Sound recording for beginners History Before the nineteenth century the closest thing that came to sound

recording was mechanical devices that could play pre-programmed sounds, but these couldn t record actual sound. In 1847, the phonautograph was invented, which used a membrane that vibrated to sound, attached to a pencil that traced a line that roughly corresponded to the sound wave of the sound. However the sound couldn t be played back so there was little use in the music industry. The phonautograph led to Thomas Edison s (who also invented the light bulb) phonograph, which used a small drum instead of a piece of paper. This could be played back, but the drums were hard and expensive to manufacture so there wasn t much use in the music industry for this. Emily Berliner solved the problem of the drums with her disk phonograph. The disks could be manufactured easily and fairly cheaply, so this became the standard recording medium and the standard music sales medium for quite some time. During the 1920s, the microphone, loudspeaker and the mixing desk all came into popular use, and naturally fell into use in the recording industry. Also, in 1927 the film The Jazz Singer was the first film to have music recorded directly onto the film. During the magnetic recording revolution the telegraphone was invented. This used a magnetisable medium that moved past a recording head. An electrical signal is sent through the recording head and induces a pattern of magnetisation on the tape. This could then be reversed and used with a playback head instead of a recording head so it could be listened to. The first of the magnetic recorders used wires, but these evolved into the wider and cheaper tapes (like the wellknown cassette). Personal tape recorders started selling in the 1940s, and the tape quickly because the standard recording medium up until the 80s. Disney, funnily enough, was the first to practically use stereo sounds in its film Fantasia in the 1940s. Before this engineers had struggled to synchronise two tapes perfectly. The next big development was the multitrack recorder in the 50s. This split a tape into several tracks that could be recorded separately, but were perfectly synchronised. Two track multi-tracks were well used in stereo recording. The four track recorders were used pretty much up to the digital recording revolution. In 1982, digital recording technology was invented, which was quickly followed be the compact disk. It was easier to use than tapes, and there wasn t any waste from poor takes, so this has become the standard recording medium since. Microphones You might need a quick overview of microphone types to avoid confusion later in the article, so here it is. There are two main types of microphone that are used in sound recording:

Capacitor microphones (also known as condenser microphones), are comprised of two parallel plates, one being the diaphragm (what the sound waves hit) and the other being the back plate. The diaphragm is usually made from very thin Mylar and coated in a thin layer of gold, making it very sensitive to minute air pressure changes. The capacitor has a fixed charge applied through it, and the movement of the diaphragm causes changes in the voltage over it. This change in voltage creates electronic signals that directly compare to the sound wave and so can be amplified and recorded. The other main type of microphone is the dynamic microphone. This type uses electromagnetic induction to cause the signals. The diaphragm is attached to a wire coil, which is pushed over a magnet as the diaphragm moves, and so generates the signals. Dynamic microphones are robust, inexpensive and have a high gain-before-feedback (the amount the signal can be amplified before there is too much distortion), so are favoured for live performances. Dynamic microphones don t have the same flat frequency response as condensers, so are tailored to a particular application. All microphones have a particular polar pattern, which is description of its sensitivity to sounds from different directions. There are three main types of polar pattern: A cardioid pattern microphone is the most commonly used pattern. Cardioid microphones pick up sound mainly from the front and not as much from the sides and back. These are good for picking up sound from an instrument without receiving too much bleed (unwanted sound) from other instruments. The polar pattern for cardioid microphones usually changes for different frequency ranges. Low frequencies (500 Hz 1 kHz) are received at a wider arc at the front (Up to 140) and a very small arced quiet pick up from the back. Higher frequencies (1-4 kHz) are received from a smaller arc at the front (120) with a small but loud pick-up from the back. Cardioid microphones suffer from the proximity effect where lower frequencies come out much louder when the microphone is placed closer to the source. Another polar pattern is the omnidirectional pattern. These microphones pick up sound at the same level from all directions of the microphone. These microphones don t suffer from polar frequency difference or the proximity effect, but they do pick up a lot of bleed. These are often used as ambience microphones in the middle of rooms rather than to record one instrument because of the bleed problems. The last polar pattern is the figure-8 pattern. These pick up sounds from the front and back, but not the sides. These are rarely used as they aren t as useful as cardioid or omni microphones, but can be used for M/S recording. Vocals Vocals are used in almost all genres of music, so if you re going into recording the probability of you having to record vocals is very high. It is generally quite simple to record vocals, but vocals depend on the mood, confidence, and the style of the vocalist just as much as the setting up and mixing, so it can be quite tricky sometimes. The first thing that should be set up is the monitor. This can be done with one of two types of headphone, depending on the preference of the vocalist. The first is the fully-enclosed headphones, which are better for the engineer because they don t have much leak (sound being emanated and possibly being picked up by a microphone), but not so good for the vocalist because they often feel

boxed in when using them. The alternative is the semi-enclosed headphones which vocalists find more comfortable using, however these have a significant amount of leak, which can be particularly bad if a click track (metronome track) is being used. A good monitor often helps for a better performance, and a bad monitor will significantly hinder performance, so spending time setting up a good monitor will not be a waste of time. It is a good idea to put a little reverb on the vocals in the monitor even if they aren t being used in the final mix, because it helps the vocals sit with the backing track better. Popping on the microphone can be caused by blasts of air, which are unavoidable, slamming into the microphone diaphragm. This causes a rise to high level, low frequency output signals, which come out as a loud, bassy thump. These can be eliminated by the use of a pop shield, which when placed in front of the microphone, dissipate the blasts of air so that they cause no harm. The pop shields don t affect normal sound waves at all. Pop shields also reduce annoying sibilance (s sounds) and plosives (b and p sounds). They need to be used about 3 inches from themicrophone, and about 6 inches from the singer, or the blasts. Working too close to the microphone will cause significant changes in tone as the singer moves their head, so it is best to work at least six inches away. Most studio recordings are done in a relatively dead (in terms of sound) environment, so there is no reverb recorded, and the desired amount can be added at the mixing stage. In a studio, a dead space is created by using a dedicated vocal booth, with non-reflective walls. Out of a studio, it might work to just keep the microphone away from corners and walls and using improvised sound absorbers e.g. bedding. If there is no way to create a dead space, then working close to the microphone will reduce the ratio of direct to reflected sound, although the vocalist will need to keep their head still. If several singers are being recorded simultaneously, then the most important factor is to have the vocalists at a distance three times the distance between a vocalist and a microphone so there is no spill. It might be a good idea to put an acoustic screen between each vocalist, so that there is no risk at all of spill. For a large group, it is best to use a pair of cardioid microphones, or an M-S pair. For very large groups, e.g. choirs, it is best to use one stereo pair for each section, with the microphones above and in front of the performers. It is important to compress the vocal line, so that the level stays even throughout the song. Although effects generally aren t used during recording, compression should be. This is because it prevents sudden peaks causing distortion and to stop the track being recorded at too high of a level. It is safer to apply less compression than is needed, as more can be added during the production stage, but too much can rarely be fixed. Too much sibilance will bring out sibilance and noise, so a de-esser or gate might be needed. Vocals will always need a bit of equalisation to help them sit well with the backing track, but as vocals are one of the most natural sounds in the world our ears will easily register if it has been tampered too much. No two singers have exactly the same voice, so no two equalisations will be the same, but there are a few generic guidelines:
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Top boost should be applied quite high up at 6-12 kHz, but watch for sibilance. If there is sibilance coming through, don t refrain from leaving the high end dull, instead use a deesser.

y y

Boosting in the 1-2 kHz range gives a cheap sound to the vocals, so is not recommended. Presence can be added with a little boost at 3-4 kHz, but be moderate or the sound quality will suffer

Reverb should be used to finish off the vocal track. Bright reverb settings will give the vocal a sizzle . But you need to be careful when doing this as it might bring out some sibilance. A long, soft reverb should be used on ballads to give an appropriate atmosphere. Guitar Unlike any other instrument, the guitar uses amplification to give it its sound rather than to just make it louder. It is hard to give a recording technique that will cover all applications of the guitar because of the wide range of guitars, amps, and playing styles. The guitar amplifier is usually fitted with a ten or twelve inch speaker, depending on the power intake of it. The amplifier can be open-backed or closed backed, but open backed tend to have more bass in the sound because of the lack of the cushion of air. The generic guitar overdrive sound comes from the addition of harmonic distortion on the amplifier. Amplifiers are usually built with a deliberately poor frequency response, which filters out the less musical harmonics and leaves a sound with plenty of edge that doesn t sound too buzzy. The guitar creates an electric signal by the strings vibrating and disturbing the magnetic field of the electro-magnet in the pick-up. The signal is identical in tone and frequency to the sound wave. There are three main types of guitar pick-up; one of them is the single-coil. This is currently the most popular choice for musicians because of the tone, however because it picks up electrical hum from sources around the guitar, it is hard to record them in an electrical activity rich studio. The guitarist can be positioned to minimise this hum, but it rarely eliminates all of the hum and can restrict the performance. Another type of pick-up is the humbucker. This is made from two coils wound in opposite directions. Hum is eliminated with these pick0ups, but the tone isn t as good as the tone from single coil pick-ups. A solution to the hum of single coils, but bad tone of the humbucker, is the mini-humbucker. These have two coils like a humbucker, so the hum is reduced, but they are very small, so the tonal quality of the single coil pick-up is present. Electric guitars emit lots of noise, partly because the pick-ups act as aerials for interference, and amplifiers are naturally noisy because of the tonal voicing and gain. Gates and filters can be used to take out the noise, but these should be left until the mixing stage, as a bad gate setting at recording might ruin a good take. Dynamic noise filters are one way of reducing noise; they reduce the audio bandwidth as the sound level falls, so noise is cut out but wanted sound remains. Another way of reducing noise is digital noise filters, which apply narrow filters across the frequencies where there is unwanted noise. For high frequency hisses, a multi-band expander should be used, as this does a similar effect as a dynamic noise filter on high frequencies. Any gating or filtering should be done before reverb is added, as reverb will cover up any imperfections that are left. The speaker cabinet has different sounds coming from different places on it, and this quality should be taken advantage of when miking up. Microphones can be placed close to the speaker at different angles, or around the back in the case of an open-backed cabinet. A microphone can be placed away from the amplifier in the room, acting as an ambience microphone. A common approach is to close

microphone a small amp. The microphone is usually placed in front of the speaker cone, pointed towards the centre of the cone for a bright sound, and moved to the side to give a more warm tone. A microphone can be placed around the back if it is an open-backed amplifier for a very warm tone. An ambience microphone should be placed several feet away from the amplifier, and pointed at either the speaker or a sound reflective surface in the room. The ambience microphone should be panned centre with a close microphone, or at the opposite side. Adding effects should be kept until the mixing stage, where you can change the settings as much as you can, and where dodgy settings won t mess up a good take. Settings like overdrive, however, need to be added before recording, as they come from the amplifier and are key to the recording levels of the guitar. Of course, as performance is the most important factor in recording, if an effect needs to be present for the guitarist to play properly, it is worth the time correctly setting it up before recording. An alternative to miking up an amplifier is direct injecting (or DI ing) where the amplifier is lined straight into the mixing board. This solves the problem of wasted time due to altering microphone positions for the correct sound. DI ing is almost always used for bass guitars, where the frequencies are so low that a change in tone due to miking up is almost inaudible. DI ing rarely has the tonal qualities gained when an amplifier is miked up, and it is required to have a DI matching box to match the output and input limits of the desk and guitar, so it might not have so much benefit. There are no set guidelines on how to equalise a guitar, because there is no set sound an electric guitar should sound like, but there are a few universal rules:
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Cuts between 100Hz and 150Hz will resolve a boom-y sound. Boosts in these frequencies will fatten a thin sound Bite can be added anywhere between 2kHz and 6kHz depending on the desired sound Nothing over 4kHz comes out of a guitar speaker, only through DI, so if this is boosted it would bring up the background noise Similar sounding guitars can be differentiated by adding bite to one at around 3kHz and the other at 4kHz

Acoustic Guitars Acoustic guitars cover pretty much all (except the lowest couple of octaves) of the audio spectrum, and can cover a wide range of dynamics with strumming to finger-picking, so the best microphone possible is critical for recording it. The sound of the acoustic guitar comes from the whole acoustic guitar, and not just a single point, so pick-ups rarely give a good sound. Because most of the tone comes directly from the instrument, it is essential to get the sound right before recording, as it isn t possible to fix this during the mixing stage. The key to recording an acoustic guitar is microphone placement. At first instinct, you might place the microphone close to the sound hole of the guitar to get a loud sound, however you will meet lots of heavily coloured body resonances. As with other instruments, different parts of the instrument vibrate differently and so give different sounds. The strings, the neck vibration, the air within the body, and the wood of the body all add to the overall sound of the acoustic guitar (there is also quite a bit of room ambience input to the acoustic guitars sound).

Choosing the right microphone is an important factor to recording an acoustic guitar. Dynamic microphones are not sensitive enough and have a too restricted frequency response for acoustic guitars. Although if a dynamic microphone is all that can be used then a decent sound can be achieved by placing it about 12 inches from the body, pointed at where the neck joins the body. A condenser microphone is much better for this job because of the higher sensitivity and frequency response. If you are recording two guitars, or there is a good ambience in the room, an omnidirectional microphone might be a good idea. Otherwise, a cardioid microphone should be used to reduce sounds from around the guitar being picked up. The guitar should be recorded in a room with acoustics that will give the guitar a live sound, for example a big room. However if the room is too small, then laying hardboard shiny side up on the floor will give acoustics similar to that of a large room. If it still doesn t sound as live as you would like you can add reverb at the mixing stage. Correct microphone positioning is very important to recording acoustic guitars, but there is more than one way to do this. The most conventional way to do this is to have a microphone pointed towards the part of the guitar where the neck joins the body. The sound of this can be changed by moving the microphone closer to the sound-hole for a warmer sound, or further away from it for a brighter sound. Another method is to have the microphone over the players right (or left for a left handed player) shoulder, looking down on the guitar with a distance of about 18 inches to 2 feet. This method goes on the theory that if it sounds right to the guitar player, it will sound good when recorded. In general, if the microphone is moved away from the guitar, it will give more ambience but at the risk of the loss of definition, and moving closer will give a more intimate and dry sound, but at the risk of the microphone coming into contact with the guitarist. Although the best way to get a good sound on a guitar recording is through microphone placement, equalising can still give the sound its finishing touches; here are a few general rules:
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y y y

One of the most persistent problems with acoustic guitars is boom. Turn up the boost on lower frequencies until the boom jumps out, and then cut this frequency just enough to reduce the boom. General brightening can be achieved by adding a little boost to high frequencies Sparkle can be added by boosting between 5 kHz and 10 kHz. Harshness in the upper-mid range can be reduced by cutting frequencies between 1 kHz and 3 kHz.

Drums Like vocals, drums are in most genres of music so almost every sound engineer will have had to work with one at some point. Drums are very large and require several microphones so can t just be recorded anywhere. Drums are loud so obviously can t be recorded in the same room as other microphoned up instruments as there very likely will be bleed. Some producers might choose to have a more live sound, by using fewer microphones, but some might wish to microphone up every element if the budget allows it.

The drum kit in a recording studio should be well looked after, with all the skins and heads being in good condition. Before recording, the tuning of the skins doesn t need to be changed radically. It is easiest to record toms with only a single head, as the air being moved can escape out to the microphone. If there are only double-headed toms at your disposal, it is possible to remove one of the heads and fix any rattle from the nut boxes with some blu-tak. The snare drum is one of the most used drums on the drum kit, and this needs to be taken care of particularly well because of the fragile snares. When you are using a snare with a metal shell, you will get a brighter tone with some ring, but a wooden shell with give a warmer tone with less ring. When tuning the drum, all nuts should be as evenly tightened throughout the drum so that the same pitch is played all over the head. The tuning should remain within the drum s natural tuning or else the tone will be too hard or too lifeless. One problem with the snare drum is that it will ring in sympathy when another drum is hit. A solution to this is carefully tuning the snare relative to the rest of the kit to minimise it as much as possible. Another solution is gating the snare microphone to take away the sound, although overheads can still pick up the ring. A trick to use on toms is tune the head evenly and then slack off one of the tuning lugs so that there is a slight pitch drop after the drum has been struck. Damping a kit will reduce its resonance and decay time; too much damping however, can cause the kit to have a lifeless sound. One method of damping is to tape cloth or tissue to the head with studio tape, as this will absorb some of the vibration. To dampen the bass drum, a wool blanket should be placed inside, resting on the bottom shell, and touching the bottom part of the rear head. It is easiest to record a bass drum with a hole cut out of the front, as this allows the air to come straight out at the microphone. Removing the head completely will cause uneven stress on the drum, which may cause distortion. Using a wooden bass drum beater, rather than a felt or cork, will give a more defined bass drum sound, and adding a plastic or leather patch where the beater hits the skin will add a click to the sound. The most natural sound you can get from a drum kit is the sound that the audience will hear (the live sound). The best way to get this sound is with a pair of stereo microphones placed between five and ten feet in front of the kit. This method depends on the acoustics of the room. If you want more of a produced sound then you might want to microphone up the different elements of the kit separately. This is done by close miking. This is best done with cardioid microphones because they only record the element that it is aimed at. Any damping on the kit shouldn t be between the drum and the microphone. The snare drum is the brightest sounding drum on the kit, so a dynamic microphone with a good high end range or a capacitor microphone should be used. The microphone should be placed two inches from the drum head, angled down towards the centre of the drum. The closer the microphone is to the drum, the more bottom end that is recorded, so the distance can be altered to change the tone. When you are placing the microphone you should watch out that the microphone isn t affected by the air expelled when the hi-hat closes, as this will cause a dull thud. A second microphone may be placed on the underside of the snare drum to record the sound of the wires. The toms are similar to the snare, and are miked up relatively the same. The toms have a deeper tone than the snare, so any regular dynamic microphone should work or a capacitor microphone. On

bigger toms like the floor tom, a second microphone might be used to record the different tones at different points. It is an option to remove the lower heads and place a microphone inside. This reduces bleed from other elements of the kit, but the sound has less attack. The kick drum is one of the most important elements of the kit, and this should be recorded well. Dynamic microphones should be used, and placed on microphone stands inside the drum and pointed towards the point of the head where the beater hits. The microphone can be angled further away for a less defined tone. The microphone used has to be able to record the low frequencies and high volumes within the drum. The cymbals can change the texture and ferocity of a track. Capacitor microphones should be used to get the clearest sound possible. A pair of overhead/ ambience microphones should be used to record the cymbals as well as some of the room acoustics. The hi-hat should be microphoned up separately, with a microphone placed a few inches from the cymbals, but slightly above or below, so the air expelled when the hi-hat is closed isn t picked up. Mixing Mixing is the final part of the recording process, and involves the last bits of tweaking to make the song sound the best it can. The first thing you will usually do when mixing is balancing out the tracks. It helps to sort single tracks into subgroups, so the overall balance can be done easier. This can be done with multiple drum tracks, stereo double tracks, and backing vocals. Any effects that will be added to the tracks (except reverb) should be put on now so the balance can be seen properly. The drums, then the bass should be equalised first, as you won t be able to hear the low end over the high end tracks if you do it the other way around. Positioning things in stereo will give the listener a stage view of the song, and more of a three dimensional sound. Lead vocals should be panned dead centre, because this is where you d expect them to be on a stage. Bass drum, bass guitar and bass synths should be panned dead centre too to anchor the track, and to even out the load of these high energy frequencies when they are through speakers. There is no set rule for backing vocals, they can be split both sides, set at centre, or set at one side. At different points during the song you may need to correct the levels of certain tracks, for example instrument solos. Vocal parts will also need to be altered as the song goes on, even under heavy compression. Fading out can be done manually, with a master fader, or with an auto fader. Gates and mutes can be used to take out unwanted noise. Gates only work when there is no sound, for example in between lines or phrases, but they won t work when the instrument is being played. When an instrument is not being used, for example a vocal track in a guitar solo, then it is a good idea to mute this track so that you don t get any noise from it. Noise filters will filter out higher frequencies (which is where unwanted sounds are usually found) as the sound decays, so unwanted sound can be taken out without it affecting the sound of the wanted signal. Noise filters don t affect the tail ends of reverb though. Compressing the complete mix reduces the difference between the quiet parts and the loud parts of the song. However, the mix shouldn t be compressed too much, as the track will need quiet parts to

make the loud parts sound loud. The track can be made to sound louder by reducing the mid -range slightly, as this emulates the response curve of the human ear. Treating the whole mix with an exciter will emphasise certain parts of the frequency spectrum by the use of dynamics, so it makes the track seem louder without any change in the actual volume. This is often used to make a song stand out from other songs if it is going on the radio. Most exciters work at high frequencies, but some are made to work on lower ones. It is easy to fool the human hearing system, compared to something like the human visual system, so the listener can be fooled into hearing a stereo track. Digital reverberators create the illusion of stereo by using two sets of delay tape, panned left and right. If you don t reverb, but you do want the stereo illusion, you can use a reverb setting with an early reflection, but without the following reverb. A similar setting can be achieved with a reverb setting with a very short but bright reverb, with a short decay time. Here is a short interview on mixing with the professional sound engineer, Matthew Parker: What method do you use to get rid of unwanted noise? (E.g. gates, noise filters, custom EQ)
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I use all actually depending on if it s in silence (when I ll use a gate) or above a track (where I ll usually use custom EQing

In your opinion, is it necessary to EQ the whole song after each track has been EQd?
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Yeah, sometimes. Sometimes you have to tweak it just a little bit, but other times it is perfect right from the first mixing.

Do you use exciters or dynamic equalisers?

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I use exciters a lot if the song sounds too dull, sometimes it needs something more to it, and the exciters deliver that.

Do you prefer to add effects to tracks using software or hardware?

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I generally prefer hardware, as they are less prone to not working and don t have latency issues. But nowadays you can get some really good software effects on DAWs that I ve been tempted to.