Music Production - Studio Photos

Vocal Recording

The microphone is held at the right distance (5-6 inches) away from the vocalists mouth, and the pop shield is in-between in the right position to try and prevent any popping noises, or over pronounced 'p's. The headphones are plugged into the headphone amp, which has had an aux send from the mixing desk, feeding the microphone output back into the headphones so the vocalist can hear what the recording will sound like. A talkback will also be connected from the studio so the vocalist can hear what the people are telling them next door. 

Monitoring

The headphones are plugged into the headphone out on the amplifier. The input cable is then plugged in, which will be carrying the microphones output, as well as the people talking in the studio when the talkback button is pressed. The microphone output is usually fed back into the headphones by turning up AUX 1 (this is usually where the headphones are plugged in to) until the vocalist can hear themselves at a reasonable volume.

Logic

When recording into logic, you need to make sure that you have an audio channel set up correctly. You need to know what input channel into the mixing desk your audio is that you want to record, and then make sure the audio track has that input channel selected. The track must also have "R" selected so that it will record. Finally, make sure that you have a good, clear signal coming through that you don't need to boost with a gain. If you need to boost the signal lots then there is something wrong with the input signal (quiet guitar amp/quiet singer/bad microphone placement etc)

The Mixing Desk

The deck isn't actually that complex when you understand the basic layout and what the knobs do. Most of the desk consists of identical tracks with the same function, but because there is so much there it can seem very daunting and scary for someone who has never used one before. When recording in the studio, all you need to do is make sure that you have the XLR plugged into the channel input (and that you are plugging the right cable  in the otherside of the multicore on the right channel), and turn up the gain until you get a signal. If the desk is set up correctly, with no cuts or solo buttons pressed, and logic is set up correctly, you should get your sound.


The Acoustic Guitar


There isn't one specific way to record an acoustic guitar, in fact, there are an endless amount of ways to do it. Placing microphones around different parts of the guitar will make the microphones pick up different sounds, and some frequencies will be clearer and more obvious that others. There is one place you definitely shouldn't put a mic however, and that is directly in front of the sound hole. Although our ears do not mind the sound coming out, a microphone will pick up exactly what is coming out, and that includes a lot of bass frequencies that can distort the recording.

For our recording we used two identical condenser microphones, one near the bottom of the soundboard, and one halfway up the fretboard. The reason for this is so we could hopefully pick up an even, clear sounding guitar, with nice bass frequencies from the bottom of the guitar (not pointing the mic into the sound hole) and some of the higher content from the mic held further up the guitar.

The Electric Guitar

As with the acoustic guitar, there is no prober mic positioning, or any method that works best, as they all create their own unique sound, as does being in different rooms/studios. For this recording, we simply put an SM-57 (suitable for guitar & bass ) in front of the guitar amp in two different positions, directly infront of the middle of the amp, and one pointing into the middle from an angle. 

The Bass Guitar

For the top amplifier we placed a kick drum microphone in the centre, and a SM57 imitation (I think) underneath facing the bottom stack.

The Drum Kit

For the kick we simply placed the kick drum mic directly in front of the hole to maximise the punch and the bass frequencies. This mic is designed to pick up the lower end so it is less likely to distort.

For the snare and the tom we used standard drum kit clip on microphones, clipped in at the back so the mic or the cables will not get in the way of the drummer.

We then placed 2 identical condenser mics above the kit as the L & R overheads, positioned evenly above.

The Piano

Using the same method as the drum kit overheads, we placed the same two microphones at each end of the piano at equal distances, pointing inside the piano which we had opened up.