Handbook of Recording Engineering PDF
Preview Handbook of Recording Engineering
HANDBOOK OF RECORDING ENGINEERING HANDBOOK OF RECORDING ENGINEERING John Eargle Inm51 VAN NOSTRAND REINHOLD COMPANY ~ _______ New York ISBN 978-94-010-9368-2 ISBN 978-94-010-9366-8 (eBook) 001 10.1007/978-94-010-9366-8 Copyright © 1986 by Van Nostrand Reinhold Company Inc. Softcove reprint of the hardcover 1s t edition 1986 Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 86-4100 All rights reserved. No part of this work covered by the copyright hereon may be produced or used in any form or by any means-graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or information storage and retrieval systems-without permission of the publisher. Manufactured in the United States of America Published by Van Nostrand Reinhold Company Inc. 115 Fifth Avenue New York, New York 10003 Van Nostrand Reinhold Company Limited Molly Millars Lane Wokingham, Berkshire RGII 2PY, England Van Nostrand Reinhold 480 Latrobe Street Melbourne, Victoria 3000, Australia Macmillan of Canada Division of Gage Publishing Limited 164 Commander Boulevard Agincourt, Ontario MIS 3C7, Canada 15 14 13 12 II 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Eargle, John. Handbook of recording engineering. Bibliography: p. Includes index. 1. Sound-Recording and reproducing. 1. Title. TK7881.4.EI6 1986 621.389'3 86-4100 PREFACE The Handbook of Recording Engineering is a logical outgrowth of the first two editions of Sound Recording. The ten years since the first edition have seen no slackening in the development of recording technology, and they have wit nessed an almost phenomenal growth in the teaching of recording and audio engineering at all academic levels. The earlier editions of Sound Recording have been widely used as texts at all educational levels, and it is the author's intent in the Handbook of Recording Engineering to produce a book which is even more suited to these purposes. At the same time, the book has been organized as a true handbook, which presents a broad array of reference material in easily accessible form. The organization of the book is unique in that it progresses as the signal transmission chain itself does-from the recording venue on through the micro phone, transmission channel, and finally to the listening environment. The first six chapters thus form a logical sequence, and the author recommends that in structors using the Handbook follow them accordingly. Chapter One presents a discussion of acoustical fundamentals, including an introduction to some basic psychoacoustical considerations having to do with performance spaces. Chapter Two covers the basic operating principles of mi crophones, while Chapter Three extends the discussion of microphones to cover the entire range of stereophonic imaging phenomena. Chapter Four presents an extensive discussion of the many aspects of audio transmission systems, underscoring the importance of a thorough quantitative understanding of the principles involved. Chapter Five covers monitor loudspeakers from the point of view of the per formance, rather than principles of operation, and Chapter Six covers the vast array of signal processing devices. Chapters Seven and Eight present detailed studies of classical and popular recording production techniques, respectively. The discussions are drawn largely from the author's own experiences, and the aim here has been to underscore v vi PREFACE the importance of musical and acoustical requirements in making technical de cisions. These chapters may be introduced to students while they are still cov ering the basic early chapters. Chapters Nine, Ten, and Eleven present principles of disc recording, analog magnetic recording, and digital recording. These discussions cover both fun damental and operational aspects, and they are best studied after the basic se quence has been completed. Chapter Twelve presents an overview of the low-cost studio, that phenome non which has been responsible for the rapid expansion of the economic base of recording and post-production over the last decade. Finally, for the benefit of the experienced recording engineer, a comprehen sive Appendix will allow quick access to all topics covered in the Handbook. JOHN EARGLE CONTENTS Preface / v 1. Acoustical Fundamentals for the Recording Engineer / 1 2. Microphones / 43 3. Basic Stereophonic Imaging Techniques / 70 4. Audio Transmission Systems / 112 5. Monitor Loudspeakers and the Monitoring Environment / 162 6. Signal Processing Devices and Applications / 183 7. Classical Recording Production Techniques / 232 8. Popular Record Production Techniques / 265 9. Analog Magnetic Recording / 296 10. Analog Disc Recording and Reproduction. / 320 11. Digital Recording / 357 12. The Low-Cost Studio: An Overview / 377 Index / 393 vii HANDBOOK OF RECORDING ENGINEERING ACOUSTICAL FUNDAMENTALS FOR THE RECORDING ENGINEER 1 .1 INTRODUCTION In this chapter we will cover the basics of sound generation and propagation in both outdoor and indoor environments. The concepts of the decibel, loudness contours, and directivity will be discussed, as will elements of architectural acoustics as they relate to performance and recording environments. 1.2 CONCEPT OF VIBRATION 1.2.1 Periodic Motion A sine wave is the simplest kind of vibration; it is the natural motion of a weight as it bobs up and down on a spring or of a pendulum swinging at a moderate displacement. Its characteristic motion is shown in Figure 1-1 (a), a to-and-fro motion about a reference line. The motion can also be described as the projec tion of a point on a circle as that point moves about the circle with uniform velocity. One cycle of the wave constitutes rotation through the complete 360 degrees of the circle, and the time required for one cycle of the wave is called its period (T). A related term is frequency, the number of periods in a given interval of time. For example, if a sine wave has a period of one-fourth second (T = .25 sec), then its frequency is liT, or 4 cycles per second (Hz). (The term Hertz (Hz) is now universally used in place of the older cycles per second.) EXAMPLE: Determine the frequency of a sine wave with a period of one thousandth of a second. 1 1 Frequency = - = -- = 1000 Hz (or 1 kHz) T .001 (The term kHz, or kilohertz, means one thousand Hertz.) 2 HANDBOOK OF RECORDING ENGINEERING I--------Period--------i 900 ~---+_---~-L--_+---~-~time 2700 (a) (b) Figure 1-1. (a) Generation of a sine wave, showing amplitude and period. (b) Phase relationship between two sine waves of the same frequency. Another characteristic of a sine wave is its amplitude (A), its displacement from the reference point. The displacement can be in distance, as in the case of a pendulum, or in a potential or current if it is an electrical sine wave. The amplitude of a sound wave is customarily measured in pressure fluctuations above and below normal atmospheric pressure. The concept of phase is important in describing sine waves. It refers to the relative displacement in time between sine waves of the same frequency. This is shown in Figure l-l(b). Here, the dotted sine wave is displaced from the solid one by some distance cf>, usually expressed in degrees, with one period of the wave representing 360 degrees. As common as sine waves may be in electrical and mechanical engineering, they are rare in the world of sound, for the reason that nearly all vibrating elements used in the generation of sound have a tendency to execute complex motions. If the motion is a sustained one, as in the case of a bowed string or a wind instrument, then the complex wave form can usually be expressed as an ensemble of sine waves, beginning with a fundamental wave and progressing upward through a set of harmonically related sine waves whose periods are !, t t t related as 1, and so forth. This is shown in Figure 1-2, where four ACOUSTICAL FUNDAMENTALS FOR THE RECORDING ENGINEER 3 First Harmonic t fo Second Harmonic t 2fo Third Harmonic 3fo Fourth Harmonic t 4fo frequency_ (a) (b) t t t t fo 2fo 3fo 4fo frequency_ (c) (d) Figure 1-2. (a) Illustration of harmonically related sine waves. (b) Frequency spectra for sine waves shown in (a). (c) Generation of a complex wave by adding the sine wave components of (a). (d) Frequency spectrum for the complex wave shown in (c). hannonically related waves are added together to produce a complex wave (Fig ure 1-2c). The components of a complex wave are referred to as harmonics. In Figure 1-2(b) and 1-2(d) we have shown the frequency spectrum for each com ponent as well as for the complex wave itself. By specifying the number of hannonics, their relative amplitudes, and phase relationships, we can generate practically any repetitive wave fonn. 1.2.2 Aperiodic Motion: Noise Although we can describe as noise almost any unwanted sound, the tenn is usually reserved for wave fonns of the kind shown in Figure 1-3(a). The wave has no period, and thus is called aperiodic. Just as a complex repetitive wave
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