Practical Recording Techniques, Fifth Edition: The Step- by- Step Approach to Professional Audio Recording (LIVRE SUR LA MU)

Hands-on practical guide covering all aspects of recording, ideal for beginning and intermediate recording engineers, producers, musicians and audio enthusiasts. Filled with tips and shortcuts, this book offers advice on equipping a home studio (both low-budget and advanced), suggestions for set-up, acoustics, choosing monitor speakers, and preventing hum. This best-selling guide also tells how to judge recordings and improve them to produce maximum results. New material covered in the 5th edition to include: • complete revision and update of digital media sections • new section on mixing tips • new section on podcasts and file sharing • new section equipment and connector levels • new section function and connector types • new section on digital metering • new section exporting projects from other studios • new photos • This popular bestseller covers the latest digital techniques for professional and home studios, and location recording • Now features a dedicated website packed with audio clips to enhance the text • Now includes a brand new chapter on computer recording procedures Practical Recording Techniques is a hands-on practical guide for all aspects of recording, ideal for beginning and intermediate recording engineers, producers, musicians and audio enthusiasts. Filled with tips and shortcuts, this book offers advice on equipping a home studio (both low-budget and advanced), with suggestions for set-up, acoustics, choosing monitor speakers, and preventing hum. This best-selling guide also tells how to judge recordings and improve them to produce maximum results. Two extensive glossaries clearly explain audio jargon and sound-quality descriptions. NEW material includes: Extensive coverage of digital recording technology and techniques, including computer DAWs and optimizing them for best performance FRONT COVER......Page 1 PRACTICAL RECORDING TECHNIQUES: THE STEP-BY-STEP APPROACH TO PROFESSIONAL AUDIO RECORDING......Page 4 COPYRIGHT PAGE......Page 5 CONTENTS......Page 8 DEDICATION......Page 6 PREFACE......Page 10 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS......Page 14 CHAPTER 1 Music: Why You Record......Page 16 DIFFERENT WAYS OF LISTENING......Page 17 WHY RECORD?......Page 18 CHAPTER 2 The Recording Chain......Page 20 TYPES OF RECORDING......Page 21 PROS AND CONS OF EACH METHOD......Page 26 RECORDING THE MIXES......Page 28 SOUND WAVE CREATION......Page 30 CHARACTERISTICS OF SOUND WAVES......Page 32 BEHAVIOR OF SOUND IN ROOMS......Page 38 HOW TO TAME ECHOES AND REVERB......Page 41 MAKING A QUIETER STUDIO......Page 46 SIGNAL CHARACTERISTICS OF AUDIO DEVICES......Page 47 EQUIPMENT......Page 52 SETTING UP YOUR STUDIO......Page 66 HUM PREVENTION......Page 78 REDUCING RADIO FREQUENCY INTERFERENCE (RFI)......Page 81 CHAPTER 5 Monitoring......Page 82 SPEAKER REQUIREMENTS......Page 83 NEARFIELDTM MONITORS......Page 84 THE POWER AMPLIFIER......Page 86 CONTROL-ROOM ACOUSTICS......Page 87 SPEAKER PLACEMENT......Page 88 USING THE MONITORS......Page 89 HEADPHONES......Page 91 THE CUE SYSTEM......Page 92 CONCLUSION......Page 93 TRANSDUCER TYPES......Page 94 POLAR PATTERN......Page 98 FREQUENCY RESPONSE......Page 102 MAXIMUM SPL......Page 104 SELF-NOISE......Page 105 MICROPHONE TYPES......Page 106 MICROPHONE SELECTION......Page 111 MIC ACCESSORIES......Page 112 SUMMARY......Page 115 WHICH MIC SHOULD I USE?......Page 116 HOW MANY MICS?......Page 118 HOW CLOSE SHOULD I PLACE THE MIC?......Page 120 WHERE SHOULD I PLACE THE MIC?......Page 123 ON-SURFACE TECHNIQUES......Page 124 THE 3:1 RULE......Page 125 STEREO MIC TECHNIQUES......Page 127 COINCIDENT PAIR......Page 129 SPACED PAIR......Page 131 NEAR-COINCIDENT PAIR......Page 133 BAFFLED OMNI PAIR......Page 134 HOW TO TEST IMAGING......Page 136 ELECTRIC GUITAR......Page 138 ELECTRIC BASS......Page 142 LESLIE ORGAN SPEAKER......Page 144 DRUM SET......Page 145 PERCUSSION......Page 156 ACOUSTIC GUITAR......Page 157 SINGER/GUITARIST......Page 158 GRAND PIANO......Page 159 UPRIGHT PIANO......Page 162 ACOUSTIC BASS......Page 163 BANJO......Page 164 FIDDLE (VIOLIN)......Page 165 STRING SECTION......Page 167 HORNS......Page 168 SAXOPHONE......Page 169 WOODWINDS......Page 170 HARMONICA, ACCORDION, AND BAGPIPE......Page 171 LEAD VOCAL......Page 172 CHOIR AND ORCHESTRA......Page 177 SUMMARY......Page 178 DIFFERENCES BETWEEN ANALOG AND DIGITAL......Page 180 DIGITAL RECORDING......Page 181 THE CLOCK......Page 188 DIGITAL AUDIO SIGNAL FORMATS......Page 190 DITHER......Page 191 JITTER......Page 193 DIGITAL TRANSFERS AND COPIES......Page 194 2-TRACK DIGITAL RECORDERS......Page 195 MULTITRACK DIGITAL RECORDERS......Page 203 BACKUP......Page 208 SOFTWARE EFFECTS (PLUG-INS)......Page 210 EQUALIZER......Page 211 COMPRESSOR......Page 221 LIMITER......Page 228 NOISE GATE......Page 229 DELAY: ECHO, DOUBLING, CHORUS, AND FLANGING......Page 230 REVERBERATION......Page 235 PREVERB......Page 238 VOCAL PROCESSOR......Page 239 ROTARY SPEAKER SIMULATOR......Page 240 GUITAR AMPLIFIER MODELER......Page 241 SURROUND SOUND......Page 242 LOOKING BACK......Page 243 SOUND-QUALITY GLOSSARY......Page 244 STAGES OF RECORDING......Page 252 MIXER FUNCTIONS AND FORMATS......Page 253 ANALOG MIXER......Page 254 DIGITAL MIXER......Page 268 SOFTWARE MIXER......Page 270 CONTROL SURFACE......Page 271 SESSION PREPARATION......Page 272 PLAYBACK......Page 276 OVERDUBBING......Page 277 PUNCHING-IN......Page 278 COMPOSITE TRACKS......Page 279 DRUM REPLACEMENT......Page 280 MIXDOWN......Page 281 SUMMARY......Page 292 AUTOMATED MIXING......Page 294 LO-FI RECORDING: HOW TO TRASH YOUR TRACKS......Page 298 CHAPTER 13 Computer Recording......Page 304 BASIC OPERATION......Page 305 THE COMPUTER......Page 308 AUDIO INTERFACE......Page 309 RECORDING SOFTWARE......Page 320 USING A DAW......Page 328 AUDIO FOR VIDEO......Page 343 CLASSICAL VERSUS POPULAR RECORDING......Page 346 GOOD SOUND IN A POP-MUSIC RECORDING......Page 347 GOOD SOUND IN A CLASSICAL-MUSIC RECORDING......Page 354 TRAINING YOUR HEARING......Page 356 TROUBLESHOOTING BAD SOUND......Page 359 PREPRODUCTION......Page 372 SETTING UP THE CONTROL ROOM......Page 378 RECORDING......Page 379 BREAKING DOWN......Page 382 MASTERING......Page 383 TRANSFERRING THE MASTERED PROGRAM TO CD-R......Page 390 MASTER LOG......Page 393 COPYRIGHTS AND ROYALTIES......Page 395 CHAPTER 16 The MIDI Studio: Equipment and Recording Procedures......Page 396 MIDI-STUDIO COMPONENTS......Page 397 RECORDING MUSIC MADE BY SOFT SYNTHS......Page 404 RECORDING A HARDWARE SYNTH......Page 410 "NO SOUND" MIDI TROUBLESHOOTING......Page 412 RECORDING WITH A KEYBOARD WORKSTATION......Page 414 USING EFFECTS......Page 415 LOOP-BASED RECORDING......Page 416 RECORD OFF THE BOARD......Page 422 RECORD WITH MICS AND A PORTABLE DIGITAL RECORDER......Page 423 RECORD WITH A 4-TRACKER......Page 427 CONNECT THE PA-MIXER INSERT SENDS TO A MULTITRACK RECORDER......Page 428 SPLITTING THE MIC SIGNALS......Page 432 PREPARING FOR THE SESSION......Page 435 PREPARING FOR EASIER SETUP......Page 440 AT THE SESSION: SETUP......Page 444 MIC TECHNIQUES......Page 448 TEARDOWN......Page 452 EQUIPMENT......Page 454 SELECTING A VENUE......Page 456 SESSION SETUP......Page 457 MICROPHONE PLACEMENT......Page 461 RECORDING A CONCERT......Page 467 EDITING......Page 468 CHAPTER 19 Surround Sound: Techniques and Media......Page 472 SURROUND SPEAKER ARRANGEMENT......Page 473 SETTING UP A SURROUND MONITORING SYSTEM......Page 475 RECORDING AND MIXING POP MUSIC FOR SURROUND......Page 482 SURROUND-SOUND MIC TECHNIQUES......Page 485 SURROUND MEDIA......Page 498 ENCODING SURROUND FOR RELEASE ON VARIOUS FORMATS......Page 503 DOLBY UNITS FOR DVD MASTERING......Page 507 STREAMING VERSUS DOWNLOADING......Page 508 WEB-RELATED AUDIO FILES......Page 509 WHAT YOU NEED......Page 512 HOW TO UPLOAD COMPRESSED AUDIO FILES......Page 513 PUTTING YOUR MUSIC ON YOUR WEB SITE......Page 516 COLLABORATING BY SHARING FILES......Page 519 FINDING STUDIO MUSICIANS, PRODUCERS, AND ENGINEERS......Page 522 SOUND PRESSURE LEVEL......Page 524 SIGNAL LEVEL......Page 525 THE VU METER, ZERO VU, AND PEAK INDICATORS......Page 529 INTERFACING BALANCED AND UNBALANCED EQUIPMENT......Page 531 MICROPHONE SENSITIVITY......Page 533 APPENDIX B: Optimizing Your Computer for Multitrack Recording......Page 536 SPEEDING UP YOUR HARD DRIVE......Page 537 INCREASING PROCESSING SPEED......Page 539 PREVENTING INTERRUPTIONS......Page 541 MINIMIZING LATENCY......Page 543 OTHER TIPS......Page 545 WINDOWS VISTA......Page 546 OPTIMIZING MACINTOSH FOR MULTITRACK RECORDING......Page 547 I'M CONNECTING TWO AUDIO DEVICES. IS IT IMPORTANT TO MATCH THEIR IMPEDANCES? WHAT IF I DON'T?......Page 550 I'M CONNECTING A MIC TO A MIXER. IS IMPEDANCE A CONSIDERATION?......Page 552 CAN I CONNECT ONE SOURCE TO TWO OR MORE LOADS?......Page 553 SUMMARY......Page 554 BOOKS AND VIDEOS......Page 556 PRO AUDIO MAGAZINES......Page 557 GUIDES TO RECORDING SCHOOLS......Page 558 THE INTERNET......Page 559 EXPERIENCE......Page 560 A......Page 562 B......Page 565 C......Page 568 D......Page 572 E......Page 577 F......Page 580 G......Page 582 H......Page 584 I......Page 586 L......Page 587 M......Page 589 N......Page 595 O......Page 596 P......Page 597 R......Page 604 S......Page 608 T......Page 615 U......Page 618 W......Page 619 Z......Page 621 A......Page 622 B......Page 623 C......Page 624 D......Page 626 E......Page 628 F......Page 629 H......Page 630 J......Page 631 L......Page 632 M......Page 633 O......Page 636 P......Page 637 R......Page 639 S......Page 640 U......Page 643 W......Page 644 Z......Page 645 PRACTICAL RECORDING TECHNIQUES DEMO WEB SITE......Page 646 Covers various aspects of recording. Filled with tips and shortcuts, this book offers advice on equipping a home studio (both low-budget and advanced), suggestions for set-up, acoustics, choosing monitor speakers, and preventing hum. It is suitable for beginning and intermediate recording engineers, producers, musicians and audio enthusiasts.