The Art of Digital Audio Recording: A Practical Guide for Home and Studio

284 Pages·2011·7.02 MB·English

by  Steve Savage

The Art of Digital Audio Recording

The Art of Digital
Audio Recording
A Practical Guide for Home
and Studio
Steve Savage
With photos by Robert Johnson
and diagrams by Iain Fergusson
3
3

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Copyright © 2011 by Steve Savage
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Savage, Steve.
Th e art of digital audio recording: a practical guide for home and studio /
Steve Savage; with photos by Robert Johnson and diagrams by Iain Fergusson.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-19-539409-2; 978-0-19-539410-8 (pbk.)
1. Sound studios. 2. Sound—Recording and reproducing—Digital techniques. I. Title.
TK7881.4.S38 2010
621.389'3—dc22 2010032535
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
For my daughters Sophia and Thalia.
Thanks for all the hours of training!
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Acknowledgments
vii
Th is book was written because Norm Hirschy at Oxford University Press read
something else that I had written. He asked me if I was interested in writing a
practical guide to recording, and I was very interested. I had been a professional
recording engineer for twenty years, and I had been teaching recording for ten
years, so I felt ready to tackle a book of this nature. Norm initiated the project
and has nurtured it through each stage—thank you! My fi rst mentor was Brian
Risner, who mixed a record I had produced with the artist Bonnie Hayes. Brian
had worked extensively with the band Weather Report, and over the course
of several projects with him I began to learn how creative the art of recording
could be. Brian’s ability to create a very productive and positive environment
in the studio—while eff ortlessly handling all the technical requirements—has
been a model for all of my work. My good fortune to be teaching in the out-
standing Recording Arts program at Los Medanos College has provided the
proving ground for much of what is contained here, and it was the site used for
much of the photography.
I was delighted to discover Iain Fergusson’s diagrams on Wikipedia, and I
was able to track him down in New Zealand and engage him to do the diagrams
for this book. His work exceeded my expectations and is a model of clarity.
Th e diagrams add enormously to the sometimes laborious descriptions of many
recording functions. My only regret is that we have yet to meet in person (the
joys and vagaries of the Internet)! Robert Johnson is one of the most outstand-
ing students to have come through my recording classes, and just happened to
be a very accomplished photographer as well. His photographs capture details
of the recording process that can only be suggested in words. I was fortunate to
have a long-term working relationship with Fantasy Studios in Berkeley, Cali-
fornia, and was able to access their spectacular studios and mic closet for ad-
ditional photos included here. I was aided in creating many of the screenshots
by long-time musical collaborators Curtis Ohlson and Paul Robinson. Curtis
runs Digital Performer in his home studio, as well as being a gift ed bass player
and producer. Paul Robinson is a Logic user, as well as a wonderfully versatile
and talented guitar player.
I am indebted to a long list of artists and producers whom I have worked
with over the years for all of the wonderful hours we have spent together in the
studio. I have attempted to condense something of the breadth of those experi-
ences and the joy of making records into these pages.
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Contents
ix
Introduction • xi
1 Th e Starting Point: Sound Meets the Computer • 3
1.1 Why Computers • 3
1.2 What Does It Sound Like? • 6
1.3 Signal Path • 7
2 Th e Essentials: Where and How Recordings Are Made • 10
2.1 Recording Rooms and Control Rooms • 10
2.2 Studio Monitors • 14
2.3 Microphones and Mic Placement • 18
2.4 Mixing Boards and Control Surfaces • 29
2.5 EQ: General Information • 44
2.6 Dynamics (Compressors and Noise Gates) • 55
2.7 FX: Delays • 67
2.8 FX: Reverb • 69
2.9 Beyond Traditional DSP • 71
3 Recording Sessions: A Practical Guide • 76
3.1 Setup • 76
3.2 Headphone Mixes • 89
3.3 Survey of Recording Techniques for Instruments and Voice • 93
3.4 Beyond • 117
4 Editing: Th e New Frontier • 119
4.1 Editing Features • 119
4.2 Screen “Real Estate” • 130
4.3 Virtual Tracks (Playlists) • 132
4.4 Advanced Editing • 138
5 Th ree Fundamentals: Techniques Every Recordist Needs
to Know • 154
5.1 Inserts/Plug-ins • 154
5.2 Send and Return • 159
5.3 Auto-switching (Auto-input) • 165
6 Mixing: Th e Most Creative and the Most Challenging Stage • 170
6.1 Mixing Requirements • 171
6.2 Building a Mix • 176