Transcript
School of American Music – Contemporary 2017 Recording and Audio Basics 2 This course will enable the individuals to be take their knowledge from the previous semester and apply it in a much more critical and surgical fashion. Slightly more advanced DAW techniques are employed such as FX automation, customizing the software environment, noise/pop/click removal, editing, comping takes for perfect performances and adding video/text to your recorded audio! Again, the course will be split 50/50 between lecture/theory and the student’s “Hands on Audio” session that allows the student to work with the provided computer, software and recording equipment.
o Week 1 – FX Automation – Using a VST effects processor, we can assign one or many parameters to automate in ways that are literally impossible by hand 1. The Wet/Dry blend on all FX units a. The Wet/Dry blend balances in percentages how much affected sound versus unaffected sound is present b. 0%, 50%, 100% and EVERYWHERE in between 2. The PARAM Button a. Show Last Touched Knob in Track Hands on Audio – Record and process vocals with an audio FX processor and apply the PARAM Button to show the automation lane on a track
o Week 2 – Customizing the software… Easier is better– This lesson will focus
on a few customizations that increase our user workflows 1 - Transport docked at top of main window 2 - Transport centered 3 - Hide Transport playrate control 4 - Colored bar on selected item 5 - Colored bar on active take 6 - Grid line colors o Week 3 –Mid/Side recording– This lesson focuses on the incredible world of
mid/side recording using just two microphones. Mid/Side offers advantages that simply unattainable by other recording strategies Evan Margol
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School of American Music – Contemporary 2017 Recording and Audio Basics 2 1. Two mics and three tracks?! 2. What is polarity inversion? 3. Stereo width and mono compatibility, forever? Hands on Audio – Demonstrate how to quickly setup a Mid/Side recording system with two microphones and a computer o Week 4 – Noise Gates – Noise Gates can be one of your best friends once the
cocept is fully realized and understood 1. 2. 3. 4.
Pre-Open Attack Hold Release Hands on Audio – The student will demonstrate the ability to control the Noise gate by appropriately setting the gate’s key parameters
o Week 5 – Replacing Sounds – Replacing previously recorded sounds in your
audio projects can prove to be extremely powerful but can be highly confusing 1. The Media Explorer Choosing your sounds 2. Replacing a sound b. Right click on your chosen sound c. Choose “Use as Media Source for Selected Items” Hands on Audio – Demonstrate how to effectively replace the sounds of the previously recorded kick drum sound with the kick drum sound of your choice o Week 6 – Item and Take Based FX Processing and Take Comping – Again, like
last semester, Effects are necessary to manipulating any and all aspects of a given production. Instead of bluntly applying FX to entire channels or tracks we can less destructively place individual FX processors to individual takes or Items that absolutely require them. Such as attempting to re-tune a single bad note of a singer or turning down an unnecessarily loud breath or plosive from a singer. Comping Takes, or composite takes, involve picking best Evan Margol
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School of American Music – Contemporary 2017 Recording and Audio Basics 2 individual small bits from multiple performances to create a hybrid performance of an. 1. Item Takes 2. Item Volume Knob 3. Take Gain Envelope 4. Item Take FX Hands on Audio – Record a vocalist and create a composite take of the vocalist using Item Takes and utilize take based FX such as ReaTune to tune or correct ONLY the problematic notes and/or phrases. Also include take based gain envelopes to smooth volume differences where needed o Week 7 – Video – Video files are really no different than audio in so many
ways. Both are items in a linear timeline that can be sped up, slowed down, reversed, band passed, distorted, split into separate items and faded in and out just like our audio items. 1. Importing a Video File from a smartphone into the digital audio workstation a. Download FFMpeg/libav video decoder/encoder b. Install the video decoder/encoder c. Install Video Presets for the Video Processor d. Automate fade ins and fade outs to the sample video e. Use simple color correction if needed Hands on Audio/Video – Record a short 30-60 seconds worth of a musical performace while simultaneously recording with studio microphones and computer and sync the two up in the DAW o Week 8 – ReAmping – ReAmping is the process of re-recording audio through
external hardware based processors such as guitar amps and/or speakers and using a microphone to capture the newly processed audio signal. This can be a HUGE benefit as the engineer can focus on the perfect microphone position(s) and sounds crafted without needing a guitarist or bassist to even be present. 1. Recording guitar through a DI to the DAW while simultaneously recording with a microphone to capture the tone at the time of the guitarists performance 2. Plug in Guitar into DI, from the DI plug another ¼” instrument cable out of the DI’s speaker output into the guitar amp and plug an XLR microphone cable into the DI’s Line Out into the computer’s audio interface Evan Margol
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School of American Music – Contemporary 2017 Recording and Audio Basics 2 3. Plug in a 1/4” TRS cable into the line out of the audio interface into the female XLR line in on the Re-Amp box and plug in a ¼” instrument cable into the instrument out of the Re Amp box into the guitar amp or pedal chain
o Week 9 Final Project II – (Student number 2) Combining all the aspects of the
semester, find a couple of local artists and record one song o Week 10 – Final Mixes of Final Projects – Mix the projects down into video
files and upload to Youtube
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