Broadcasting in Stereo: BBC's experimental transmitting station 5XX in Daventry, Northamptonshire, made radio's first stereo broadcast in December 1925, of a concert conducted by Sir Hamiltom Harty from Manchester.
Television Broadcasting in Stereo: A close-circuit television performance of Carmen from the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City to 31 theaters across the United States on 11th December 1952 included a stereophonic sound system developed by RCA.

The Stereophonic Process
The most important characteristic of Stereophonic sound is the separation of sounds across the two channels. The recorded sounds are then mixed in such a way that some musical instruments are channelled to the left channel of the soundstage; others to the right channel.
One positive result of stereo sound is that listeners experience the correct sound staging of symphony orchestra recordings, where sounds from the various instruments more naturally emanate from different parts of the stage.
However, monophonic elements are also included. By mixing the sound from a lead vocalist in a band, into both channels, (Left and Right) the vocalist appears to be singing from the "phantom" center channel, between the left and right channels. Pop music,in particular is usually recorded using close-miking techniques, which artificially separates signals into several tracks. The separate tracks are then mixed into a 2-channel recording which often bears little or no resemblance to the actual physical and spatial relationship of the musicians at the time of the original performance. Indeed, it is not uncommon for different tracks of the same song to be recorded at different times, and even in different studios, and then mixed into a final 2-channel "Stereo" recording for commercial release.

Limitations of Stereo Sound:
With Stereophonic Sound it was a sparkle through for consumers in the 50's and early 60's, but it did have limitations at that time, Because a good number of recordings at that time resulted in a "ping-pong" effect in which the recording mixing emphasized the difference between the left and right channels too much with not enough mixing of basics in the "phantom” center channel. Although the sounds were more stereo practical, but it did lack the ambience information, such as acoustics and other essentials.
It actually left Stereophonic sound with a "wall effect" in which everything striked you from front and lacked that natural sound of back wall reflections or other natural acoustic nitty-gritty’s.

Quadraphonic Sound:
Just after Stereophonic sound was introduced, between the late 1960's and early 1970's two developments became known that endeavoured to deal with limitations of stereo sound. It was the “Four Channel Discrete” and “Quadraphonic Sound”.
Four-Channel Discrete- (The one with problems):
The problem with Four Channel Discrete, in which four identical amplifiers (or two stereo ones) were needed to reproduce sound, was that it was extremely expensive (those were the days of Tubes and Transistors, not IC's and Chips).
Also, its sound reproduction was really only available on Broadcast (two FM stations each broadcasting two channels of the program simultaneously; obviously you needed two tuners to receive it all), and four channel Reel- to-Reel audio recorder/playback, which was also very expensive at that time.
In addition to that, Vinyl LP's and Turntables could not handle playback of four channel discrete recordings. Although several interesting musical performances were simulcast using this technology (with a co-operating TV Station broadcasting the Video Section), the whole set-up was too problematic for the ordinary consumer.
Quadraphonic -A More Realistic Surround Approach:
Winning a more practical and affordable approach to surround sound reproduction, than that of “Four Channel Discrete”, the “Quadraphonic” system consisted of matrix encoding all four channels of information within a two channel recording. The practical result was that ambient or effects sounds could be imbedded in a two channel recording that could be retrieved by a normal stereo turntable (phono) stylus and recognized through to a receiver or amplifier with a Quadraphonic decoder.
In real meaning, “Quad” is the ancestor of today's Dolby Surround (it’s a piece of evidence, if you own any old Quad piece of equipment they still have the ability to decode most analogue Dolby Surround signals). Although Quad had the promise to bring affordable surround sound to the home environment, the requirement to buy new amplifiers and receivers, additional speakers, and ultimately lack of consensus amongst hardware and software makers on standards and programming, Quad basically ran out of control before it could truthfully enter the audio market.

The Arrival Of Dolby Surround:
Then in the mid-70's came, Dolby Labs, with innovation film soundtracks such as Star Wars, and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, this unveiled a new surround sound process that was more simply adaptable for home use. Also, with the prelude of the HiFi Stereo VCR and Stereo TV Broadcasting in the 1980's, there was a bonus pathway for which to gain public acceptance of Surround Sound. Up to that stage, listening to the sound portion of a TV Broadcast or VCR tape was like listening to a tabletop AM radio.

Dolby Surround Sound Practical for the Home:
With the capability of encoding the same surround information into a two channel signal that was encoded in the original Movie or TV soundtrack, software and hardware manufacturers had a new motivation to make affordable Surround Sound components.
Associate Dolby Surround processors became available for those that already owned Stereo only receivers. As the popularity of this experience reached into the more and more homes, more affordable Dolby Surround Sound receivers and amplifiers became accessible, finally making Surround Sound a permanent part of the Home Entertainment Experience.

Dolby Surround Basics:
With Dolby Surround process it involves encoding four channels of information (Front Left, Center, Front Right, and
Rear Surround into a one or two channel signal. A decoding chip then decodes the four channels and processes them to the appropriate destination, the Left, Right, Rear, and Center (center channel is derived from the LR front channels).
The result of Dolby Surround mixing is a more balanced listening environment in which the main sounds derive from the left and right channels, the vocal or dialog emanates from the center channel, and the ambience or effects information comes in from behind the listener. In musical recordings encoded with this process the sound has a more natural feel, with better acoustical cues. With movie soundtracks the sensation of sounds moving from front to rear and left to right adds more realism to the viewing/listening experience by placing the viewer in the action. Dolby Surround is basically effective in both musical and film sound recording.

The Limitation of Dolby Surround:
Dolby Surround do have its limitations however, with the rear channel being basically passive, it lacks specific directionality. Also, overall separation between channels is much less than a typical Stereophonic recording.
Dolby Pro Logic:
Dolby Pro Logic takes care of the limitations of standard Dolby Surround by adding firmware and hardware elements in the decoding chip that emphasize important directional cues in a movie soundtrack. In other words, the decoding chip will add emphasis to directional sounds by increasing the output of the directional sounds in their respective channels.
This process, although its not important in musical recordings, but is very effective for film soundtracks and adds more accuracy to movie effects such as gun shots, glass breaking, thunder, lightning, explosions, planes flying overhead, etc. There is greater separation between Channels. In addition, Dolby Pro Logic creates a dedicated Center Channel that more accurately centres the dialog (this necessitates a center channel speaker for full effect) just like in a movie soundtrack.

Limitation of Dolby Pro-logic:
Even though, Dolby Pro-Logic is an excellent refinement of Dolby Surround, its effects are derived strictly in the reproduction process, and even though the rear surround channel may employ two speakers, they are still passing a monophonic signal, limiting rear-to-front and side-to-front motion and sound placement cues.

Dolby Digital:
Dolby Digital is also referred to as AC-3 or the accepted 5.1 channel system. Nevertheless, it must be noted that its term "Dolby Digital" refers to the digital encoding of the audio signal, not how many channels it has. In other words, Dolby Digital can also be monophonic, 2-channel, 4-channel, 5.1 channel or 7.1 channels. However, in its most common applications, Dolby Digital 5.1 and 6.1 is often referred to as Just Dolby Digital.

The Benefits Of Dolby Digital 5.1:
Dolby Digital 5.1 includes both precision and flexibility by adding stereo rear surround channels that enable sounds to emanate in more directions, as well as a supportive Subwoofer Channel to place forward more emphasis in the low frequency range.
Also, unlike Dolby Pro- logic which requires a rear channel of only minimal power and limited frequency response, Dolby Digital encoding/decoding requires the same power output and frequency range as the front two main left and right channels.
Dolby Digital encoding on DVDs and Satellite Set top box
programming is very common and has solidified this format in the marketplace. Since Dolby Digital differentiates its own encoding process, you need to have a Dolby Digital receiver or amplifier to accurately decode its signal, which is transferred from a component, such as a DVD player, Set top box via either a digital optical connector or digital coaxial connector.

Dolby Digital EX:
Dolby Digital EX is in actual fact based on the technology already developed for Dolby Digital 5.1. This process adds a third surround channel that is placed directly behind the listener.
In other words, the listener has both a front center channel and, with Dolby Digital EX, a rear center channel. If you are losing count, the channels are labelled: Left Front, Center, Right Front, Surround Left, Surround Right, and a Subwoofer, with a Surround Back Center (6.1) or Surround Back Left and Surround Back Right (7.1) (which would actually be a single channel in terms of Dolby Digital EX decoding). This obviously requires another amplifier and a special decoder in your A/V Surround Receiver. The 7.1 surround receiver has all the necessary software.

The Benefits of Dolby Digital EX:
What is the improvements of the EX enhancement to Dolby Digital Surround Sound?
In actual fact, it boils down to this: With Dolby Digital, much of the surround sound effects move towards the listener from the front or sides. However, the sound loses some directionality as it moves along the sides to the rear, making a precise directional sense of sounds from moving objects moving or panning across the room difficult. By placing a new channel directly behind the listener, panning and positioning of sounds emanating from the sides to the rear are much more precise. Also, with the additional rear channel, it is possible to originate sounds and effects from the rear more precisely as well. This places the listener even more in the center of the action.

Dolby Digital EX Compatibility:
Dolby Digital EX is completely compatible with Dolby Digital 5.1. Since the Surround EX signals are matrixes within the Dolby Digital 5.1 signal, software titles encoded with EX can still be played on existing DVD players with Dolby Digital outputs and decoded in 5.1 on existing Dolby Digital Receivers.
Although you may end up buying new EX-encoded versions of DVD’s you may have already in your collection when you finally get your EX setup running, you can still play your current DVDs through a 6.1 Channel Receiver and you will be able to play your new EX-encoded discs through a 5.1 channel receiver, which will just preserve the additional information with the current 5.1 surround system.

Difference between Dolby Pro Logic II & Dolby Pro Logic IIx:
While Dolby pro-logic reproduces monaural 100Hz to 7 kHz rear surround channel, Dolby Surround pro-logic ll reproduces stereo 20Hz to 20 kHz rear channels. It recreates precise directionality and spatial expansiveness using all your speakers with a more natural sounding 5.1 channel surround sound for a new level of Home Theatre entertainment.
The up-graded pro-logic llx is an extension of Dolby pro-logic ll technology, it expends the playback system configuration and maintains the sonic clarity, and it is similar in regards to EX in Dolby digital EX. The sonic goals in developing Dolby pro-logic llx was to improve surround envelopment, enhanced sense of spatial depth, improve directionality, more enveloping, more involving, more precise and has a larger listening area, commonly referred as the sweet spot.

Surround Sound for Music:
Furthermore, with surround system such as Dolby Digital and Dolby Digital-EX is primarily designed for movie viewing, there is a lack of an effective surround process for music listening.
In fact, many sensitive audiophiles reject much of the surround sound systems, including the new SACD (Super Audio CD) and DVD-Audio multi-channel audio formats, in favour of the traditional two-channel stereo playback.
Yamaha electronics have developed sound enhancement technologies (referred to as DSP Digital Sound-field Processing) that can place the source material in a virtual sound environment, such as a jazz club, concert hall, or stadium, but cannot "convert" two or four channel material into a 5.1 format.

The Benefits of the Dolby Pro Logic II Decoding Process:
Keeping this in mind, Dolby Labs has come to the rescue with an enhancement to its original Dolby Pro-Logic technology that can create a "simulated" 5.1 channel surround environment from a 4-Channel Dolby Surround signal (dubbed Pro-Logic II). Although not a discrete format, such as Dolby Digital 5.1 or DTS, in which each channel goes though its own encoding/decoding process, Pro Logic II makes an effective use of matrixing to deliver an adequate 5.1 representation of a DVD or Music soundtrack. With advancements in technology since the original Pro-Logic scheme was developed over 10 years ago, channel separation is more distinct, giving Pro LogicII the character of a discrete 5.1 channel scheme, such as DVD Dolby Digital 5.1.

Extracting Surround Sound from Stereo Sources:
A new advantage of Dolby Pro Logic II is the ability to adequately create a surround listening experience from two-channel stereo music recordings. I, myself, have been less than satisfied trying to listen to two-channel music recordings in surround sound, using standard Pro Logic. Vocal balance, instrument placement, and transient sounds always seem to be somewhat unbalanced. There are, of course, many CD's that are Dolby Surround or DTS encoded, which are mixed for surround listening, but the vast majority are not and thus, can benefit from the application of Dolby Pro-Logic II enhancement. Dolby Pro Logic II also has several settings that will allow the listener to adjust its soundstage to suit your specific tastes.
These settings are:
Dimension control, which allows users to adjust the soundstage either towards the front or towards the rear.
Center Width Control, which Allows variable adjustment of the center image so it may be heard only from the Center speaker, only from the Left/Right speakers as a "phantom" center image, or various combinations of all three front speakers.
Panorama Mode, which extends the front stereo image to include the Surround speakers for a wraparound effect.
A final advantage of a Pro-Logic II decoder is that it can also perform as a "regular" 4-channel Pro-Logic decoder, so, in real meaning, receivers that include Pro-Logic decoders can, instead, include Pro Logic II decoders, giving the end user more flexibility, without having to having the expense of requiring two different Pro-Logic decoders in the same unit.

Dolby Pro Logic IIx:
Finally, a more recent peripatetic of Dolby Pro Logic II is Dolby Pro Logic Ilx, which expands the extracting capabilities of Dolby Pro Logic II, including its preference settings, to 6.1 or 7.1 channels on Dolby Pro Logic Ilx-equipped receivers and preamps. Dolby Pro Logic Ilx selves to deliver the listening experience to a greater number of channels without having to remix and reissue the original source material. This makes your record and CD collection easily adaptable to the latest surround sound listening atmosphere.

Dolby: Virtual Speaker:
Even though the trend headed for towards surround sound relies; on adding additional channels and speakers, the requirement of multiple speakers around an entire room is not always practical. Having that in mind, Dolby Labs has developed a way to create a fairly accurate surround experience that gives the illusion that you are listening to a complete surround speaker system, this utilizing just two speakers and a subwoofer.
Dolby Virtual Speaker, when used with standard stereo sources, such as CD, it creates a wider sound stage.
Then again, when stereo sources are combined with Dolby Pro-logic II or Dolby Digital encoded DVDs are played, Dolby Virtual speaker creates a 5.1 channel sound image using technology that takes into account sound reflection and how humans hear sound in a natural environment, enabling the surround sound signal to be reproduced without needing five or six speakers.

DTS (Digital Theatre System):
Dolby Labs are not the only player in the home surround sound market; Digital Theatre Systems has also adapted its surround sound process for home use. Basic DTS is a 5.1 system just like Dolby Digital 5.1, but since DTS uses less compression in encoding process, many feel that DTS has a better result on the listening end. More natural. In addition, while Dolby Digital is mainly intended for the Movie Soundtrack experience, DTS is being used in the mixing and reproduction of Live and Studio Musical performances.
A number of CD-only players now come equipped with DTS outputs that allow a DTS-equipped amplifier or receiver to decode the DTS signals imprinted on "select" DTS-encoded music CD's.

DTS-ES:
This new surround technology incorporates a rear centre channel for further add to the realism and accuracy of “Home Theatre” systems. DTS has come up with its own 6.1 and 7.1 channel, systems, in competition with Dolby Digital EX, DTS-ES Matrix and DTS-ES 6.1 Discrete. Basically, DTS-ES Matrix can create a center rear channel from existing DTS 5.1 encoded material, while DTS-ES Discrete requires that the software being played already has a DT&ES Discrete soundtrack. The benefits of this technology are that it has a more realistic flyover and fly-around effects. It produces a more stable image for atmospheres and surrounds effects, and also a more consistent 360 degree surround sound effect throughout the home viewing room.

DTS Neo- 6:
In addition to DTS 5.1 and DTS-ES Matrix and Discrete 6.1 channel formats, DTS also offers DTS Neo-6. DTS Neo-6, functions in a similar fashion to Dolby Prologic II and Ilx, in that, with receivers and preamps that have DTS Neo-6 decoders, it will extract a 6.1 channel surround field from existing analogue two-channel audio system.

SRS True-Surrounds:
Dolby Labs and DTS are not the only forces in surround sound technology; SRS Labs also has innovative technologies that can enhance the home theatre experience. True-Surround is a sound-scheme that has the ability to take multi-channel encoded sources, such as Dolby Digital, and reproduce the multi-channel surround effect by just using two-speakers. The result is not as impressive as true Dolby Digital 5.1 (the front and side surround effects are impressive, but the rear surround effects fall a little spill, with the sense that they are coming from just to rear of your head rather than from the back of the room). However, with many clientele reluctant to fill their room with six or seven loudspeakers, True-Surround does give the ability to enjoy 5.1 channel sounds within a normally-limited two channel listening environment.

SRS Circle Surround and Circle Surround ll:
Circle Surround, on the other hand, move towards surround sound in a unique way. While Dolby Digital and DTS approach surround sound for a precise directional standpoint (specific sounds emanating from specific speakers only),
Circle Surround emphasizes sound immersion. To accomplish this, a normal 5.1 audio source is encoded down to two channels, then re-decoded back into 5.1 channels and redistributed back to the 5.1 speakers (plus subwoofer) in such a way as to create a more immersive sound without loosing the directionality of the original 5.1 charnel source material.
The results are more impressive than that of True-Surround.
First, panning sounds such as flying planes, speeding cars from left to right, or trains zipping past sound even as they cross the sound stage; often in DD and DTS, panning sounds will "dip" in intensity as they move from one speaker to the next.
In addition rear-to-front and front-to-rear sounds flow smoother as well. Second, environmental sounds, such as thunder, rain 'wind or waves full the sound field much better than in DD or DTS. For example, instead of hearing rain coming from several directions, the points in the sound field between those directions are filled, thus placing you within the rain storm, not just listening to it.
Circle Surround provides an excellent enhancement of Dolby Digital and similar surround sound source material without degrading the original intent of the surround sound mix.
Circle Surround II takes this concept further by adding an additional rear center channel, thus providing an anchor for sounds emanating from directly behind the listener.

Headphone Surround:
Surround Sound is not limited to the large-multi channel system, but can also be applied to headphone listening. SRS Labs, Dolby Labs, and Yamaha all have incorporated surround sound technology with the latest headphone listening environment.
Generally when listening to audio (either music or movies) the sound seems to originate from within your head, which is unnatural. Dolby Headphone SRS Headphone and Yamaha Silent Cinema employ technology that not only gives the listener an enveloping sound, but removes it from within listener's head and places the sound field in the front and side space around the head, which is more like listening to a regular home theatre speaker-based surround sound system.

Conclusion:
Today's exciting surround sound experience is the result of decades of development. Surround Sound experience is now easily accessible, practical, and affordable for any consumer.
With the amount of audio technological advances that are occurring in the field of surround sound, it is no surprise that stereo as we all know will probably and may-be become obsolete in a matter of time. The latest audio media (SACD and DVD Audio) are now in serious development and are taking into consideration the impact at “You Are In Front Of Me Realism” that has to the end user market. With home theatre surround sound, there are three main players in the field of Surround Sound; they are 1) Dolby Digital, 2) DTS and 3) THX. On the other hand there are many other formats that are trying for a place on the end user market. It only remains to be seen what will happen in the near future. But for now, Dolby Digital, DTS and THX seem to have the limelight.
Get yourself surrounded with Dolby Digital Sound in your home.
It gives one the feeling of being in the movie theatre.

Alphonso Soosay
Audio Recording Engineer / Musician.
Perth.

How to Judge Audio Accuracy

2006-08-31T20:46:00.000-07:00

Judging Audio Accuracy using Speakers:

A Review By: Alphonso Soosay

What do we really mean when we talk about sound coming out of a pair of speaker? We have talked about it before and we have heard it but what should a good loudspeaker sound like?
An accurate speaker's role is to reproduce accurately the sounds of acoustic musical instruments and human voices exactly as they were present in the original source recording. An audio speaker should not add any sound of its own, it should not make Violins, Cello and Violas sound screechy or edgy, Double-Bass should be free of strident or harsh accents nor should it artificially add Bass emphasis to Male singers' voice. (This is a common crisis of many cheap audio speakers).
So what sonic indication should immediately become evident? What Characteristic do we listen for, and what weaknesses should we be mindful of? Let's start with the midrange, which is where most musical content resides, and where our hearing is by far the most sensitive. (Yes, we all love Bass, but a speaker must reproduce the midrange smoothly if we are in due course going to like it.) If an audio speaker nails the midrange precisely, without harsh-sounding peaks, or dips that make the mid- frequency sound muffled and distant, it will tell your ears immediately whether you will accept it as natural and "musical." If not, you will reject it as tonally “false” or "colored," and music will not sound realistic. It’s important to place your trust in accurate sound production of possibly nature’s greatest instrument, “Male and Female singing voice”. From my experience, if you get it right with the vocals other musical instruments will sound accurate as well; this is because much of the harmonic content of musical instruments resides in the midrange.
We have all heard great “Singers” and we are accustomed to the quality sound and fine distinction of male and female voices. And we have all grown up hearing pop music, which mostly features vocalists or groups of singers, as well as live choruses.
Therefore, a good place to start is with a good quality CD of an Individual singer or a group. If it's a female vocalist, does the voice sound smooth and clear? On the other hand, the vocal may sound toppy clear, with exaggerated "s's" and “t" sounds (that's called sibilance), which can tip you off to a speaker with a midrange peak that makes female voices sound sharp or shrill. Make sure you choose a recording that's smooth and natural to begin with many are not in order to properly judge whether a loudspeaker can accurately reproduce that voice. An older CD with a natural female vocal is Jennifer Warne's Famous Blue Raincoat. Norah Jones's voice on the DVD Live in New Orleans is a current recording that very naturally captures her vocals, without excessive sibilance or brightness.
Likewise, Diana Krall Live in Paris is well engineered. If you are listening in stereo, the vocal should be naturally placed with the other instruments; it should not sound dull or muffled or sound farther back. The latter is a sure sign of a speaker's reduced or recessed midrange (sometimes termed "laid-back"), which will place midrange sounds farther away and make them less distinct.
A choral recording of men's and women's voices is an excellent test of midrange clarity and detail: Can you separate the four parts of a Chorus the male Basses and Tenors, and the female Altos and Sopranos? The Sopranos are the highest-pitched female vocals; the Altos are lower. You should be able to hear each section of a choir clearly. Speakers with depressed midrange response make all choirs sound somewhat muffled and blurred sounding. Almost any modern CD of Handel's Hallelujah chorus from "The Messiah" will do. Listen for each section of the chorus. This disc also features a very spacious and open sound with great Brass, Strings and Percussion (try playing it back in multichannel through Dolby Pro Logic II or Logic 7 processors; it decodes wonderfully) and very convincing hall sound and depth. And there are loud, exciting musical climaxes, with plenty of cymbals and drums. Good quality speakers should remain clear and not get muddy during the loudest peaks in the music. This CD is a great choice for anyone who finds some older classical works boring and ponderous.
A well-recorded male vocal such as Harry Connick's voice on the soundtrack CD from When Harry Met Sally (any track except track 1, which has harsh trumpets), or James Taylor's concert DVD Live at the Beacon Theater, should be smooth and natural, with no fuzzy or low Bass emphasis. Speakers with an elevated upper Bass hump will make most male voices sound thick or fat, rather
than natural and real. These recordings also have excellent acoustic and electric Bass lines, respectively, with crisp sounding Cymbals and good Acoustic Drums. On loudspeakers with good Bass response (even some bookshelf models like JBL’s have clear, smooth Bass to about 80 Hz) you will be able to follow each individual Bass note very clearly. A speaker with poor or uneven Bass output will make Electric or Acoustic Bass sound like a dull thump, with individual notes hard to distinguish.
Some classic rock recordings like Dire Straits' Brothers in Arms are very well recorded, with natural sounding vocals, deep Bass, and guitar lines that is not harsh. Likewise Eric Clapton's Unplugged DVD is an engineering stand-out. You will likely have your own favorites that you have heard so often your “Ears” will tell you when they sound "right" on good quality HI-Fi speakers.
If you are considering speakers for mostly home theater use, the same standards apply. A speaker that is smooth and accurate on music alone will be just as neutral and transparent with movie
soundtracks. I do not believe that there is a separate category of speakers which are "good for home theater" or "good for music only." The same standards of fidelity apply. Center-channel speakers pose a particular challenge to any manufacturer, because the tonal (timbre) match between the center and the front left and right main speakers are very important. If there is no reasonably smooth tonal match, character's voices will shift its tonality as they move across the stereo soundstage and the seamless blend of dialog with music and sound effects will be broken. So listen to center speakers for any "boxy" effects. Speaking voices heard through a good center should not sound like a disembodied voice inside a box (compressed). It should seem natural and not change tonal quality as the actor moves across the stereo stage from left to right, or vice-versa.
I asked Tom Cumberland, an “B&W Speakers colleague and an experienced engineer involved in the audio business for many years in the UK, how he judges loudspeaker sound: His answer was: "As an electronics guy, I always listen for listening fatigue, which shows up as non- linearity’s in a loudspeaker's sound. With amplifiers, listening fatigue can result distortion and other artifacts. With speakers, non-linearity’s show up as peaks “You cannot just listen for a few minutes," notes Tom Cumberland. "You have to listen for at least an hour to music or watch a whole movie in your home theater. If the speakers cause listening fatigue, it will show up with longer-term exposure."
I also queried Michael Barnes, the founder of “Norh” speakers, on what he listens for when assessing prototype speakers:
"As the designer of “Norh” loudspeakers, I in actual fact analyze and compare the connections between the data from double-blind listening tests to laboratory acoustical measurements.
For those of us who do extensive listening, we become adept at picking out fairly quickly when the loudspeaker is coloring the sound. For most people who do not listen to loudspeakers for a living, this process can take some time. Regardless of the experience level, however, the individual results are shockingly consistent from double-blind listening tests. An inexperienced listener and even listeners who claim they are tone-deaf, eventually in a matter of time will have the same conclusion as the experienced listener. This process lends itself to listeners becoming more and more satisfied with the sound of a good speaker over time and more and more frustrated with a bad one.
"An analysis of why this happens shows that it is related to amplitude and balance in relation to the source material. Even using source material that is colored on the original recording and there are lots of recordings like that it will still sound as good as it is ever likely to sound when reproduced on properly designed loudspeakers. This is because the odds of a colored loudspeaker lining up in exactly the inverse coloration of a bad recording are simply impossible in the long run. The amplitude, or volume level, has a dramatic effect on the blind listening test. Two identical loudspeakers with one set just slightly higher in amplitude will consistently result in the louder one winning the listening test.
Since a colored loudspeaker will have broad variations in amplitude response throughout the audible frequency range there will inevitably be certain sections of the performance that are unnaturally louder than they should be. The inexperienced listener may conclude early on in the listening session that this is a good thing because it is a louder thing, but as various source materials are used and as various instruments or vocals on the same source material coincide with this unnaturally loud frequency region, the fatigue and the imbalance begin to become apparent and undesirable." On the other hand, if a speaker has little or no Bass output, its midrange becomes more noticeable and we can describe its sound as “Frontwards or Too-harsh”, this is because the midrange and treble seems more outstanding. You must keep this idea of “Overall Frequency Balance” in mind when you ever come up with a conclusion of speakers for yourself. A “well-balanced” is the one of the foremost compliments you can ever honor a pair of speakers, because it confirms that the pair of speaker reproduces deep Bass, midrange and treble frequencies equally balanced, that is without any attenuation or beautification involved. Great sounding audio speakers should define the term “High Fidelity” by achieving a kind of musical truth through keeping all sounds in correct relative balance, exactly as they were recorded. There you are, I hope you did get some basic knowledge on understanding of Audio speaker’s accuracy.

Audio Recordings via Computer

2006-08-24T20:52:00.000-07:00

Ways to Create Audio via your Computer
for your "Creative Project"

A Review By: Alphonso Soosay

It does not matter if your interest is creatiing your own original music, cover music or compiling your music collection, a dedicated "Home Studio" space is good enough with today's audio technology that's available at a so affordable cost.

So, then how do we get our sounds via the computer? When you have the right tools, its no harder than using a cassette recorder. I'm going to get your head on straight so you can make some good decisions for your future rig. There are 5 common approaches here, and we'll talk about each briefly.
Getting your Sounds into your computer
1. Use your onboard Sound device
A cheap sound card, like the one that comes with your PC that only has 1/8" MIC and LINE inputs poses a problem right away. You will have to use a cheap mic to connect to the little 1/8 inch phone jack, and you'll need a little adapter (1/4" to 1/8") to connect the guitar to the MIC in. (be careful to keep you guitar at very low volume). If you have a direct box or a pedal, connect that to the LINE IN. You also connect your synths to the Line In, again, with the 1/4" to 1/8" adapter. As you might guess, this is not a very good solution. The Mic preamps often have hiss noise, usually worse than an old cassette deck. The DACS are poor on these cards and the cables are always falling out of the jacks due to the weight of the adapters. Also you will find yourself always plugging and unplugging stuff in this very inaccessible area.

2. Mixer/Soundcard
The classic solution here is to get a small mixer that lets you connect the mixer output to the LINE IN jacks on the soundcard. The Mixer will let you use better microphones with XLR jacks and will have better clearer sounding preamps. Also a Mixer will be able to boost the guitar signal just right, making it easy to use pedals and all the cool guitar gadgets you might have. I call this the Mixer/Soundcard approach.
3. Mixerless Approach

A third way to connect audio sources to a computer is with an audio interface, which 100% replaces all the functions of a soundcard, with mixer-quality mic preamps and line inputs and outputs.
The PreSonus Firebox is an example of an inexpensive audio interface that has Mic Preamps and line ins and outs. It also has MIDI i/o.
Some of these come with PCI cards and others with Firewire or USB2.0 interfaces. You don't need another soundcard if you have an audio interface--it is your soundcard. If you get one with Mic preamps, you don't need a mixer. We will call this the "mixerless" approach.
4. Soundcard-less Approach (Mixer with integrated audio interface)

A fourth way to connect your audio sources to a computer is to get one of the newer type analog mixers that have a firewire port, or one of the many control surface/digital mixer/midi interface boards that use firewire. You don't need a soundcard or an audio interface with these devices. I tend to call this the "soundcard-less" approach.
The Onyx. A full function analog mixer, when equipped with the optional firewire card, does not need a soundcard

5. MultiTrack Recorder Approach:

A final and fifth method is an alternative to the computer midi and audio sequencer for those who don't want to mess with computers that much. It is the dedicated standalone multi-track recorder. You basically do all your work on the recorder, not on the computer, but can use its built in interface (usually USB) to port files over to the computer for editing or whole songs over after the mix.

Having all that above understanding in mind and you have found your way into and out of your Digital recording equipments, so, its now the time to find a program to store and playback your sounds. Most audio recording computers come with audio programs pre-installed. Its a must idea to try this out before you venture into the larger and more complicated professional software. If your computer comes with no audio recording programs, download "Audacity". It's a fun audio recording program complete with music loops and various rhythm tempo's. So when you had success with the free software programs, you may want to look further into the more powerful audio recording programs. The most advanced and popular programs are "Pro-Tools", "Cubase", "Apple-Logic" and "Cakewalk". Your personal taste and budget will guide you to the program that best suits you. The advantage of the powerful programs is that it has higher audio quality interfaces for professional jobs.

First Time Studio Owner Guide

2006-08-21T23:42:00.000-07:00

Home Studio Owner’s Guide.

A Review By: Alphonso Soosay

Audio Recording Engineer / Musician

Perth. Western Australia.

Intro:

Audio Recording Engineers are held responsible for operating all of their multichannel and audio equipment involved in a recording session. Audio recording is a very comprehensive process. The recording engineer is always the technical specialist who is responsible for translating the creative vision of the artist and their producer’s inspiration into recorded reality. Audio recording engineers must be present at every detail of the recording process, and decisions must be made at each step you create. The first step in a recording session is “setting–up”, checking the “recording chain”, “output calibration” and making sure that there is no “magnetic induced distortion” with their audio system used for monitoring. Only then you move towards the preparations of placing various quality microphones on musical instruments required in their studio. This is very essential when you start audio recording sessions, the various types of microphones used for different applications, as well as their placement can have dramatic effects on the final recording. Each musical instrument is recorded on a track of its own, (Multitrack) acoustic drums could have 6 to 10 tracks on its own and then you evaluate its level and its natural tonal quality. The results are often explained and discussed with the producer and their musicians. At this stage you have to be very careful about levels and the tonal quality of the sound you are focusing on. Never, never rush in searching for that sound. Recording engineers then have to make adjustments on the control panel with intentions of improving the next take and so on (your “ears” plays an important part at this stage). During the first few takes you have to be very concerned with the sound that you are recording and with accurate levels for different musical sources. It often may require a couple of takes. Then, when the sound is to your satisfaction, just like how an acoustic musical instrument should sound, then focus on the musicians feel and mistakes. This followed by audio dubs one by one with your multitrack used. This is the stage to make corrections, adjustments with high, mid’s and even the bass frequencies. This is only to make some musical instruments stand out and others more subtle... Note that frequencies adjustments (EQ) are very different between different types of music. (Pop, Rock, Country, Rap, Jazz or Classical) The sound, the texture of these styles is very different. So this is where you as an audio recording engineer have to work with the artistes to find the sound that expresses their music best.
When every one of the multitrack have been captured on tape with a satisfactory level of quality, then the audio engineer must communicate a final-mix from the multitrack down to 2 tracks or Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks. These are then used to generate the master copy mix.
With audio recordings there are so many different adjustments that you can make especially with “Pro-Tools”. The sound entering each of those microphones is recorded as one track, and each track can be individually adjusted for level, frequencies, effects and such using the “Pro-Tools” control software with multitrack, as you can imagine the amount of variations you can create with sound that is unlimited. Once you have found the right sound for your musical instruments and for the style of music. You then start laying your tracks down. Always start with your basic tracks (Drums, bass, keyboards and rhythm guitar), followed by all dubs such as guitar solo, Piano solo, Saxophone solo, ECT and finally make up a pre-monitor mix of all the musical instruments recorded for the singer’s final vocal duds. Note: 100% music feel mix has to be there. Always check with the singers if they are happy with their headphones monitor feed against their vocals.
Drums are usually recorded on several tracks (6 to 10) simultaneously. Its only when you are happy with the basic tracks, then you start your dubs one by one as you will be able to focus better. As a recording engineer, you definitely must be technically skilled with the requirement. That’s instantaneously necessary. This is because if the producer or musicians need a change made to the sound they are getting, you must know exactly which knob or button to turn to make the change instantly. This is only part one.
The second part of the job, which is equally important, is the “creative” side; you must be able to turn out to be a different person (creative), almost just as a musical person who can listen to the music very closely. This is not technical work at all, it’s more about feelings. So you must be able to go back and forth between the two. Remember as an audio recording engineer you are involved in creative decisions about how the music should be recorded. Technically you are in charge and should make the final decision. This is a very significant part of the job to understand singers, musicians and producers.
Note: These days most international record labels do not have their own recording studios. They will hire a studio like yours to accomplish recordings for their artistes. So the trend today is that Recording Engineers tend to work in studios rather than recording labels or recording companies. Your studio has to be set-up to international standards.
Be prepared for those long long hours, sometimes 12 to 16 hours at a time. This is because you just cannot stop a recording session when it’s on its climax. Suppose you are scheduled to stop a session in an half hour, but the singer is just getting there, and you are almost to that right take. So, you just go on till the successful take is completed to yours and the producer’s satisfaction. Remember, sometimes you will have to stay late to get the urgent jobs done. And then the editing, mixing and the final listening session. At busy periods it’s typically a 12 hour session and sometimes a 7 day a week session for recording companies with dead-lines. If you want a good job done, you will have to love it, you will have to be crazy about it. Just like a musician, you know how musicians get obsessed with their musical instruments. It’s like that. So you must love what you are doing. Believe me from experience; it’s a very complex, creative and satisfying job at the same time. Note, that you as an audio recording engineer must be constantly learning, since the technology is changing all the time and so quickly. You must be committed to that, and that takes a lot of your extra time and work. Audio engineers must have a thorough technical understanding of their equipment, as well as an aesthetic sensibility which allows them to achieve the musical goals of the artists and producers.
So, as being a good audio recording engineer, you are just as important as the singers, various musicians and even the recording company people. In this music world each one of us is very important because it’s a team work effort. Again I must stress that as an audio recording engineer it is very important to understand singers, musicians and recording companies, you have to be open to ideas and doing the right thing for their music. Music is something that comes from our heart. We all love it. Don’t we?

Microphones:
The two most common types of microphones are Condenser and Dynamic.
Condenser microphones are most commonly used for recording vocals and Acoustic musical instruments. They are also ideal for recording cymbals and also as overhead microphones on Acoustic Drum kits. Quality Condenser microphones (Neumann and AKG) are expensive. Note: Condenser microphones require external power. A few cheaper types actually take batteries. Most of them use what is called “Phantom Power”.
Phantom power is supplied by the mixer or preamp to the microphone through the microphone cable. If you plan to use condenser microphones, you will need to have an audio-mixer or preamp that has built-in phantom power.
Microphone depends on its pickup pattern. Most directional microphones used in studios have a cardioids, hyper-cardioids, and omni-directional or figure 8 patterns. Cardioids microphone generally pickup sound from the front of the microphone only. They have very little pickup from sounds coming from behind or to the sides of the microphone. Hyper-cardioids microphones are the same as cardioids except, they pickup some sound from the rear. Omni-directional microphones pick-up sound from every all round directions. Figure 8 microphones; pick up sound only from the sides.

Vocal Miking tips:
When recording vocals it is best to have a dead room. This gives you a better control for placement in the mix. Add reverb in the final mix and not while you are recording. If you record vocals with reverb, you will not be able to remove it later if you find that you have added too much reverb. Your choice of microphones is going to depend greatly on your budget. Audio engineers will tell you that you should use the microphone that best suites the singer’s voice. Normally you should use the cardioid-pattern for lead vocals and Omni-pattern for backing vocals. A good condenser microphone allows you to select the pattern required for your use
Make sure the singers are warmed up before recording. This will help the singer’s endurance and they will sing better. From experience, many singers tend to become fatigued quickly in the studio. If the singer is experiencing vocal fatigue, either continue the session another day or take a break. Once the singer starts to feel fatigued, the chances of getting a good recording is very slim. If possible, try to get the producer or a vocal coach to guide the singer during recording sessions. A good vocal coach can detect problems in a singer’s performance and quickly correct them. Another way is to get a musician available to correct them, listen for feel, timing and pitch problems.
Using compression on recordings is a good idea. I usually set the compression ratio somewhere between 2:1 and 4:1. It all depends on the different types of singers and its music. I would then adjust the threshold so that I can get a 3 db gain reduction.

Microphone placement:
Room acoustics and microphone placement are the two key factors in getting a good recording. The two problems related to microphone placement are proximity effect and phase problems. Note: Always listen to your source, (example Guitar). You will find that the low-end build-up is near the "Sound Hole" itself. The higher-end build-up is somewhere around the 12th fret. So there are two different types of microphone placement; 1 Mono, single microphone and 2) Stereo, with two microphones. Sometimes using the Acoustic Guitar's pick-up sound and blending it with microphones can achieve a more creative and detailed sound. So as you can see the options and its totally up to you to experiment because each situation will be different.

Proximity Effect:
When recording with cardioids type microphones, be aware of proximity effect. Proximity effect causes an increase in the Bass response as the microphone gets closer to the sound source. Omni-directional microphones do not exhibit proximity effect.

Phase Problems:
You may have heard of people referring to signals being out of phase or in phase. Phase is the timing relationship between two similar signals. One way to visualize this is to think of what happens when you play a monaural recording on your stereo system. If your speakers are in phase with each other, which they should be, then both speakers will move in and out with each other. If you were to reverse the wires on one of the speakers, then one speaker would move out while the other is moving in. This is known as “Out Of Phase”. One cause of phase problems comes from using two different types or two different models of microphones. If on has an opposite polarity than the other microphone, they will be out of phase with each other. Many modern pre-amps have a phase switch which allows you to invert the signal. This is the easiest way to solve the phase problem.

Electric Guitars:
I normally record electric guitars by placing a single microphone in front of the guitar amp. The microphone is usually placed in front of the guitar amp and against the grill cloth, slightly off centre. It’s nice to get that live guitar sound. The “Shure” SM-57 works very well, and this SM-57 is tough to beat for its price you should experiment and find the best position for your recording. Getting a good distortion sound is often a real challenge. The tendency is to crank the distortion way up during the recording. If you are having trouble getting a good distorted guitar sound, try backing off on the distortion. What normally works for live performance does not everlastingly work in the recording studio.

Acoustic Guitar:
With Acoustic guitar you can apply two different techniques. A single microphone technique or a stereo microphone technique. My choice of microphone for recording acoustic guitar is a good small-diaphragm condenser microphone. I prefer using one microphone placing about 12 to 18 inches away pointing to the area where the neck joins the body. If you get the microphone much closer, you will start to experience proximity effect and the acoustic guitar will sound Boomy. You must experience with different mic positions to see how it changes with the sound. You can also add a second microphone and aim it at the bridge for a stereo effect. In this case, Pan each microphone to the far right and left for stereo effect. When recording Acoustic guitars for the best quality quality, you must use a condenser microphone rather that a dynamic microphone. Tested and affordable condenser microphones are AKG 414, or RODE NT1. Condenser microphones have much better high frequency reproduction and much better transient response, which is needed for Acoustic Guitars. Try to use a acoustically controlled room when recording acoustic guitars. They seem to sound very natural, tight and upfront.
Note: Compressing an Acoustic Guitar is very subjective. From experience I never had to really compress an acoustic guitar in audio recordings. I have tried it but never liked the end results. If you choose to compress, try to very lightly compress it by a ratio of 2:1. That will do the trick that you are looking for. Note: Acoustic Guitar itself is very dynamic and you will not want to ruin that wonderful tone and its harmonics.

Electric Bass Guitar:
What is that one thing that is extremely important in the overall feel of a song? If you guessed it as Bass guitar then you are on the right track to success. Recording the Bass can be an confusing topic, because of the many options. Bass guitars can be successfully recorded by either by miking the amplifier or running the Bass straight into a DI box. Many per-amps also function as a DI box. If you prefer to mike the amp, the same rules apply to bass guitars as for electric guitars. If you are recording using a DI box, I would recommend using a compressor at a 2:1 ratio. If your Bass has a more common passive pickup then using the "DI" is a better option. These "DI" are a essentially line transformers that take a low-level line signal of your Bass guitar and make it compatible with the microphone-level signal that your recording mixer/interface needs. Its advantages are that you get a clean unalterated sound that's really easy to make changes in digital editing and it also responds very well to compression and EQ. Make sure that the Bass guitar and the player are of high standard for successful Bass recordings. Sometimes you will come across Bass guitarist that would prefer to use a good Bass amplifier sound instead of "DI". I would recommend the AKG D112 or the Sennheiser E602. These two tested dynamic microphones have a really solid low-end response for the perfect low end effect. You will also notice that you will not need to use as much compression when you record using the amplifier, that's because speakers themselves give off natural compression to the signal. On the other end, Compression can serve other useful purposes too, the perfect example is the Bass Guitar. Note that a Bass Guitar is a dymanic musical instrument, and there's problems where individual notes stand out above the final mix. This happens with Funk Bassist. Add a slight 2:1 Compression, and you will find that even the most technically perfect Bass players sound will even out and become more easier to handle in the final mix. The other problem to watch out with Bass is EQUALISATION as it is subjective. Most experienced recording engineers, including myself, prefer to let the Bass Guitar to be the only low energy thing really moving in the pre 80-hZ region. The reason is you must and want to "Feel" the low end, and that is what makes people feel as if they are really grooving to that song. Remember, Bass Guitar notes has tone and musicality and Bass Drum (Kick) has that static thump effect. Note: Every situation is different depending on the different Bass Guitars uses and its players. The guide here is just a starting point to your technical problems in your final-mix.

Drum Kit – How to Mike It for Audio Recordings:
1) Always ask the Drummer for the configuration of his or her kit before the recording session so you can be prepared.
2) Make sure you have enough mic’s to cover the drum kit.
3) Example: 1 mic for the Kick, one for the Snare, one for individual Tom-Tom’s, one for Hi-Hat and two for the overhead mic.
4) Place the kick drum mic about half way inside the front skin (if there is no front head or a hole cut) and point it just off the pedal beater.
5) Mic the Tom’s and the Snare about 1” in from the rim. 2” off the head pointing towards the sweet sport in the centre of the head.
6) Point the Hi-Hat microphone away from the snare at the top of the cymbal, stay away from the sides and bell.
7) Place the overhead microphones at standing eye level, out of stick range and equidistance from the centre of the kit.
8) Check with the drummer and ask if your microphone’s are in a comfortable position for him.
9) Run all your microphone cables neatly to the snake connection or the wall panel connections and tape down the cables in high traffic areas.
10) Check your microphones from the control room to see if they are still in position.
11) Record your drum track and ask the drummer to come in for a listen and get his input on the sound.
12) Always give the drummer his own headphone mix, they often need more level in their headphones than any other musicians and ask for very specific instruments they want to hear that will help them hear the other musicians better. Giving the entire feel to the drummer is very important as he is the driver in the music.

Recording Acoustic Piano:
A couple of months ago at the “Paramount Recording Studio” I made another study of some basic techniques for recording acoustic piano. I tried some recording tests using various miking position and different pattern choices; acoustic piano lends itself very well to stereo recording. There are a number of Miking techniques you can use, depending on the sonic characteristics you are trying to achieve. If you are in an acoustically poor room, the piano should be best micked up close so you don't have to fight with bad ambience problems (acoustic problems). If the room is a good one you can move the mikes back and get more of an open sound. Just a foot either way can change the tone a lot, so be sure to experiment with placement and never settle with the quickest way.

Basic Techniques:
Here are some techniques I have used for my audio multitrack recording sessions.
Open the top lid to the acoustic piano. The two condenser mikes are placed about 6 feet high next to the piano and just inside the outer lip of the lower frame. The on-axis (center) part of the mikes was pointing towards the strings at a 45 degree angle. You can move the mikes back or closer to get more ambiences to suite your choice of sound. Getting the right sound and tone is very subjective and will vary depending on the type of piano, the player and the pressure used, type of music, and the room acoustics itself. I have used large diaphragm mikes (Neumann 87) in spaced pairs rather than in a cross configuration. This is because the cross configuration works best with smaller capsule microphones like the AKG 451-E. Because of the capsule geometry in larger diaphragm microphones, the off axis response can be Boomy in the cardioid pattern if not used correctly. If you use cross, you are exposing this off-axis side of the mike to the center of the instrument. Spaced pairs are a better way to go with large diaphragm microphones in cardioid pattern. Again, you must experiment with it in your room as it works in a different way in different rooms because of the acoustic differences.

Picking a Pattern:
When I have decided on the microphone positions, I then experiment with switching the different patterns on the microphone. I tried from full Omni to Cardioid, passing super and hyper cardioid along the way. I recorded parts of each mike pattern and then listened back; I could actually hear the various tone and acoustic difference. I then decided that a wide cardioid was the best sound choice for the type of Ballard songs we were recording at that time; wide cardioid has a broader pattern and lets more sound in from the rear than regular cardioid. This again is very subjective with different rooms. As far as Equlisation used, I added 2dB at 10K only to get some "Air" on tape. It feels more live and naturally.

Cheers

Alphonso Soosay
Audio Recording Engineer / Musician.

Electronic Digital Drummer

2006-08-21T22:49:00.000-07:00

Electronic Drum Machine

A Review By: Alphonso Soosay

An electronic Drum machine, is also called a rhythm (tempo) machine, is actually an electronic digital drummer. Smaller and lighter than a Laptop, the drum electronic machine comes with various repeating drum patterns and styles to serve as the Basic tempo for everything from heavy funk, country-rock to jazz, pop, jazz-funk, salsa and waltz. Tempo or beats per minute (BPM) is adjustable, and some drum machines also include percussion sounds. Like most digital devices, the drum machine has a LED screen for cycling through "patches" or tracks named according to music genre. "Hard Rock" might be one category, with 10 or more track variations called HR-1, HR-2, HR-3, and so on. Each track within the category will differ from the others in some way. One might use the kick drum on an extra beat, while another might include toms-toms or a cymbal ride.
Preset patches offer the user a wide variety of ready-made choices. Switching to another genre or category offers a whole new set of relative choices. A drum machine can come with several "drum kits" that each have their own "voices" or effects. Other handy patches of the drum machine include beginnings, breaks and endings. These can be put together with the standard patterns to pre-program an entire song, a great tool for soloists and songwriters.
Many models come with pressure-sensitive pads for finger drumming. Pads are each assigned a drum sound, such as bass, kick, snare, hi-tom, low-tom, cymbal crash and more. Play for fun or record your patch to digital memory for later use. You can even record an existing patch while adding your own sounds to it, making tracks customizable.
A drum machine might also include a synthesized bass guitar track. Bass "voices" or effects can include slap, tinge/; pick, synth and acoustic. It's easy to practice your chops or write original songs while playing with a "trio." Some drum machine models allow you to enter chord progressions to automatically transpose the bass so that it will play along with you, rather than the other way around. This is another great feature for songwriters putting together a demo or recording tunes for their own pleasure.
Most Drum machines do not have speakers, but feature a wide variety of inputs and outputs. The headphone jack along with the ¼ inch mono jack for guitar will allow you to play for hours without disturbing the household or neighbours. Line-out can be used for external amplification, to run to a recording system, mixer or other device. Connections vary between models but many also include a MIDI jack.
The drum machine is a basic tool for any guitarist, worth its weight in gold for its ability to provide great sounding drum tracks anytime, anywhere. Practice is much more enjoyable and interesting when playing with a drum machine and song-writing becomes more inspired. A drum machine is a great gig tool. Program it to accompany your set at the local club. Electronic Drum machine features vary widely, so if a particular function is important to you, be sure it is included before buying. A basic model starts at less than $250, but drum machines are also integrated into many other devices, including digital effects processors and personal recording studios. If you will be acquiring one of those in the near future, you might save money by looking into those devices as well.

Home Studio Construction

2006-08-21T22:41:00.000-07:00

Basics of Home Studio Establishment

A Review By: Alphonso Soosay

Having a noise free atmosphere in a home recording studio is extremely very critical to being able to appreciate natural sounds of a persons vocal, acoustic musical instruments and a wide dynamic range of sound especially in audio recording and audio mixing. There are many instances where a dynamic musical arrangement brings together a climax of sound level and suddenly stops with dead silence. To hear this expeditious contrast in sound level appreciated to its fullest, your home studio needs to have a realistically very low background noise level. With an acoustically balanced room, anyone can achieve the state-of-the-art sound reproduction in their music room. How? Using proper acoustic control materials in your home music room can improve the acoustics, creating a truly realistic soundstage effectively. So before you spend any more money on upgrading your audio equipment, upgrade that one “Objective” first (room acoustic control) which will grant you back your greatest rewards.
To building a commercial studio is an expensive proposition.
However, the basic techniques of home studio construction can be carried into a smaller, home space quite effectively. The focus of this review of features will be to outline what happens in a commercial facility and then break it down into some simple, less expensive options for you to use in your own space.
Generally speaking there are five building factors that make up a great audio recording surrounding area.
They are:
1) Diffusion
2) Isolation
3 Density
4) Floating your Studio
5) The Finish

Let’s take a look at the first item “Diffusion”:
The most creative and important thing you can do to a recording and control room space is to break up any parallel surfaces. There are 3 opportunities for parallel surfaces in the studio environment. Two parallel walls, ceiling and floor. When the studio environment is created, the outer wall is considered a starting point and a "building within a building" is designed with acoustic treatments. When the inside shell is designed, it is normally arranged at odd angles to breakup any parallel walls, ceiling or floor. The reason for this is an occurrence called “standing waves”. A standing wave is what happens when a sound wave encounters itself at full, or near full strength when distortion happens. Also looking at the features on phase when two waves encounter each other, there is a possibility for them to be out of-phase or in-phase. When waves encounter each other in-phase it will add up to more energy than the initial wave. When they encounter each others out of phase, they will cancel and subtract energy from the initial wave. Because of the size of low frequency waves, they will tend to "collect" at certain points in the room. These collection points will give you false impressions of the true nature of what's coming out of the speaker and lead you to false hearing conclusions.

Shocking First Impressions:
Let's just say that your audio room is poorly constructed and you are making your audio decisions based on a monitoring position that contains some standing waves. You might bring up a kick-drum either for mixing or tracking and decide that it sounds Boomy for you. Your reaction would be to hear for the Low Pass Filter or low frequency EQ and remove the offending frequencies. All well and good if you are monitoring speaker position is giving you what's actually happening in the real world. Next you might bring up the bass guitar and react in a similar manner; once again you head for the low frequency cut-off and remove low frequency. Over and over you respond to that standing wave and follow your ears. The problem is when you take the mix out to another listening room area that is properly constructed; you will find that you acted in inaccuracy. Your overall-mix will be lacking in low frequency because you chose to remove it. What now?

The Clarification:
The answer is to make sure that your working space is an accurate one. This can be accomplished by looking for the right studio in Mixing or recording with your own space to break up any parallel surfaces.

Re-Designing Your Space:
Unless an audio recording studio capability is built from the ground up, the audio designers have to deal with the fact that building, both residential and commercial, are built in squares and rectangles. This of course, makes sense as far as utilizing space but it's not the optimum design for audio recording. A commercial facility must use the "building within a building" approach to make all the internal surfaces non-parallel. This approach is not cheap but there are some very practical things you can do to your home audio recording studio to break up the sound waves.

General bits and pieces used as Diffusers:
I have tried setting up a free standing, floor to ceiling bookshelf at the back of my studio space as a diffuser and it seems to works very well. Note, it has to be fully loaded (left to right) with different size books and periodicals.
There are spaces that let some parts of the wave through to the wall and other parts are deflected by the odd shaped books. This does not get rid of all parallel surfaces but diffuses the sound waves considerably. It balances most of the back wall and is a cheap diffuser that's also good at controlling home audio recording room acoustics.
On a side wall where there is an open space I have tried placing a few free standing CD, Cassette/ organizers on the wall, this is another odd shaped surface, once if it's weighed down with CD and tapes. What you have to guard against with this is the rattling sounds of tapes this is caused when a loud bass notes or sound wave hits it. It can be controlled by re-arranging it.

Getting Serious:
Having functional and relatively cheap diffusers is a sturdy asset in a home studio. However too much of one size of diffuser can make your space unbalanced. As waves get bigger you need bigger diffused surfaces to help control them. I have built some free standing gobos (partitioning) to help with the low frequency with my room space previously.
Following are the materials I used:
.1/2" Pressboard
.1.5 inch Dry Wall Screws
.Corner brace
.One Roll of R-11 pink insulation
.6' of 3.25x1/2 inch finished pine
.Stretchable thick cotton cloth
.Two door hinges.

The Technique of a show piece:
Out of the pressboard I sectioned 6' x 6" and 2' x 6" lengths. My goal was to have two frames that were six feet high and two feet wide. I was making two free standing structures 6' x 2' and filling it with fiber-glass insulation and covering it with the thick cotton cloth on tie front and the sides. The back would be covered with a pine-wood cover. This would make one side dead and the other side live.
When putting them together I used the corner bracket to make a perfect angle and then screw them together with a drill using the dry wall screws. Once I had the basic structure built, I position in the fiber-glass insulation as far back as I could and tacked it down with an electric tack gun. I then stretched the cloth tightly across the open front and sides of the frame. I tacked it down on the inside of the back of the structure making sure that it looked good at the corners and made sure that I did not get bunched up in spots. Then I positioned the wood cover on the back and screwed it down. After that I positioned the feet on for its stability. Also added is one foot lengths out of the finished pine and screwed them into the bottom of the gobo. I then hinged the two structures together to make a kind of huge book that I could open or close and move around the room. I eventually made four of these so I could have a vocal booth or a free standing diffuser at any part of the room.
An essential set of laws in studio design is isolation. This is because the real world is a hostile environment when it comes to audio recording. All kinds of environmental noises such as lawn mowing, heavy traffic, air conditioning, computer noise, next door neighbors and air traffic all of these can corrupt your audio tracks. No recording engineer likes to re-take a good recorded performance because of a passing motorcycle or airplane? With home studios this can be a problem for two reasons. 1), you do not want what's outside influencing your audio recording and 2); your neighbors might not want to hear what you are recording while they are having their dinner or watching their TV program. So, to isolate this problem, you must insulate and there are a good number of ways to do that.

The Best Insulator:
The best insulator for cold, heat or sound is a dead air space. It's the same concept as storm windows and doors. Those of you who use them in winter know how quiet the house gets in the cold months, and also how it helps reduce your heating bills. The isolation property that dead air provides is why a commercial facility will have a building within the existing structure. This gives the designer the opportunity to eliminate parallel surfaces and to trap dead air between the outer and inner shells.
You can use insulation to break up parallel surfaces in the home studio environment. Since building a room within a room is impractical in the home, unless you have a huge family room. Let’s look at some of the things you can do to isolate problem musical instruments.

Easy home recordings:
The home studio is great for overdubs such as vocals, synthesizer keyboards, acoustic guitars, acoustic piano, wind instruments, percussion instruments, bass (using a DI box) and even horns in small sections with overdubs.

Doors and Windows:
Insulation and isolation is important in home studio surroundings. Walls are stationary structures and dead air is easily trapped between the outer shell and your inner walls. However, doors and windows present two special problems, doors have to be opened and have seams where sound can enter and windows must be transparent.
The concept of a dead air space applies with doors also. To seal off the passageways between rooms of a studio and the outside world you have to create a sound lock. This involves using double doors with an airspace trapped between when both doors are closed. This of course means using two doors per doorway. Here's how I did it in the commercial studios in Singapore (Audio Visual Workshop) designed by me in 1980.

Door Recipe:
Two solid core doors were used to construct each single door. The doorways were going to have to be wide enough to let pass some large pieces of equipment (such as musical instruments and mixing boards), so extra wide doors were constructed by our carpenter. A regulation size door was also constructed so we could make a door sandwich that could be flush to both the outside and inside walls but still have no common airway through the seam. The smaller door was then centered on the larger door and bolt holes were drilled so the doors could be sandwiched together. This sandwich would leave a 2 inch wide lip between the doors where mechanical rubber (seal) was laid. The reason for this was that when the door shut, it would provide some insulation where it laid against the inner wall. For extra buildup, before we put the doors together we put a sheet of lead between. Once we bolted the doors together and put on the hinges (heavy duty to say the least) we had a door that closed like a bank vault.

More about Doors:
A recipe for a door that provided maximum density and isolation in a commercial studio that has been worked on. Of course it would be great to be able to spend $500 on a door that you knew would keep out the majority of noise and sound outside of your control room and studio. But most of home studios are on a budget and need to adapt expensive techniques to our own home space. If you have not noticed, the concept behind this studio doors, then you should take a professional concepts and apply them to your home studio. So lets start talking about making doors that will isolate, but for much less than the professional would have to spend. We have already established that dead air is the best insulator around and all you have to do is trap it. Hanging two solid doors with a space between creates what's called a sound lock. Buying solid core doors can be an expensive matter but sometimes you can find doors that are discarded from previous studios and are just resting at construction Sites or studios that are being remodeled. It will be worth your while to hunt for some bargains at second hand door shops, especially if you have a few entries to address.
Personally, after trying to hang a door myself in 1980, I gave up. I would prefer to get some professional help to come in and hang the doors, construct the doorjambs to make sure it's done properly (air tight). But that’s your call; if you feel confident with doing things like that, go for it. It’s an experience that you will never forget.

The Sound Lock:
You will not need a large amount of air trapped between the two doors. A little goes a long way. Notice how when the doors are closed there is a dead air space between them. This really helps isolation between rooms outside the studio or the outside world too.

Studio Windows:
As you have noticed reading along, isolation is the most important goal in the home studio surroundings. That's to keep out the sounds that would cast a shadow on your precious audio recordings.
The concept of dead-air as an insulator can be easily carried over to windows. If you had ever noticed the main control room window in a TV or professional audio recording studio you probably would have noticed a few things. 1), that the glass is very thick, 2), it's angled and 3), there's more than one piece of glass that separates the control room from the studio. This was how the Audio Visual workshop studio was prepared.

Density, Isolation and “Reflection”:
Density is another great way to keep sound from transferring from one place to another. This is because sound waves tend to take a surface and turn it into a resonator. The thicker a material or surface the less it resonates. This is the reason that thick glass is used in audio recording studios all over the world.
If you install the studio window at a 90 degree angle to the floor, it would be perpendicular to the listening position at the console. This would cause problems both with sound and light reflection. So the glass is purposefully angled down both for acoustic and visibility reasons.
The reason for two pains of glass (sometimes three) are used in studio windows is because you can then trap air between the glass panes and as I have explained in past features that dead-air is the best insulator you can get.
Reflections include reverb, echo and standing waves. Each of these affects the sound of your room. Reflections can be detrimental to your recording. The problem is that sound waves bouncing off the walls, ceiling and floor will return to the microphone. This could simply result in the presence of reverb from the room in your recording. Most likely, this reverb will not sound very good. Another problem caused by reflections is phasing, or cancellation. This is caused by the source sound bouncing off the wall and returning to the microphone out of phase with the original sound. Also the sound may be in phase in some frequencies and out of phase at other frequencies. This causes some frequencies to be exaggerated and others to decrease and will prevent you from getting that nice full clear sound that you want to have in your audio recordings. Professional audio recording studios usually use special acoustic materials to remove reflections in the mid and high frequencies. In the home studio, you can obtain good results with much less expensive materials. A common popular material is the moving blankets; this is normally used by the moving companies to protect furniture’s. These materials can be purchased directly from fabric suppliers for less than $10/- a piece. Another material that works well is office dividers used for cubicles. You can often find these at used office furniture stores.

Visibility:
Professional studios have large windows that enhance the visual communication between the control room and studio and also tend to open up the room and make it seem less like the fishbowl that it is. It makes your work easier because you can easily cue a musician or singer visually. The bigger and wider is better as far as I am concerned when talking about real professional studio windows.

Overcoming Moisture:
One possible problem when sandwiching two thick panes of glass together with a hefty air-space between them is that moisture can collect. Than can be remedied by putting up one of the panes of glass, then caulking it with silicon, it can be effectively sealed. Then the other pane of glass is put up and checked for fit and then removed and put aside momentarily. A space on the bottom surface of the airspace must be built down, usually 1 or 2 inches deep and the width of the window. This would resemble a rectangle that would be carried out of the floor of the air space. Then a wood frame with cloth is built so you can cover this area. How it’s usually done is that the cloth covered frame is flushed with the floor of the window airspace. This looks esthetically pleasing and no one is the wiser as to what’s underneath it. Then you apply silica gel (it’s toxic, so be careful) at the bottom of the space. Silica gel absorbs moisture well and you usually see it in new shoes in a small bag marked (do not eat). However, you would need much more of it for this application. Once you open the can of gel, which resembles rock salt, you must be quick because it stars absorbing immediately. Once the gel is laid out, you apply the cloth covered frame over it and quickly put up the other side of the glass and caulk it. This now seals the area and the gel will absorb all the moisture inside and you will not end up with a problem when the humid summer rolls in.

Floating Walls:
As mentioned before, offsetting your internal walls will help with standing waves and reflect sound in a beneficial way in the studio environment. When you build these internal walls it will make contact with your existing ceiling and floor. The problem comes when sound waves make their way from the floor to wall or vice versa. This happens when one or the other vibrates and transmits its energy to the next surface.
Therefore floating your floor and walls is essential to proper isolation. How this is achieved is to use mechanical rubber where all surfaces make contact with each other. This is at the bottom side and top of all internal walls in the studio and control room. Before they are anchored to the floor and ceiling, a strip d mechanical rubber is sandwiched between the bottom 2-by-4 timber and the floor and the top 2-by-4 timber and the ceiling. Mechanical rubber comes in long rolls that are two inches wide and is easily positioned out in a straight line. In the case of the floor, the rubber is laid down under the bottom 2-by-4 and then the whole wall is anchored with a Ram-Set. This is a large bolt and washer, which is shot down into the ground using a device that looks much like a gun and uses an explosive charge to do the job. Once you float all the walls at the floor and ceiling your studio becomes a much quieter place and transmitting sounds from the outside becomes much more difficult.

Floating your studio Floor:
After the walls are in place it is necessary to think about the floor. The floor is an excellent place to run cable and therefore it becomes necessary to build up your floor up a bit to allow you to run conduit of sufficient size to run thick snakes of microphone cable. The floor is built up using 2-by-6 lumber placed on edge building a frame that the actual floor surface will sit on. So the actual studio floor where the equipment rests will be six inches above the sub-floor. Before you lay the 2-by-6s down you use more mechanical rubber between the wood and the concrete floor. This floats your floor and isolates it from the sub-floor.

Finishing the floating Floor and Planning for Wiring:
Before you put the top on the floor you must do some planning for your wiring. To save money on wire you must map out where exactly your equipment will go. The position in the room of your outboard gear, multitrack machines and main console must be decided at this stage. This is because you will now lay large PVC pipe conduits through your floor frame so that running cables will be easy now and also later if you change your equipment. Once the PVC pipe is position, it's then time to fill up the resonant cavity that will underlie your floor. If you left the six inches below your floor open it would become like a drum and would be detrimental to having a quiet room, you want the floor beneath to be as solid as possible. So, what you do is to fill all the cavities with clean sand. This of course involves lots of sand, but once you have done it, it's solid as a rock. The floor being filled is now ready for the top. The top should be a layer of 3/4 inch plywood and then some kind of wood or whatever you like esthetically on top. I like hard wood surfaces rather than carpet but that depends on the room size and how lively you like it. At the ends of the conduits you must cut a port so that the cable can be pulled. This is usually near walls and corners where the equipment will be set up. It is often hidden from site. One final trick is to never give your blessing to the floor or frame timber to ever touch the walls. You must leave a 2" air gap space all around the room so that your walls by no means create contact with the floor surface or frame.

The Finish:
Since you have gone through and explored how the audio studio is built from the outside in, now, it's time to put the finish on our walls, ceilings and floors. Your budget and concerns and preferences about your room will determine a lot of what you do. There are some important things to think about before you cover your walls with the most readily available or affordable finish.
On the strictly budget side of things I have seen young students using egg cartons on a large part of the studio ceiling surface to help break up sound waves. This would work to a certain extent (although it's unattractive) but if you use too much of one size of a diffused surface in a room it becomes unbalanced. The best studio rooms I have been in have a good variety of surfaces and types of diffusion. A general rule is that the bigger the curve of a surface, the lower the frequency it can handle. For instance, a low frequency wave at a good volume would easily bounce off an egg carton surface and return towards the source almost unaffected. You need a large curved surface to break up large waves. As you start getting into the ready-made available foams Iike Sonex and tube traps you can actually see that acoustic surfaces are designed to work with a certain bandwidth. Manufacturer of each product will tell you exactly what size and frequency of wave that their product will handle. Common items such as carpet for instance would kill higher frequencies where as timber or tiles would break up mid to low frequencies. Remember that carpeting can be used on lower walls as well as floors effectively.
For further information on “Room Acoustics” please look up Professional approach to room acoustics by Alphonso Soosay.
Let's Reflect:
The essential goal in designing a room for Audio Recording is to achieve the sound at the listener’s ears that the music producers originally intended. Assuming that we are hearing a flat response from the monitor speakers, this assumes that the room itself does not distort or otherwise alter its overall frequency response, the relative amplitude or the time arrival of any sound events. In order to avoid image shift and distortion problems, you must establish which surfaces could reflect sound off and reach the listeners ears within a very short time after the direct sound. Now is the time to treat these surfaces with sound absorbing materials that are highly efficient at all frequencies above 250Hz. These acoustic materials serve to significantly reduce the energy level of the reflected sound so that it is well below the level of the direct sound. So this means that the amount and location of sound absorbing materials should be very carefully selected at arrive and at a balance between reducing early sound reflections and achieving a target reverberation time goal of around 0.03 to 0.35 seconds at all frequencies between 250 and 4kHz, and 0.04 to 0.50 seconds at frequencies between 40 Hz and 250Hz.
Another important reason for using acoustic control is to eliminate the early arriving reflections. Strong reflections can also cause a shifting of an image in the frontal sound stage.
The audio control room atmosphere must not be completely dead or you will find yourself turning up the volume of your speakers to make up for it and you will get fatigue quite easily. There must be some amount of reflection in the room. Pine-wood surfaces do this well, this in conjunction with carpeting or some kind of diffused surface makes for a good combination of dead and live surfaces.
With audio recording studios you can afford to be a bit more live. I find that concrete, wood and some kind of brick or stone and even glass makes for a nice balanced live room. If you have followed the rules of non-parallel surfaces and you finish these walls with the above mentioned items you will find that you have a great room where you can record acoustic drums and or other high SPL instruments and end up with a great sounding product.
If you want to cover both bases in the studio portion of your ability, then there are some other things you can do. I saw this at Paramount studios in LA and I thought it was a remarkable idea. There were huge panels hanging on the wall that were hinged at one side so you could swing them open to either side. One side of the panel was reflective (pinewood) and the other dead (sonex acoustic material). If you wanted a more dead room you just swing a few of the panels open to the other side and you could alter your room acoustics. If the panel was left closed, it was lively and it has to be left swung open and put against the wall. If left the other way completely it becomes controlled (dead) acoustics. It really worked very well and you do not have to commit to anyone style of room acoustics. You can actually control the room acoustics to your liking. Using thick double sided curtains that can be opened or closed also have an extensive effect and can be part of a custom designed room. This would be a cheaper technique for home recording studios.

Alphonso Soosay
Audio Recording Engineer
Perth.

Home Recording Studio

2006-08-21T22:29:00.001-07:00

Basics of Home Recording Studio

A Review by: Alphonso Soosay. Audio Recording Engineer / Musician Perth. Western Australia

An exclusive home recording studio is a digital castle in the air for musicians and songwriters. Either using a home PC or a Laptop computer, the exclusive recording studio packs an unbelievable amount of technology, tricks and tools into an affordable, portable device. This is an individual recording studio can create studio-quality demos from the convenience of your living room. If song writing is just a hobby, then a PC or Laptop personal recording studio has all of the basic functionality necessary to lay down tracks, bounce, edit, trim, master and export in .wav/aiff formats to your computer for burning to CD/DVD. With the additional or a built-in microphone and line inputs supplied, you can also record vocals, acoustic guitar or practically anything. The PC and Laptop includes an integrated effects processor for your guitar with amp modelling and programmable drum and bass machines. Ten virtual takes are available for each track, so you can record multiple takes, and then pick the best one. The budget individual recording studio features four faders and records with a respectable 20-bit analogue/digital (AID) converter at 31.25 kHz. All this software and more for about $300. If you need more than a "scratch pad," you might want to step up to an 8-track personal recording studio. Manufacturers and models vary, but one popular product packs all of the tricks of its Laptop sibling while adding four more tracks and faders for greater flexibility. This personal recording system also uses a 24-bit AID converter for greater clarity and 44.1 kHz sampling for studio-quality sound. It sells for about $5OO. An individual recording system can also include a CD burner to finish the job without having to export for burning. A starter 8-track version with a built-in CD burner can be bought for about $1,200, but other features might be missing, such as an integrated bass machine. In general, the more tracks required, the more expensive the recorder will likely be. Many admired models feature 16 and 24 tracks correspondingly. Connectivity varies between models, so the intended purpose of the personal recording studio will be important. To record a Pop Group, for instance, the device must have many inputs and allow for simultaneous recording of multiple tracks. A basic entry-level personal recording studio allows simultaneous recording of only two tracks. While perfect for personal use, this will not meet your requirements for a band recording. As cost increases, so should advance editing features. The ability to loop a phrase and use a time sequencer to match the loop to tempo might be one example. Tools that make punching-in (bouncing of tracks) and out easier at a precise location are also to your advantage. This allows hands-free editing via marking a section of track that needs replacing in advance, such as a strike with a sour note. When the track is played back, singers and musicians can play along adding more musical instruments for its musical arrangements. The personal recording studio is designed to automatically begin recording at marker point A, "punching in," and stop recording at marker point B, "punching out." Placing the markers at exactly the right point will allow a clean edit, but this is much easier with tools that allow a preview of the sound that comes just before and after each mark. Remember, being a few milliseconds off can ruin the edit.
An individual recording home studio is a great way to archive your original music, create promotional demos, or even record live performances. Depending on your requirements, basic prices range from $500 to $2,500 or more to something like $20,000. It is wise to consider several different models before making that impoprtant decision.

The mastering process is truely as much an art as a science, involving a variety of technical process and associated audio equipment. Note: equally important are the Fresh Ears of and experienced mix engineer. Combining technology, skill and the art of mastering, Music should sound exactly as it is heard in its original form. This ensuring that those who create music are empowered with the ability to express that music, in all its richness and emotions.

Specifications and owners' manuals are available online to give you the complete picture. Purchaser reviews are also helpful in determining the right manufactured goods for your requirements.

Compression with Audio Recording

2006-08-21T20:46:00.000-07:00

Fine Tuning the Audio “Compressor”

A Review By: Alphonso Soosay

This practical material provides the ‘combination’ to unlock the full potential of your creative audio recording compressor.

I have letters from home studio Engineers local & overseas, it reads like this.
I work with a 16 input Sound craft Recording Mixer. Having used the audio compressor for Vocals, Electric Guitars and Bass Guitars, for the last 8 years and I am never satisfied with the end result of the Mix. It’s either pumping too hard or the final mix sounds dead. How can I solve these problems?
I’m a desperate man and I have an embarrassingly fundamental problem. I’ve been doing good work for years but even after all this time I still can’t use Attack and Release times on compressors correctly. I guess and listen and pray. What else can I do?

Another one

I know I’m not alone in this because when I recently had a client’s product mastered, the mastering engineer couldn’t get it right either. He set his compressor’s release incorrectly. Needless to say the thing pumped like crazy and I can’t listen to it now.

Another one

Given that I at least know what Attach and Release times are, my question is how do I marry them to the signal they’re supposed to be processing? Example Snare drum, Guitars, Vocals, Brass Instruments & difficult Bass players.
What I am missing is the ‘concept’. You know, the ‘reason why’.

Another one

I’ve got 13 compressors in my home studio, with many Microphones, & I’m tired of guessing on how to use it correctly.

Note: difficult to explain on the telephone as time is the factor. I know exactly how this guy feels. I spent years trying to hear the difference between the range of Attack times, Ratio, and Release times, wondering what I should be thinking about while fiddling with these four controls. The task of compressing went from being a confusing scary one to the most fun and creative fiddling with compressors knobs in the recording studio. Your ears are the end result.

Audio Compression is like Cracking a Safe.
Compressors have four basic knobs (parameters) and the key to classy compression is as simple as the order in which you reach out and focus on adjusting those knobs. When you get the sequence right, you’ll hear more clearly the effect of each parameter – thereby arriving at a truer and more musical setting. The compressor combination lock has four tumblers. Adjusting them in a special order also prevents you from returning to a previously adjusted control. Don’t you hate it when you’re happy with the Release time until you fiddle with the Attack? They affect each other when adjusted randomly or out-of-sequence. Chasing your tail is about to become a thing of the past. Like cracking any combination lock, once a tumbler falls into place, you need not return to it. Each step represents decisive progress.

Getting Started: Temporary Settings
To crack this combination you will need to set all the controls to a temporary setting while you focus on one parameter at a time. Once the first one is set, that tumbler falls into place, leaving three more to crack. Focus on the next one – listen – adjust – and tumbler number two falls into place and so forth. Approach this safe-cracking exercise in a different order and you will arrive at a different result.
Here are the temporary settings:
· Attack to anywhere.
· Release to minimum.
· Ratio to maximum.
· Threshold to sensitive.

1. Attack
The first thing you do is set the 1) Ratio to as high as it’ll go – 20:1, infinity, the highest you’ve got. Next, 2) set the Release time to as fast as it’ll go – which, admittedly, is faster than you’d ever want it. Then, 3) drive the audio into the unit, either by lowering the Threshold or increasing the Input – depends on the unit, and 4) listen while you adjust only the Attack time. Listen to the Attack – the leading edge of the sound – while rolling the Attack knob. Try to ignore the horrible pumping caused by the after effects of the fast Release – just listen to the Attack. (The ultra-fast Release lets you hear far more individual attacks than a slow setting.) Listen to the front edge of the sound. Notice how the Attack knob affects the size of the hit. So, if it’s a snare drum that you’re compressing, and the Attack is on a fast setting, it’s as though the Drum stick is really skinny; while if the Attack is on a slow setting, it’s as if the stick is much thicker. Likewise, if it’s an acoustic guitar and the Attack is on a fast setting, you’re just hearing the finger nail come through as it hits the string; while if the Attack is slow, you might get the whole strum through – the entire transient bypasses the compressor. So, forget all the after effects, just listen to the thickness of the Attack until it’s ‘tasty’ – you might want it thin, you might want it thick, just think aesthetics. And then, because the ratio is so high and the release is so fast, you’ll be able to hear the affect of the Attack time much clearer than if they were on any other setting. This technique effectively turns your ears up to heighten your perception of the Attack time control.

Attack Basic settings
2. Release
The second step is to play with the Release time. ‘Release’ controls the speed at which the sound glides back at you after being punched away. The trick is to get that speed to become a musical component of the sound. You might ask, ‘Do you mean in time with the music?’ or ‘With fast music do I set it faster than I would for a slow ballad? Perhaps, but certainly don’t think, ‘I only want it fast because I want to compress the crap out of this’ – don’t do that. In fact, make it as slow as you can, so that the compression envelope ‘bounces back’ to reinforce or establish the groove of the music. Remember, any dynamic movement in a song affects the groove, and compressor/limiters are no exception. (Whether the singer is moving back and for the from their microphone, or you’re madly wiggling a fader, or a compressor is pushing and pulling on a sound, the groove is at risk of being enhanced or destroyed by dynamic movement.) So, don’t set your Release to a fast setting just because you want to hear something buried behind the sound.’ Forget that. There are bigger fish to fry. You’re already compressing a little bit, so these background sounds will come forward anyway. Instead, you want to think, ‘How slow can I get it while maintain some control? Because the power in the groove is really a slower-moving, subliminal yet powerful wave – it’s not an ultra-fast thing that’s there to crunch your sound. Even in a frantically fast-paced tune, a slower, subliminal under-current carries most of the power. For example, you might have it so slow that by the time the next hit comes along it’s not quite fully released. But that’s okay. A formulaic approach might intellectually tell you that it has to be fully released before the next hit. Listen to the Release. Feel the way it glides or bounces back at you and there’ll be a point where you sense that this bounce-back is kind of like a swing – almost like someone swinging from a rope in a tyre in groove with the tune. It doesn’t have to be perfectly in time, as anyone who teaches music will tell you, keep in time, but should not necessarily play the time. So, don’t just make it a quarter of a beat or whatever, just look for that groove, and that’s your release time. Make the colour of the Release a musical component that pushes you into the next beat without pre-empting the beat. Let the musician hit you while the pressure is still rising instead of letting the compressor finish its swing – dead air – limp moment… no good. Allow the compressor to push the sound towards you until the music makes its next statement. Got it. But I must add that if you aim to make the product likeable (full of soul & extremely groovy; for example), the wrist of the listener will always turn up the volume for you more effectively than any compression ever could.

Release Basic Settings
3. Ratio
At this point, the Ratio is set to its maximum, so it’s going to sound over compressed. So the next job is to take the Ratio and lower it as much as you can without losing the effects you previously created with your Attack and Release settings. Think of the Ratio control a bit like a telephoto lens – the higher the Ratio, the smaller the sound is – although it will be more controlled. The lower the Ratio – as in 2:1 (given the same output voltage), aesthetically feels like a larger image.
So the lower the Ratio, the bigger it is – but at the risk of getting out of control. Meanwhile, the higher the Ratio, the smaller it is – although it’s more contained. The idea here is usually to try and make your instrument or mix sound big, but in control. So, bring down the Ratio, then when you don’t really hear the effects that you like – the thickness of the stick, the groove you created with the Release time – you can raise the Ratio a little, all the time focussing on size. At this stage, don’t think about the Attack, don’t think about the Release and, for that matter, don’t think about Ratio in terms of numbers – just think about the size and firmness of the sound. Well, as you raise the Ratio, the sound will become firmer (and smaller) and as you lower the Ratio it becomes softer (but bigger). So you might want to think along the lines of ’How firm do I want this’ Musical Instrument, versus or Final Mix & ‘how big do I want this Musical Instrument, Verse or Final Mix?’

Ratio Basic Settings
4. Threshold
The last thing you adjust is the Threshold. It’s important to turn the Threshold knob so that it’s not compressing all the time. The right setting will see the dynamic movement coming to rest at special moments – otherwise you get a flatter more lifeless sound. Having uncompressed sound emerging from the processor at appropriate musical moments adds colour and contrast to the sound. For example, permitting the dynamic movement to come to rest in some quieter moments allows that moment to attain a momentary, bigger, 1:1 presence, and prevents it from rushing towards the listener with unwanted noise. It’s sad enough that the little quiet moments are small without being squashed smaller still due to high compression ratios. Each time the sound comes up for air, so to speak, it attains a sense of reality – a 1:1 ratio.

Threshold Basic Settings
That Huge & Very Expensive Sound
If you follow these guided steps, you will have a big and bouncy, firm and flexible, juicy, funky and slippery groovy sound. Or as some people would say, ‘a more expensive sound’.

I can promise that whether you are compressing an individual-Voice, Guitars, Bass, Acoustic-Drum, Saxophone, or compressing an entire Final Mix, these steps will get you there quickly and decisively by taking out the guesswork – training your ears what to listen for. It’s rather like growing bigger ears (because you hear the effects more clearly) and a larger brain (because confusion is replaced with clarity of thought). In simple principle, just think, (ARRT) Attack. Release. Ratio. Threshold. Give it a go and have fun with balanced big sound. Hey, we have made it.

Have fun with it for a more natural sound.

Alphonso Soosay.
Audio Recording Engineer / Musician
Perth

Home Theatre Set-Up

2006-08-20T22:04:00.001-07:00

Basic “Home Theatre” Set-up

A Review By: Alphonso Soosay

Today’s Dolby Digital “Home Theatres” are an inspiring entertainment opportunity that provides the purchaser with an immersive viewing and surround listening experience. Your home theatre can be something as simple as a 32-inches LCD or 42-inches Plasma TV and a home theatre-in-a-box system, or a sophisticated custom-built system with video projector and high powered speakers. However, there is a lot to consider in what you are looking for.
Here are a number of important points; you will require to know for a moderately balanced "Home Theatre System":

1. The Room:
The first imagination to look at is the room you intend to place your home theatre in. The size of the room will reveal the size and type of video display device (LCD, Plasma TV or front Projector) that would be best to use. However, whether your room is large or small, additional questions to consider consist off:
a) How much ambient light is present?
b) Is the room carpeted or not carpeted?
c) What type of wall construction do you have?
d) Will you be placing your components in free space, or will you be housing your components in a cabinet or closet and installing your speakers in the wall or ceiling?
e) Where will you be sitting in relation to the screen image?
Before going on board to purchasing your actual home theatre components, especially for a medium-to-high end system, it might be a good idea to consult with a “home theatre consultant” to turn up onsite and assess your room and address the above questions.
Your “Home Theatre Consultant” will put together useful suggestions on components and installation concepts that will work best in your room surroundings, keeping in mind that you must have specific budgetary considerations.

2. The Video Display Device:
This is the first item component to consider. After all, the idea of home theatre is to bring the movie theatre experience to your home. The most important element of this experience is the visual experience of viewing a large image on a screen. This is where you have a preference of:
a) A large screen traditional 3-Gun CRT Projector
b) a large screen single-lens Projector.
c)) A Rear-Projection Television
d) A flat LCD or Plasma Television
e) A large normal analogue TV.
The appropriate size of the room will help determine the size of screen that can be accommodated. Then from there, you will have to decide on what type of video display device would be most appropriate.

In addition, at this moment of time, with increase of available HDTV programming sources, as well as HD source components, consider HD-compatible LCD’s and Plasma or Video projectors instead of a traditional analogue TV’s. HD compatible TV’s and video projectors will deliver the most from new HD sources, but will also work with your older analogue components, such as your VCR.

The subsequently, very important element of movie theatre experience is its sound. The way this is implemented in the home theatre environment is with either an AV receiver or Preamplifier/Power Amplifier combination.
An AV Receiver usually combines the functions of three components:
1). A Preamplifier that switches and controls which audio and video source is selected (such as a DVD player, set-top Box, VCR, and CD player, etc) and processes the incoming stereo or surround sound signals and distributes them to the correct amplifier channels and the subwoofer output. The preamp in an AV receiver can also route video signals coming from source components (such as a DVD player) and direct the video signal to the Projector. LCD or Plasma TV.
2). A built-in Multi-channel amplifier (5.1, 6.1, or 7.1 channels) that sends the surround sound signals and power to the speaker system.
3) AM/FM radio tuner.
4) Choice of AV Receiver or Separate Components
Note: The AV receiver is the heart of a home theatre system and provides most, if not all, the inputs and outputs that you connect everything, including your Plasma, LCD and Projector. An AV Receiver provides an easy and cost-effective way of centralizing your home theatre system.

However, in scores of higher-end installations, the functions of an AV Receiver are often provided with separate components: Preamp/Processor, Tuner, and either a single multi-channel amplifier or even separate amplifiers for each channel (mono block). Such a setup provides more flexibility in switching out and or upgrading the separate aspects of the system as well as isolating any interference that is caused by having all these functions combined in a signal chassis and sharing the same power supply. For the average purchaser, however, a good $1,000/- A V Receiver will function just fine.
4). Loudspeakers:
The next element in assembling your home theatre system is the loudspeakers. Just as the size and type of room dictates the type of video display device you need, the same factors also affect the speakers you need for your home theatre. Two key points to remember:
A). Previous to your purchase, listen to several types of speaker setups.
B. Consider buying the same brand and related model speakers for your home theatre. This will insure that you will have a better acoustical match between both the speakers and the room.
5). Subwoofer:
The introduction of home theatre has introduced the Subwoofer to many of its customers.
Subwoofer is a specialised speaker that only reproduces the extreme low 3 octave frequencies present in movies or music. There are several types of subwoofers, and, once again, the size and type of room, and issues such as whether the room is carpeted or not will help you determine which subwoofer is right for you. Once again, you need to perform listening tests before you purchase by trying it out first.
6). Source Components:
For a start, you will need a quanlity type of DVD player for your home theatre. A thing to consider in a DVD player: Progressive Scan capability. This will insure you get the best possible image from your DVD’s, especially if you are viewing them on an HDTV.
Since all DVD players can play CDs, you many not need a CD player. However, having a separate CD only player in a home theatre system is quite common, especially if it is a high-end unit providing better CD audio performance.
In addition, you may also want to include a DVD recorder or DVD recorder VCR combination in lieu of your old VCR. However, you can still use your old VCR (especially if it is a Hi-Fi Stereo unit) with your home theatre.
In addition, you need to decide how you will receive your primary television programming: Antenna, Cable, or Satellite.
7. Surge Protector:
Surge protectors are the popular heroes of home theatre. Although they are not fool-proof, providing your system with some sort of surge protection is a good idea. You never know when you might have a sudden power outage, or even a burn out that may affect your system.
8. Connection Cables:
You cannot have a home theatre unless everything is connected; whether you buy basic connection cables and speaker wire or the really high-end stuff. The main thing to consider is to use the right type, right length, and to connect everything correctly. Some connections are colour coded make sure the colors on the cable ends match the connections on your components -this makes your life a lot easier when upgrading components at later stages.
In terms of speaker cable, the gauge of the cable can be a factor, depending on the distance the speakers are from the amplifier or AV receiver. For normal use 16 or 14 gauge speaker wire is wise. Note: 18 gauge is very thin and should not be used for longer distances.

One of the most confusing parts of a home theatre is not all components and the connections, but actually managing an controlling it. Each component comes with its own remote, leading to a collection that can number half-a-dozen or more. One solution is to go for a sophisticated, but easy to use, universal remote that can control most of the functions of each of your components. After the initial hurdle of programming the remote for your system, such a device will enable everyone in the family to use the home theatre system without disappointment.
10. Furniture:
When you have a upmarket home theatre system, you will need some comfortable furniture that will make you want to lift your leg up and spend your time with your home theatre. Your furniture can be of the comfortable traditional sofa and chair variety, or you can go for specialised home theatre furniture that include features such as built-in cup holders and extra-overstuffed arm padding.

Final Note
There you are the basic elements of a well-balanced home theatre at your finger tips. There is no home theatre that is exactly like another, everyone has different size rooms, acoustics, budgets, brand preferences, and decorative tastes when it comes to home theatre. The important thing is to keep the basic elements of a well-balanced home theatre in mind, while assembling it according to your own needs and tastes.
Although putting together a basic home theatre is not a complicated as it seems on the surface but it could be a nice weekend project for most consumers, note: when installing a high-end uniqueness home theatre, make sure you use the services of the “Professional Home Theatre” consultant and installer.

Cheers

Alphonso Soosay

Home Theatre Consultant

Perth

Building Your Basic Home Recording Studio

2006-08-18T01:09:00.000-07:00

Digital Audio WorkStation

A Review By: Alphonso Soosay

Here are the options to setting-up a hardware version or a complete “Digital Home Recording Studio” within a $5,000/- Budget. Your choice of 1) Roland VS2000CD 20-track Digital Recorder with CD Burner. 2) Yamaha AW1600 16-track recorder with CD Burner. 3) Boss BR1600CD 16-track recorder with CD Burner. Choice of speakers: Roland DS5 Digital Monitors or Fostex PM2 Powered Monitors. Headphone: AKG K141S Studio Headphones. Microphone: Rode NT1-A Studio Condensor Microphone. Extras required are: Microphone Boom Stand, Cables for Microphone & Speakers.

If you already have a computer then the options are to use a software version that will cost you about $2,000/- for the complete starter audio recording software available. Your nearest musical shops will have all the different brands and options.
Follow the basic guidelines below.
Action 1: Get a computer. Options: Start with a 2.8-GHz Windows PC or 1.6-GHz Apple Mac, with 1 GB RAM and 100 GB hard drive space.
Tips: “Mac” computers are nice-looking, easy to set up and easy to use but are pricey. “PC’s” are less expensive, but expect to do some tweaking at the early stage to get your PC to work with your audio equipments.
Cost: $3,000 for a Mac; and $2,000 for a PC.
Action 2: Upgrade your computer speakers Options: “JBL”, XHi-Fi”, “TDK”, “Behringer”, “Harman Kardon”, “Sony” and many other good brands mentioned in this guide.
Advice: A decent pair of active monitor speakers, with built-in amplifiers, will help you assess your general mix and how your mix will sound like when played back on a CD player or car stereo.
Cost: $80 to $120.
Action 3: Pick your editing software Options: “Cubase” SL, “Sonar
Studio”, “Logic Express”.
Advice: These are powerful starter versions of software used by professionals. You can record multitrack audio, edit, mix, add effects and create a high-quality master copy to burn CDs. “Cubase” works on Macs or PCs. “Sona” is for PCs only. “Logic” is for Macs only.
Cost? $300/-.
Action 4: Get your microphone Options: Shure SM58, SM57 or SM86, Behringer B-1 or B-2, AKG 415 or 414.
Advice: Shure microphones are an industry standard. Condenser microphones designed for recording-only reproduce sound more clearly and accurately.
Cost? $120 to about $250 for a reasonable microphone. $80 for a good cable and boom stand.
Action 5: Choose an interface Options: “Pre-Sonus” “Firepod”, “MOTU”, or Yamaha.
Advice: The interface pre-amplifies the audio signal, converts it into a digital file and transfers it to the hard drive where it can be accessed by the editing program. These models have eight inputs, allowing you to record up to eight voices and musical instruments at the same time.
Cost? $700 to $1,200.
Conclusion:
Try and not to save money on memory or hard drive space. You can get away with 512 MB of RAM, but you should double that if you want to work more comfortably. Also try to up-grade your hard drive space to at least 100 GB. A simple way is to add an external hard drive.
Now which platform would you prefer? Windows PCs or Apple Macs? To me, both systems work well. But if there's a choice, its worth weighing the trade-offs for your application. Apple has become the professional recording industry standard by controlling the design of computers that work well with digital editing tools. Apple fine-tunes its motherboards, sound cards and graphics cards expressly to integrate with digital editing systems. But expect to pay a 30% premium for a Mac. Keep in mind that computer chipmaker (Advanced Micro Devices) is pushing hard to popularize Windows PCs for digital editing. It has been very successful so far. It has partnered with HP to supply a line of HP laptops with enough energy to do audio work completely.
Decide on your editing software. The top-selling DAS programs include the popular ProTools, Cubase, Sonar and Logic. Each comes in a professional version, with prices ranging into a few thousands of dollars, and with features that will go multifaceted. But each also comes in powerful starter versions that go for about $400; starter versions are often packaged free with peripheral hardware. The starter versions are also full of enough features to satisfy most serious hobbyists and semi-professionals.
Make a choice of your recording microphones. You will need a microphone to lay down vocal tracks and record accompanying instruments. The Shure SM58, the long-time standard for live performances, is a safe venture for recording and performing at around $120/-. Budget another $80 for cable, and boom stand. Or you could decide for a condenser microphone designed mainly for vocal recording. The choices are endless. Note; you will require to plug your microphones into your DAS. The 1/8-inch microphone jack on a computer is not designed to drive rich audio data onto a hard drive. “PreSonus”, “Motu” and “Digidesign” have created a device, called an interface that pre-amplifies an audio signal, converts it into a digital file, and then transfers it to a hard drive for editing. The $900 PreSonus Firepod is the simplest, least expensive way to simultaneously plug in and record up to eight microphones and instruments. The output line level for “PreSonus” is of high standard. Another of your choice is that for $250/- more, add an external controller, such as the Behringer BCF2000. This controller allows you to get rid of your mouse and replace it with buttons, knobs and sliding control bars, called faders that will synchronise with your editing software.

Alphonso Soosay
Audio Recording Engineer
Perth.

All About Surround-Sound

2006-08-18T01:01:00.000-07:00

Understanding Surround Sound / Recording

A Review By: Alphonso Soosay

Preamble

From the time since Stereophonic sound became trendy in the mid 50's, the challenge has been on to establish the ultimate
“Home Listening Experience”. The conclusion of Dolby Surround mixing was a more balanced listening environment in which the main sounds derive from the left and right channels, the vocal or dialog originated from the centre phantom channel, and the ambience or effects information comes in from behind the listener.
I
The arrival of Dolby Surround
Then in the mid-70's Dolby Labs become known, with breakthrough film soundtracks such as Star Wars, Tommy, and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, unveiled a new surround sound process that was more easily adaptable for home use.

Dolby Digital
Dolby Digital is often referred to as a 5.1 channel system. However, it must be noted that term "Dolby Digital" refers to the digital encoding of the audio signal, not how many channels it has. In other words, Dolby Digital can be Monophonic, 2-channel, 4-channel, 5.1 channels, or 6.1 channels. However, in its most common applications, Dolby Digital 5.1 and 7.1 is often referred to as just Dolby Digital.

The Benefits of Dolby Digital 5.1
Dolby Digital 5.1 adds both accuracy and flexibility by adding stereo rear surround channels that enable sounds to emanate in more directions, as well as a dedicated Subwoofer channel to provide more emphasis for low frequency earthquake effects. When you explore the history of audio recording and reproducing music and sound, it embarked on with only one channel (mono) and, as technology permitted, it has always made progress to increase numbers of sound channels purely because it’s more realistic sounding. It simulates more closely how we actually hear in a virtual 360-degree field of sound and effects.

The Benefits of Dolby Digital 7.1
Dolby Digital 7.1 does create a more consistent distribution of the surround effect in a bigger “Home Theatre”. Note: adding extra channels of stereo surround information is not a gimmick.
From experience it’s an honest acoustic attempt to replicate the variety and direction of direct and reflected sounds that occur in real life. Our ears are always out bursting with all kinds of direct sounds as well as with an enormous variety of reflected sounds coming from all directions. Our ear drum and brain process those direct and reflected sounds to give us a sense of the size of the space we are listening in and the distance we are from the source, this is in addition to ambient sounds of all kinds, example: thunder/lightning, earthquake effects, traffic noise, dogs barking, crowd cheering and many that contribute to the sonic clues we hear. Properly set-up 7.1 channels with multi-directional surround speakers are capable of simulating a high degree of realism with both DVD live concerts and movie soundtracks in its musical and sonic impact. Dolby Digital 7.1 system will provide an even more realistic sound experience over 5.1 where space is practical.

Dolby Digital EX
Dolby Digital EX is in actual fact based on the technology already developed for Dolby Digital 5.1. This formula adds a third surround rear centre channel that is placed directly behind the listener.

DTS (Digital Theatre Systems)
Dolby Labs on the other hand, is not the only player in the home surround sound market, Digital Theatre Systems has also custom-made its surround sound process for home use. Basic DTS is a 5.1 system just like Dolby Digital 5.1, but since DTS uses much less compression in encoding process, I experience that DTS has a improved result on the listening end with acoustic instruments recordings. In addition, while Dolby Digital is mainly intended for the Movie Soundtrack experience, DTS is being used in the mixing and reproduction of Concert Musical performances.

DTS Neo: 6
In addition to DTS 5.1 and DTS-ES Matrix and Discrete 6.1 channel formats, DTS also offers DTS Neo: 6. DTS Neo: 6, functions in a similar fashion to Dolby Pro-logic II and Ilx, in that, with Dolby Digital receivers and preamps that have DTS Neo: 6 decoders, it will extract a 6.1 channel surround field from existing analogue two-channel material.

So, what is really “Surround Sound”?

Surround sound refers to the application of multiple audio tracks to envelop the movie watching or music listening audience, making them feel like they are in the inside of the action and being in a live concert. The surround sound movie soundtrack allows the listeners to hear sounds coming from all around them, and plays a large part in realizing what movie makers call "suspended disbelief". "Suspended disbelief" is when the audience is completely captivated by the movie experience and is no longer aware of their real-world surroundings. Accurate surround sound formats rely on dedicated speakers that literally and physically surround the audience. There is one centre speaker which carries most of the dialog (since the actors usually make conversation while making their on-screen appearance), and part of the soundtrack. There are left and right front speakers that carry most of the soundtrack (music and sound effects), and may carry parts of the dialog (when the director wants to intentionally off-set the source of the dialog to either side, from its default dead-centre screen location). There is a pair of surround sound speakers that is placed to the side (and slightly above) of the audience to provide the surround sound and ambient effects. Ultimately, a subwoofer can be used to reproduce the low and very low frequency effects (LFE) that come with certain earthquake movies and (ect, the foot-stomping bass effects in "Jurassic Park" and "Godzilla").

Dolby Digital
Dolby Digital (formerly known as Dolby AC-3, where AC-3 is short for audio coding 3) is the de facto surround sound standard in today's home theatres. It is the surround sound format used in thousands of movie theatres today. And, since around the month June 1990's, it has become available for home theatre use by people. Today, a large percentage of the DVD-Video titles come with Dolby Digital surround sound. Dolby Digital content first appeared on Laser-Disc, since DVD’s only emerged in the summer of 1997. (Incidentally, Hi-Fi VHS still only supports up to Dolby Surround Pro-Logic.) Not only is Dolby Digital the standard for DVD-Video, but it is also part of the new coming High Definition TV (HDTV) standard. It is used in Foxtel movies and digital TV channels of digital satellite broadcasting (e.g., Using the “Set-Top-Box” system). Dolby Digital is the successor to Dolby Surround Pro-Logic. The Dolby Digital surround sound format provides up to five discrete (independent) channels (centre, left, right, surround left, surround right; giving it the "5" designation) of full frequency effects (from 20 Hz to 20,kHz), plus an optional sixth channel dedicated for low frequency effects (LFE), usually reserved for the subwoofer speaker. The low frequency effects channel gives Dolby Digital the ".1" designation. The ".1" signifies that the sixth channel is not full frequency, as it contains only deep Bass frequencies (5 Hz to 120 Hz).

“DTS” Digital Surround
An alternative and competing format to Dolby Digital is DTS Digital Surround or just “DTS as it is popularly known. Like Dolby Digital, DTS is another 5.1-channel surround sound format that is available in movie theatres, and as an optional soundtrack on some DVD-Video movies for home theatre viewing. But unlike Dolby Digital, DTS is not a standard soundtrack format for DVD-Video, and is not used by HDTV or digital satellite broadcasting.
The primary advantage of DTS is that it offers higher data rates than Dolby Digital, leading many home theatre enthusiasts to claim that DTS is better than Dolby Digital in sound quality. The down side is that a DTS soundtrack uses more of the disc's data capacity due to its higher data rate. This fact plus the fact that DTS is not a standard soundtrack format for DVD-Video makes DTS an optional 5.1-channel surround format that is actually available on only a few DVD-Video movies. There are far more DVD-Video titles with Dolby Digital soundtracks than there are those with the DTS surround sound format.

Dolby “Pro-Logic” Surround
Dolby Surround Pro-Logic emerged in home theatre systems in early December1990's. It became the surround sound standard for Hi-Fi VHS, and is still the standard for today's analogue TV
Broadcasts, since the Dolby Surround Pro-Logic signal can be encoded in a stereo analogue signal. If you have an "older" Dolby Surround Pro- Logic receiver, you can still enjoy movies from DVD-Video, since all DVD-Video players down-mixes the Dolby Digital information to the Dolby Surround Pro-Logic format, and outputs the signal as a stereo audio pair.

Surround Extended Formats:
Dolby Digital EX, THX Surround EX & DTS Extended Surround (DTS-ES) Just when you thought 5.1-channel Dolby Digital and DTS surround sound were enough, at the leading edge today are two new "Extended Surround" formats, namely THX Surround EX and DTS Extended Surround (or DTS-ES for short). The THX Surround EX format is jointly developed by Lucas film THX and Dolby Laboratories, and is the home theatre version of "Dolby
Digital Surround EX", an Extended Surround sound format used by state-of-the-art movie theatres. Lucas film THX licenses the THX
Surround EX format for use in receivers and preamplifiers. And as of December 2001, Dolby Laboratories has begun to license what is THX Surround EX under its own name, Dolby Digital EX, for consumer home theatre equipment. (Since THX Surround EX and Dolby Digital EX are equivalent, we will refer to THX Surround EX and Dolby Digital EX interchangeably, with preference for the former since that name has been around longer.)
THX Surround EX is the Extended Surround version of Dolby Digital 5.1, while DTS-ES is that of DTS 5.1. The difference between the new Extended Surround formats and their 5.1-channel surround sound counterparts is the addition of a surround back channel, whose corresponding speaker is placed behind the audience. This allows certain soundtrack effects to be presented behind the audience, thereby achieving more enveloping and complete 360. Surround sound. (Remember that in the 5.1-channel surround sound formats, the surround speakers are placed one on each side of the audience not behind them.) Additionally, while the Extended Surround sound format calls for one surround back channel, two surround back speakers are generally recommended for better envelopment. Acknowledging this widely accepted industry position, some high-end receiver manufacturers have introduced “.1 channel" capable receivers, with decoding and sometimes amplification for the two extra surround back channels.

Movies featuring Extended Surround
Star Wars: Episode 1 The Phantom Menace" is the very first movie to feature the new Dolby Digital Surround EX format (though Dolby Digital Surround EX playback is offered only in the finest state-of-the-art movie theatres). Even up until now, only a handful of movies have been released with the new Dolby Digital Surround EX format. The first DVD with THX Surround EX was "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me", while the first with DTS-ES 6.1 Discrete is "The Haunting". "Terminator 2: Judgment Day (Ultimate Edition)" DVD features both THX Surround EX and DTS-ES Discrete 6.1. Listening to these recordings will give you some ideas of surround mixing.

Basics of Surround-Sound & Recording.
A much superior option is to create original Multichannel mixes from scratch. Mixing in 5.1 surround requires some extra equipment, which means learning some new techniques. But it's worth the effort; mixing music in 5.1 surround is the most exciting thing I have been involved in. It's time for the home recording industry to put out surround product -and it's not as difficult as you might think. Tomlinson Holman (the "TH" in THX) was one of the leaders in surround sound in those days, and from his experiments with movie soundtracks, the term 5.1 (pronounced "five point one") was born. The 5.1 format defines six discrete channels: five full-bandwidth channels (20 Hz to 20 kHz), and one low frequency effects (LFE) channel (the "point ' one" in 5.1) with a frequency response rated from 5 to 125 Hz. The LFE channel requires a specialised speaker, called a subwoofer, which reproduces only low frequencies. There are only few subwoofers can reproduce 5
Hz; most standard ones can reach down to 30 or 35 Hz before they roll off, and a few of the more expensive ones can go to 20 Hz. The channels are designated left, right, centre, left surround, right surround, and LFE.
The bright people at Dolby Laboratories figured out how to digitally compress these six channels of information into a form that would take up less bandwidth than two stereo PCM tracks, and the Dolby Digital code (coder-decoder) was born. Also known as Dolby AC-3, this code is used on many current DVD movie soundtracks, and it is part of the High-Definition Television (HDTV) standard.
The situation remained static for a few years, but with the release of the movie Jurassic Park, a competing codec was introduced by Digital Theatre Systems (DTS). The DTS code (DTS is the name of both the format and the developer) uses less data compression and requires more bandwidth and data-storage space than Dolby Digital, so some DTS movies don't quite fit on a single DVD. However, the tracks have the potential to sound more like the discrete PCM tracks from which they were derived than is possible with Dolby Digital. DTS pioneered a way to use the same format on a Red Book CD, but with compressed DTS data in place of PCM stereo audio. DTS also formed a record label to produce remixed 5.1-surround sound of stereo releases. Many of these remixes were done by the engineers who handled the original mixes. Currently, you can buy more than a hundred 5.1 DTS titles, including work from such artists as Bee Gees, Steely Dan, Tom Jones and the Eagles.
To play these CDs, you need a CD or DVD player with a digital audio output that can send the DTS bit-stream to a DTS decoder, which extracts the six channels of information and converts them to analogue. (Early DVD players have a digital output, but they do not recognize the DTS bit-stream. Most consumer CD players do not have a digital output, and those that do might not recognise the DTS bit-stream.) You will also need six channels of amplification and speakers. Let’s go back to the basics and start at the beginning of the mixing chain and go through it step-by-step. You need some special items to mix in 5.1 surround sounds, but most studios already possess 90 percent of the needed equipment. Once you add a few select pieces, you could be mixing surround sound music in your own studio.
The first thing you need is a multitrack master of the music you want to mix. The multitrack format is not an issue, it can be as simple as an 8 or 16-track analogue tape deck or as complex as a pair of 48-track digital decks. I have done some really nice 5.1-surround mixes using 16- and 24-track ADAT systems. The source tracks can be in any digital or analogue format, including a computer (pro-tools) workstation. Of course, you will want your tracks with excellent quality recording values.
Now, you will need to route the recorded tracks into a mixing console that lets you pan them between five output channels. (Note: there should also be a sixth output for the LFE channel, but you do not pan anything from the main tracks to this output.) If you have a Yamaha 02R or 01 V, Panasonic DA7, Tascam
TDM4000, or Mackie Digital 8-Bus, you are already in business. Each of these digital consoles lets you patch the outputs from the surround matrix (outputs) to an 8-channel mixing deck.
If you do not have a console with built-in surround sound panning, it's relatively simple to patch the equivalent using sub-groups or aux sends. But for ease of mixing, nothing beats a screen with a picture of the room and a cursor that shows where the sound ends up. Some consoles, such as the DA- 7, provide a pair of controls on the work surface to pan left/right and front/rear, while others, such as the Mackie D8B, use a trackball or mouse.
Patch the console's outputs to an 8-track deck, where your final surround tracks will reside. The Tascam DA-88 has become the standard multitrack deck for surround due to its popularity in the film industry, but any common 8-track format will work, including a computer workstation.
You do not need a Dolby Digital or DTS encoder to mix surround tracks at this stage; encoding is the last part of the process. Whatever you record your mix on, carefully note the track assignments. Unlike stereo, surround gives you many different track-assignment methods to choose from. Often you will not be able to choose which channels end up on what tracks. For instance, both the Panasonic DA7 and the Mackie D8B mixers are set up in mode 4, whereas many large-format consoles and some mixing programs (such as Minnetonka's MX 51 for Windows) are designed to be used in Mode1. Try to pick one output format and note it on the label of every 5.1 recording you create. Eventually, someone will have to figure out your track assignments to encode them on a disc, and I am sure you do not want your sloppy work habits to jeopardize a project.
With speakers you will need to upgrade your monitoring system to include five speakers and a subwoofer so you can hear what you are doing in 5.1 surround. The speakers are arranged in a circle around the listener's head and the channels are labelled L (left), C (centre), R (right), Ls (left surround), Rs (right surround), and LFE. Feeding these speakers requires six channels of amplification. Keep the channel definitions in mind as patching options are explained. The simplest and perhaps best setup for music mixing is five matched near-field reference monitors used with a subwoofer. I like the JBL LSR-28P and M&K 150 speakers, but I have heard some great mixes on the little Alesis Monitor Ones at GingerbreadMusic recording studio.
Try to match the main speakers as closely as possible, because the relationships between the centre, left, and right levels are critical, and the relationships between the front and surround levels affect the final mix much more than you might imagine. You could mix and match speakers, but many excellent surround mixes have been done with mismatched centre and rear-surround speakers but for a start I would recommend you to use a matched set to avoid putting yourself at a disadvantage situation.
The physical speaker layout is quite simple. Just put microphone stand at the mix position and measure the distance from that position to the location of the centre-channel speaker. Then cut a piece of string to the same length and tie one end to the microphone stand. Mark the centre-speaker position and go 30 degrees to the left and right for the front L/R speaker positions. Next, go 110 degrees to the left and right of the centre for the Ls and Rs (surround) channels. This setup is the “AES” standard for monitor placement.
There is one exception to the "five matched speakers" rule. When mixing movie soundtracks, you do not want direct-radiating, point-source surround speakers, because most movie surround effects need to be diffuse. As a result, the surround speakers should be dipole designs, which have drivers that fire forward and backward, creating a diffuse sound field. In this case, the surround speakers should be placed directly to the sides of the mixing position, 90 degrees from the centre-speaker location. If you are mixing
Multichannel music, use a pair of direct-radiating speakers matched to the front three speakers and placed at the 110-degree positions.
Now, coming to the Power Amplifier stage. You will most likely need to upgrade your power amps, too. Many big studios can afford separate mono block amplifiers and a bass-management controller to run them, but personal-studio owners should instead consider buying a large high-current home-theatre receiver which are Priced reasonably between $1,500 and $2,000, such receivers provide more than 100 RMS watts per channel and a single level control that adjusts all channels simultaneously. All the main speakers should get the same amount of power, but the subwoofer probably needs as much juice as all the other speakers combined. Giving the subwoofer two to three times the power of one of the main speakers will probably suffice. It's important to understand that lots of new subwoofers include their own internal power amplifiers matched to their particular drivers. As a result, virtually all modern home-theatre receivers include five or seven channels of amplification and a line-level output for the subwoofer.
Make sure your A/V receiver possess Dolby Digital and DTS decoding as well as discrete analogue inputs that bypass the decoders. This is meant to accommodate future decoders, these inputs are ideal for monitoring the six discrete channels of the mix. With such a receiver, you can compare your mix with commercial mixes from DVD’s or DTS and CD’s. (To hear commercial discs, you also need a DVD or CD player with a digital audio output that passes both DTS and Dolby Digital bit-streams to the receiver.) If you are undertaking your own DTS or Dolby Digital encoding, the Dolby Digital receiver provides the only way to listen to your final mix as the end user will hear it. These receivers also offer bass management and speaker-calibration options and Calibration time. Properly setting the relative volume level of each speaker is extremely important. It is very easy to tell when the left and right levels are wrong in a stereo mix; you can hear the sound leaning one way or the other. Hearing the balance with a surround system is not so simple. You will need to purchase an SPL (Sound Pressure Level) meter to do this properly, and you will be amazed at how many people use $50/- Tandy’s volume meters for this job.
For now, here is some quick info. Grab some limited-band (100 Hz to 10 kHz) pink noise from the mixing-console noise generator, a home-theatre receiver, or a test CD and patch it to an input channel on the console. Make sure to set the mixer's output gains to unity (0-dB). Set the console's input strip so that the output level going to the mixing deck is at -20 dB (below 0-dB) on the deck's meter. This is the standard reference level for surround mixes.
Distribute the pink noise through one speaker at a time and point the SPL meter in the speaker's direction while holding the meter in the mixing location. Trim the gain of the corresponding amplifier channel so the meter reads 85 dB SPL. Repeat this process for each full-bandwidth speaker, one at a time, until you have the same output for each. (Most home-theatre receivers include individual level controls for each channel, but they are often buried in a menu system that might require a video monitor for viewing and navigating.) Then, run low-frequency pink noise (25 to 80 Hz) to the LFE channel. In theory, the gain of the LFE channel should be set 10 dB higher than that of the main channels (95 dB SPL), as read by a real-time analyser (RTA). But a Tandy's volume meter has a lot of low-frequency roll-off, and you are feeding it less than two octaves of audio information in this case. These factors cause the meter to read lower than the true output level. As a result, when the LFE level is correct, the Tandy's meter will show approximately 90 dB SPL -4 to 6 dB higher than the level for the five full-bandwidth speakers.
In support of diffuse surround speakers used in cinema mixes, the rear surround levels are set to 82 dB SPL (-3 dB relative to the other full-bandwidth speakers). For really small mixing rooms where you can literally reach out and touch the speakers, Dolby Digital recommends setting the surround speakers 2 dB down; that is, at 83 dB SPL. It can be a bit puzzling. For most music mixing, having all five speakers’ position at the same level is good enough.
If you do not get these levels correct, all the mixes you do will have incorrect surround- and centre-channel levels, or the LFE level will be out of control. If these settings are not corrected at the mixing stage, these problems will force listeners to jump up and adjust the levels on their home systems. LEF (low effect frequency) feeding, Bass management is probably the least understood part of surround mixing. It's very important to understand how it works, in case you create surround mixes that sound great in your studio but prove unlistenable on a standard home-theatre system. As noted earlier, in 5.1 surround, each of the main channels is rated at 20 Hz to 20 kHz, while the LFE channel is analysed at 5 to 160 Hz.
Every one of the main program channels can go as low as 20 Hz, but very few home-theatre speakers can produce output that low. A clever circuit in the pre-amp/processor or receiver of a home-theatre system removes any low-frequency information below a certain point (80 Hz is the THX standard) in the main channels and reroutes it to the subwoofer. With 5.1 surround, the subwoofer does double duty: it handles all the bass below 80 Hz for all the main channels, as well as the "point one" LFE channel, which might be earthquakes or explosions.
Why do you require Bass management (sometimes called redirection) in your studio? It's the law of inverse mixing. A speaker that's deficient in part of the audio spectrum forces you to overcompensate for the missing frequencies by adding them to the mix in disproportionate amounts. Try undertaking a mix with rolled-off tweeters and you will see what I mean. Because you hear fewer high’s than are really going to tape, you will overcompensate with too much high-frequency level in the mix.
Let's precede this concept to Bass management. Suppose you have five JBL speakers and a big subwoofer that reproduces only the LFE channel (earthquake, explosions and such). Each speaker directly monitors a final output track. The JBL has a small woofer in a small cabinet, so it naturally rolls off anything below 60 Hz or so. If your playback source tracks have any sonic material with extra Bass in the 20 to 40 Hz region, you will never hear it on these monitors. This is particularly troublesome if the tracks have some undesirable low-frequency information, maybe some vocal plosives or air-conditioner rumble you were not aware of. The natural filtering action of the JBL's might make you think all is well, but when the mix is played back in any home-theatre system, the Bass-management circuit will faithfully reroute this low-frequency mumbo jumbo into the LFE subwoofer, where it will be available for all to hear. So if each of your main speakers cannot produce down to 20 Hz and you do not have a Bass-managed monitor system, you have a potential mixing disaster on your hands.
Some audio mixing engineers think Bass management has something to do with filtering the signal before it goes to the final mix-tape tracks. That is simply unacceptable. In fact, each of the L, R, C, Ls, and Rs channels should get the full 20 Hz to 20 kHz program signal. Never reroute the lows in these channels to the LFE channel; that's what the Bass-management filter in the playback system is for. Instead, you want a Bass-management filter in your monitoring system that emulates the home-theatre playback system. This filter is placed after the mixing tape deck and directly feeds the monitor amplifiers. If you are using a home-theatre receiver for monitoring, it has an integral Bass-management circuit, which “does the job with satisfactory.
Another misconception is that you must match the 80 or 120 Hz Bass management cut-off points in home systems to properly monitor in 5.1 surround, But because this filter is for playback and monitoring in your studio only, you have to do just what is needed to extend the low-frequency capability of your own monitoring system. Just as we do not care about the crossover frequency of the midrange driver in a home speaker, we do not know and do not care about what the exact Bass-management frequency is in an end user system. We just know that somewhere around 100 Hz, all the Bass energy will head to the big subwoofer cabinet.
Most high-end monitors go down to 35 Hz, so I like to adjust my Bass-management cut-off frequency down to 40 Hz. This would limit the Bass-localization effect (yes, you can localize 80 Hz bass, contrary to popular belief) and take some of the power load off the subwoofer, which attempts to reproduce the bass from the five main channels as well as the LFE information. That is why you should always buy the largest subwoofer you can afford and fit in your studio. Note, there is no inexpensive way to put a separate speaker controller with Bass management into a small studio. There is a company called Martin sound that makes something called the MultiMax controller, which does all the calibration, down-mixing, and level control you could want, along with rudimentary Bass management. (Down mixing refers to creating a stereo mix from a 5.1-surround mix.) It's certainly a great controller. But its cost of $3,500 is beyond many small-studio budgets. Studio Technologies makes another Model 68/69 Studio-Comm for ($1,599), which can be combined with the Model 65 Bass Management Controller ($899) to provide a $2,900 solution. These seem like expensive pieces of gear until you start shopping and find devices offering basic functions for up to $19,000. Yeeessss! What do individual-studio owners expect to know?
With latest home-theatre receivers they start to look better with every new model, the new models handle Bass management and speaker calibration better, it also decodes DTS and Dolby Digital discs, and it gives you a big knob that changes the levels of all channels at once. Note, you also want a Dolby Digital receiver that includes six analogue inputs that bypass the decoders so you can monitor the 6-channel-mix directly. For a start you could combine something like a Denon AVC-A11 or Yamaha RV-105 receiver with five small monitors and a self-powered subwoofer for an affordable speaker/Amp/Bass-management calibration system.
Knowing more about Down Mixing Basics, there is one other exciting thing to watch out for when undertaking Dolby Digital surround. Every one of 5.1 mixes might be down mixed to stereo at some point. For instance, if the end user listens to a Dolby Digital DVD or DTS CD of one of your mixes and selects the stereo (direct) option on the Dolby Digital receiver or surround processor, the six channels of information are mixed down to a pair of stereo channels and sent out the main left and right outputs.
In a down-mix, the centre-channel information is added into the left and right front channels equally, while the left and right surround channels are added into the left and right front channels. Some systems add the LFE channel into the stereo pair, and previous cheaper systems throwaway the LFE information.
This would be good enough in a perfect world, but lots of potential phase conflicts crop up. For instance, if you put some sort of delay between the left-front and left-surround channels, you could end up with a huge, phased sound when those channels combine into one. In such cases, a mix that sounds great in 5.1 surround can be unlistenable when down-mixed to stereo.
Never think that your carefully created 5.1 surround mix, will never be heard in stereo, Why? Just as we need to check stereo mixes for mono compatibility, we also need to check 5.1 surround mixes for stereo compatibility. At the very least, a stereo version of your songs might be needed for radio play, and with a stroke of luck the radio station will probably choose the down-mix from one of your songs that will sounds as if it was mixed in your toilet. Some very high-end surround mixes done by the most famous engineers on the planet sound horrible when auditioned in stereo. Guess what? Those 5.1 audio surround recording guys did not understand the “1.” Effects of down-mixing.
So what can we do about it? At the very least, you need a way to monitor the down-mixing cancellation effect. Many monitor controllers, such as the MultiMax, have a button that engages Down-mix mode. This way you can easily hear the phase problems in the mix. Furthermore, always do a separate stereo mix of any 5.1-surround mix. This is particularly important for the new DVD-Audio (DVD-A) format, which has enough data-storage space to include both a 5.1-surround and stereo version of your mixes. That way, when end users select stereo mode on their receiver or processor, they hear your stereo PCM version rather than a
Down-mixed version of the 5.1 Dolby Digital mix. The proper place for this true-stereo version is on the same 16 or 24-track master tape that holds the 5.1 mix, on its tracks. Although you have to do the mix in two passes, one for surround sound and the other for “stereo”, you will be up front of the audio game when someone requests a stereo version of the mix.
Programming: The final part of making a 5.1 mix is the encoding process. Up until a few months ago, making a one-off DTS disc of a 5.1 mix required sending a six-track tape to DTS; the company would then encode the tracks and send you a DTS CD-ROM. Now you can get Minnetonka Audio's Surround-Code. DTS ($599), a software DTS encoder for Windows that lets you encode your six discrete surround tracks as a DTS file with a WAV extension. This DTS file can then be burned onto a standard CD-R disc with any CD-burning application, such as Adaptec's Easy CD Creator. The file will play back through any home-theatre system that includes a DTS decoder and a CD player with a digital output. (Do not try to play the CD from the analogue outputs; all you will hear is unpleasant noise.) Unfortunately, Minnetonka only develops software for Windows. I hope a Mac equivalent of Surround-code DTS will be developed eventually one day. Of course, you can always play a DTS disc in any CD player with an S/PDIF output and a DTS-equipped receiver. Those who want to use Dolby Digital encoding for surround mixes can burn a 44.1 kHz version of an AC-3 file and put it on a CD-R disc. You can get Dolby Digital encoders from Minnetonka Audio (Surround-Code Dolby Digital,
$995) and Sonic Foundry (Soft-Encode 5.1 Channel, $895). The encoding procedure is the same: load the six discrete audio tracks into the computer and incorporate them into the encoding software. Selecting the AC-3 WAV output creates an AC-3 file that has been padded out to fit in the exact same space as a stereo PCM file. Again, this file can be stored and burned on a CD-R or
CD-RW for playback in many home-theatre audio systems.
This method is not recommended by Dolby Labs, and it's not 100 percent reliable, because some Dolby Digital decoders do not expect an AC-3 file to come from an S/PDIF bit-stream with the Audio/Data flag bit set to Audio. In spite of this, it works perfectly on many decoders and receivers. Until Minnetonka licensed the DTS encoder algorithms a few months back, this was the only way to hear a one-off version of your surround mixes on a home-theatre system without dragging around a multitrack deck and mixer.
For your information: There is much more to say about surround-mixing basics, but that is enough to get you started. But for now, it's time to start exploring the new world of multi-channel music. It is an audio cruise worth taking. Even if your audio console has only stereo outputs and some extra auxiliary sends, you can get into the surround-mixing game. Of course, doing fancy spins around the five main speakers is challenging, if not impossible, without a true surround panner that employs a joystick or mouse. But some of my first experiments with static surround mixes were done with limited tools. For instance, on a console without subgroups, if you have four extra aux outputs, you can patch the stereo Buss to the front left and right channels, aux 1 to the centre channel, aux 2 to the LFE channel, aux 3 to the left surround, and aux 4 to the right surround. (Of course, if your console has only four aux sends, this leaves you no way to easily add effects.) The LFE output should be sent through a low-pass filter with the cut-off set somewhere around 80 Hz so that the LFE information is completely out at the 120 Hz "speed limit." This patching works very well for static mixes, such as symphonies, in which you are only setting the relative levels in each channel for the duration of the track.
Getting an audio source to pan across the sound field takes a few tricks with subgroups. On a console with at least four subgroups, you can assign Busses 1 and 4 to the front left and right channels, Buss 2 to the left rear, and Buss 3 to the right rear. Patch separate aux Busses for the centre and LFE channels. Now, by panning between odd and even Busses, you can perform front-to-back moves in the surround sound field. Also, by selecting a combination of Busses, such as 1, 2, and 4, you can even manage a diagonal pan. This system can work out quite well with consoles that have pan and subgroup automation.
It is important to understand the basics of two channel audio recording and then experiment with the above surround recording ideas.

Want to Become A "POP STAR"

2006-08-18T00:59:00.000-07:00

Want to Become a “Pop Star”

and a “Recording Artist”;

Points from my 40 years of Show-Biz experience
By: Alphonso Soosay

In today's world, there are a large numbers of young wishful Singers and Musicians who want to be a "POP STAR". They watch the many Pop Shows and they think that this can be easily reproduced and therefore achievable easily. They try but, Not as easy as they think because there is alot of hard work involved. The fascination about these successful singers that we see on Live Shows and Concerts are that most of them have extraordinary voices with huge vocal ranges'.

Becoming an International recording artist can seem like an impossible goal only accomplished by the fortunate and the privileged. This is not so true.
These following succeeding points will give you what you need to know to make it all happen with your dream come through as an International Recording Artist.
Imagine having an exciting line of business as a Pop Star. Walking into a Pop musical stage to hear thousands of fans chanting your name. Then you start the ball rolling by singing your first song, and then you see the crowd going wild. “What a feeling”.
These days, most Pop Stars are rich and famous, but a career as a Pop Star offers much more exciting things, including; Radio and TV interviews, Live performances, Working on Music Video Clips, Appearing for Photo Shoots, Going on Promotional tours, Signing Autograph at appearances, attending Award Shows, charity shows, music industry parties and Interacting with fans. If this sounds like the career of your dream, then start working on it ASAP.
These point information are just a guide that can help you no matter what type of music you want to perform. These are points and focus on how to succeed in contemporary popular music, Pop, Rock, R&B and Country. These points can also be applied in other types of music as well, including Jazz and Gospel music.
Start Getting organized:
1) Make the best potential of your Singing Voice. Get the training in the area you have to.
2) Dig up the key element of a Star Quality and cultivate it. Watch other successful formula that’s available on DVD’s and video tapes.
3) Create that superseding Image for yourself. A unique style that anyone will talk about.
4) Improve and identify your musical style. It has to be something very progressive and simple.
5) Create an awesome Demo Package by choosing the right songs that will suite your singing style and voice. Find that genuine producer that can help you decide in getting a high quality demo recorded with at least about 10 songs. Photos must be taken of your best shots. Create your own CD covers to impress your recording company’s A&R man.
6) Single out your objective Record Companies. People that aim for the international markets.
7) Check-up on Show-Biz Contract Information’s. Make sure it is to your benefits and both ways.
8) Generate some excitement by doing live shows at Hotel’s and Pub’s. This is for people to talk about and for Recording Company’s A&R person to think about.
9) Be Creative and start recording your own music on CD’s.
10) Sell them at your Gigs and see how it responds. Selling your CD’s at $10/- to $15/- each is quite common these days.
11) Participate in Fun-Fairs and Charity shows. Call up schools and churches and give them you contacts.
12) Get into the network of meeting Music Industry insiders. Check out the X-Press Magazine on what’s happening and when. Attend APRA & Amos functions.
13) Audition for shows such as “Australian Idol”, “Pop Stars” “X-Factor” and any talent show that comes along your way. Try again and again until you succeed. Never give up if you know you have the talent.
14) Find a manager that can pick an excellent deal for you. He must be able to achieve some publicity and marketing for you, example, your first single with a video clip. Approaching international recording companies. Advising you on your first recording project. Make sure you get paid for your vocal performances and song writings. Check with “AMCOS” and “APRA” for more royalties’ details if you are not sure.
If you believe that you deserve to have the career of your dreams in “Show-Business”, then these points are for you that can help you get a recording contract much more speedily. It gives you the basic idea on what you need to know to become a “Pop” “Star” and the rest is up to you.

Good luck and Cheers

Alphonso Soosay
Audio Recording Engineer / Musician
Perth.

Out-Door Projection Entertainment

2006-08-18T00:46:00.000-07:00

Aussy, Out- Door Weekend Projection

A Review By: Alphonso Soosay

IMAGINE sitting in your very own Home Theatre with your friends. Now, imagine the projection screen situated in your Patio entertaining area or on a wall across your swimming pool and you are watching your favourite Soccer, Cricket or a Movie on Summer Holiday while having a BBQ and beer. Sounds too good to be true or this is something that the rich and famous people only do or may own. Well no longer this is true, because we have reached the affordable technology age.
Many homes have been installing indoor Home Theatre rooms in the last five years, but the latest trend in Home Entertainment is to use the projector both inside and outside in the two zones. The good news is that the same projector can be used for both areas at little cost difference than just wiring the projector for indoor only use. It is also possible to install just an outdoor cinema without great expense. In Australia we are so fortunate to have such a wonderful climate. Having an outdoor theatre will be a perfect addition for entertaining friends and families imagine watching your favourite DVD and TV programs outdoor on the big screen with great sound quality. The recent drop in prices for the latest technology has seen strong growth in recent months and outdoor cinema are no exception. In Perth, Home Theatre companies have installed many in the last three months. The demand is expected to grow as Christmas and the holiday season is around the corner.
Products such as marine speakers and outdoor volume controls allow you to leave most of the outdoor system in place permanently. Only the projector would need to be taken indoors when not in use. If the system is set up properly, you can transfer your projector outside and be watching your favourite DVD’s and TV programs in less than five minutes. Check it out with your nearest Home Theatre specialist and they will arrange for a non obligation home assessment.

Live Reinforcement Sound

2006-08-16T00:46:00.000-07:00

NIGHT-CLUB AUDIO REINFORCEMENT

A review by: Alphonso Soosay

INTRO:
The Audio Operator held responsible for the great sounding sound in a Nigh-club or Theatre, is as important as any great Musicians or Singers on stage.
As an audio engineer or an audio operator, ironically, you are doing your most excellent job when you are least noticed, also when everything sounds crystal clear and in the right perspective, the audience takes for granted the knowledge and effort that went into the presentation.
I hope this will be a consoling thought when you are winding up cords or battling with heavy road cases at 3.00am. After watching the musicians skip out the stage door with their musical instruments.
Let's focus on club style sound system, which will typically involve questions about doing sound in rooms that hold up to 1,000 people. Let's begin with explainations and considerations of several factors that come into play when you are assembling a reinforcement sound system for Night-Club work.

SIZE OF VENUE:
The room you work in may range in size from an intimate (50 to 200) setting to a mammoth, warehouse like showcase club. (Metropolis in Fremantle). The shape of each room, and its resulting characteristics, will have effects on the sound. To a large extend, your job involves making educated guesses about these effects in every situation you encounter. Taking into consideration the fact that you probably have a limited amount of equipment at your disposal, it is important to make the absolute most out of it. You really would be surprised at all the minor changes you could make that yield major differences in your results.
Angling your horns more efficiently, for example, through a better understanding of directional characteristics, can make a world of differences, as can careful selection of crossover points. Learning how to gauge and assess the effect reverberation will have in a room will also help provide clues to optimal placement of speakers. Multi level venues (example, Metropolis in Fremantle) could require a zoned, or split, system that would use upper and lower speakers to cover the balcony and ground floor.
Sometime, you will encounter oddly shaped rooms where, no matter how you aim your speakers, you cannot cover the whole area evenly. In those cases you may have to add extra speakers to your system. (Side firing and raised).

You would generally, want to know in advance the shape and size of the venue you will be working in. It would be a great idea for the sound man in charge to keep a log book of the venues you work in often. The log book should have a page for each venue, with information like the managers name, the telephone number, the location and size of the load in door, the stage size and headroom (watch out for low ceiling), the main mixing board location, monitor mixing location and electrical notes including the location and number of outlets and breaker panel and location of where the lights are powered from (I am sure you don’t have effects on the sound. To a large extend, your job involves making educated guesses about these effects in every situation you encounter. Taking into consideration the fact that you probably have a limited amount of equipment at your disposal, it is important to make the absolute most out of it. You really would be surprised at all the minor changes you could make that yield major differences in your results.

SPEAKER PLACEMENT:
Angling your horns more efficiently, for example, through a better understanding of directional characteristics, can make a world of differences, as can careful selection of crossover points. Learning how to gauge and assess the effect reverberation will have in a room will also help provide clues to optimal placement of speakers. Mulit level venues (example, Metropolis in Fremantle) could require a zoned, or split, system that would use upper and lower speakers to cover the balcony and ground floor.
Sometime, you will encounter oddly shaped rooms where, no matter how you aim your speakers, you cannot cover the whole area evenly. In those cases you may have to add extra speakers to your system. (Side firing and raised).

DETAILS OF VENUE:
You would generally, want to know in advance the shape and size of the venue you will be working in. It would be a great idea for the sound man in charge to keep a log book of the venues you work in often. The log book should have a page for each venue, with information like the managers name, the telephone number, the location and size of the load in door, the stage size and headroom (watch out for low ceiling), the main mixing board location, monitor mixing location and electrical notes including the location and number of outlets and breaker panel and location of where the lights are powered from (I am sure you don't want your system to contain dimmer buzz).
Have a drawing made of the club's layout and this would be helpful. If you have readies who work for you, copies of this information in their hands will save everybody’s time.

THE CREW:
One factor to take into consideration is how many people are going to help you move the gear, which may help you decide between putting your amps into a rolling rack or individual cases.
If you have a fairly small portable system, a bread van will probably be your transportation. The next step up would be a small truck or an old bus with their seats removed.
For a much bigger set up, the best transportation is a good 18 x 24 feet box body trucks, these can come with either a ramp or a hydraulic lift gate. Remember, whether its you or hired hands (readies) who do the work in setting up, sound work often requires supreme amount of physical exertion.

CUTTING COST:
Without compromising your quality one bit, you can cut costs. If you possess any carpentry or electrical skills, there is a point at which it may be more feasible to build. Rather than buy some equipment. Your handiness and ability to learn these things could also enable you to make your own minor repairs on equipment. Tracing and eliminating shorts in cords by building a continuity tester. Another way to save money is to buy from discount departments in as large quantity as possible. Getting microphone connectors from a distributor in quantities of 100 pieces will save
You up to 50 per cent of the cost of buying 10 of them 10 separate times.

SIZE AND LOCATION:
The prime consideration is the type of music you are involved with presenting. If you are working with one band all the time, you can design a system to specifically meet their needs. However, if you are working with several bands or artists, you must concern yourself with having a more flexible system. The size of the band will determine, among other things, how tight the stage set up will be and how many microphones you will need. It’s good to know before hand exactly what you are in for with each job. Shall we take a good look at the mainstays of equipment? Speakers, There are several ways to go about transforming electrical impulses into sound waves, and the speaker system you work with should utilize their different characteristics to fit.your needs. The smoothness of direct radiator units, which can utilize reflex principles to reinforce bass reproduction, may be combined with high efficiency and increased projection ability of horn units. Your concern for mobility, cost, and efficiency will also help determine your arsenal of mains and monitors.
The type of power amplifiers you need will best be defined by the equipment you have to drive. There are many different good types of amplifiers in the market today, well respected old standard and young competitors with new attractive audio and visual features.

YOUR EARS:
The Mixing board, (the heart) is what you perform on during the show. Although you haven't spent years playing scales on your board, yours ears should be finely tuned to the subtle (or dynamic) effect that each knob, lever, and switch has on the sound. With the many good boards on the market, your personal needs and resources will define the board you end up with. It can be a mono 10 channel output or a 36 channel in line board with 8sub stereo unit.

THE MIXING BOARD:
With the latest and most popular in line boards, which includes a line input, microphone input, insert point, and tape send / return, The microphone inputs for each channel can supply 48 volts phantom power independently, and there is a switch to select the line or microphone input The equalization section (example) HE: 10kHz to 20 kHz, High Mid: 500 Hz to 15 kHz,.. . Low Mid: 100 Hz to 1.6 kHz, and Sub LF: 20 Hz to 100 Hz.
Of course, there are pan pots and buss assign switches that let you route the signal to the stereo mix buss and / or any of the eight group (output) busses. Stereo connections include outputs to the control room monitor system and two track mix down deck, insert points for the stereo buss, and returns for the two tracks... All tape sends and the two track returns are factory set to accommodate OdBV equipment, but they can be adjusted for
+4 dBu operation by removing several resistors from some of the circuit boards. Please do not try this at home unless you are an electronic technician or very sure of what you are doing. The mixing board also includes an oscillator (1 kHz), for lining up live recording situations.

MICROPHONES:
Today, there is a big variety of names and many different types of microphones available for a variety of uses. But it is safe to say that for club work you will be dealing almost exclusively with un-powered dynamic microphones. It’s very important to know your specific requirements and the application of each microphone.
To mike up a bass drum, for example, this calls for a microphone with a large enough
Large diaphragm (example, AKG D 12) to reproduce low end noise without distortion. And must durably handle high sound pressure levels. Uni-directional microphone, which reject or reduce the sound picked up at the sides and rear of the microphone, are favorably applied where feedback from monitors or bleed through from other microphones may be a problem. Omni directional microphones pick up sound equally from all directions, and are useful when bleed through is not a problem or, in the case of miking a drums set.

TECHNICAL UNDERSTANDING: *As a sound engineer you must be completely familiar with all audio equipments used, you must ensure that audio signal chain flows correctly for each channel, sub-group and main outputs. as this wil be a challenge to get best sound out of your reinforcement sound system. *Knowing your room Acoustics is all that important because you will have to achieve a flat response by knowing how to compensate for each frequency band. *Double check on microphone placement technique for best overall natural tone quality and no feed back. * When using audio Compressor, make sure you get added value out of each of your Compressor. Select the correct microphones with the correct pick-up pattern and make sure that each microphone achieves right and expected sound, *Make sure that Musicians and Singers are comfortable with reliable and consistent fold-back monitor setup with the correct and satisfied audio monitor mixes, so that they can be more comfortable on stage. *Avoid boosting EQ that will actually only add noise to the mix and no benefit to the overall sound. *Have your inputs faders set to the hottest headroom, with the power amplifier driving hot, this is to prevent feedback, clipping and sound distortion. *Use Equalization to control frequencies only when required and the proper way. *Make sure you are getting the best signal to noise ratio to improve your EQ efficiency in the overall mix.

THE EQUALISER:
An equalizer is a pretty marvelous piece of electronic circuit, to say at least, in the hands of a capable engineer or operator. This device enables you to control the volume of certain determinable segments of the sound spectrum.
Different equaliser device the sound spectrum in different ways, simple treble and bass tone controls divide it into two affectable parts.
A graphic equaliser usually divides into, 10, 15, or 31 parts, while other types of equalizations, like the parametric and Para graphics, let you focus in on the exact point you wish to affect.

THE KEY MAN OF THE SHOW:
This is where your job as a sound engineer, businessman, craftsman, turns into being an artist. To a large extend YOU, in conduction with the band you are mixing are responsible for how the audience receives whatever the group is trying to convey. You are the middle man in an artistic exchange, and hopefully you will have a sense of responsibility that translates into doing your best in every situation, regardless of a number of factors that might affect your own level of inspiration. (The fact that you had only a few hours of sleep in the past few days, or the band does not come close to your personal taste in music.)
If you have worked with a couple of bands then you could be in touch with the music as much as, if not more than, any member of the band.
Also, you will have to be aware of the songs, (on the ball) that is, if you know where, in the second song of the third set, the guitarist is about to jump into a magnificent lead solo which needs to be boosted with effects at the mixing board Details like this can make the difference between good and great produced mixed sound.