Modern Recording Techniques, 6th Edition

Book description

As the most popular and authoritative guide to recording available, Modern Recording Techniques provides everything you need to master the tools and day-to-day practice of music recording and production. The sixth edition has been expanded to cover the latest digital audio technology and features a new section on surround sound. For those who are just starting out or are looking for their next job in the industry, this edition also provides essential advice on career options and networking.

David Miles Huber's approachable writing style, coupled with over 500 technical diagrams, screen shots and product illustrations, makes this an essential resource which you will want to refer to again and again.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Halftitle
  3. Copyright
  4. Table of Contents
  5. Acknowledgements
  6. About the Authors
  7. Trademarks
  8. 1 Introduction
    1. The Recording Studio
    2. The Control Room
    3. The Project Studio
    4. The Portable Studio
    5. Whatever Works for You
    6. Making the Project Studio Pay for Itself
    7. Live/On-Location Recording: A Different Animal
    8. Audio for Video and Film
    9. Multimedia
    10. The Web
    11. The People Who Make It All Happen
      1. The Artist
      2. Studio Musicians and Arrangers
      3. The Producer
      4. The Engineer
      5. Assistant Engineer
      6. Maintenance Engineer
      7. Mastering
      8. The DJ
      9. Studio Management
      10. Music Law
      11. Women in the Industry
      12. Behind the Scenes
    12. Career Development
    13. The Recording Process
      1. Preparation
      2. Recording
      3. Overdubbing
      4. Mixing Down
      5. Mastering
      6. Product Manufacture
      7. The Transducer
  9. 2 Sound and Hearing
    1. The Basics of Sound
    2. Waveform Characteristics
      1. Amplitude
      2. Frequency
      3. Velocity
      4. Wavelength
      5. Phase
      6. Phase Shift
      7. Harmonic Content
      8. Envelope
    3. Loudness Levels: The Decibel (dB)
      1. Logarithmic Basics
      2. The dB
      3. The Simple Heart of the Matter
    4. The Ear
      1. Threshold of Hearing
      2. Threshold of Feeling
      3. Threshold of Pain
      4. Taking Care of Your Hearing
      5. Psycho-acoustics
    5. Auditory Perception
      1. Beats
      2. Combination Tones
      3. Masking
    6. Perception of Direction
    7. Perception of Space
    8. Direct Sound
    9. Early Reflections
    10. Reverberation
    11. Doubling
  10. 3 Studio Acoustics and Design
    1. Studio Types
      1. The Professional Music Studio
      2. The Audio-for-Visual Production Environment
      3. The Project Studio
      4. The Portable Studio
    2. Primary Factors Governing Studio and Control Room Acoustics
    3. Acoustic Isolation
    4. Walls
    5. Floors
    6. Risers
    7. Ceilings
    8. Windows and Doors
    9. Iso-Rooms and Iso-Booths
    10. Noise Isolation within the Control Room
    11. Partitions
    12. Symmetry in Control Room Design
    13. Frequency Balance
      1. Reflections
      2. Absorption
      3. High-Frequency Absorption
      4. Low-Frequency Absorption
    14. Reverberation
    15. Acoustic Echo Chambers
    16. Power- and Ground-Related Issues
      1. Grounding Guidelines
      2. Balanced Power
      3. Power Conditioning
    17. A Few Helpful Hints
  11. 4 Microphones: Design and Application
    1. The Microphone: An Introduction
    2. Microphone Design
      1. The Dynamic Microphone
      2. The Ribbon Microphone
      3. The Condenser Microphone
    3. Microphone Characteristics
      1. Directional Response
      2. Frequency Response
      3. Transient Response
      4. Output Characteristics
    4. Microphone Preamps
      1. Phantom Power
    5. Microphone Techniques
    6. Pickup Characteristics as a Function of Working Distance
      1. Distant Microphone Placement
      2. Close Microphone Placement
      3. Accent Microphone Placement
      4. Ambient Microphone Placement
    7. Stereo Miking Techniques
      1. Spaced Pair
      2. X/Y
      3. M/S
      4. Decca Tree
    8. Surround Miking Techniques
      1. Ambient Surround Mics
      2. Surround Decca Tree
    9. Recording Direct
    10. Microphone Placement Techniques
    11. Brass Instruments
      1. Trumpet
      2. Trombone
      3. Tuba
      4. French Horn
    12. Guitar
      1. Acoustic Guitar
      2. Miking Near the Sound Hole
      3. Surround Guitar Miking
      4. The Electric Guitar
      5. Miking the Guitar Amp
      6. Recording Direct
      7. The Electric Bass Guitar
    13. Keyboard Instruments
      1. Grand Piano
      2. Separation
      3. Upright Piano
      4. Electronic Keyboard Instruments
    14. Percussion
      1. Drum Set
      2. Miking the Drum Set
      3. Kick Drum
      4. Snare Drum
      5. Overheads
      6. Rack-Toms
      7. Floor-Tom
      8. Hi-Hat
    15. Tuned Percussion Instruments
      1. Congas and Hand Drums
      2. Xylophone, Vibraphone, and Marimba
    16. Stringed Instruments
      1. Violin and Viola
      2. Cello
      3. Double Bass
    17. Voice
    18. Woodwind Instruments
      1. Clarinet
      2. Flute
      3. Saxophone
      4. Harmonica
    19. Microphone Selection
      1. Shure SM-57
      2. Audix D2
      3. The Ball
      4. AKG D112
      5. Beyerdynamic M-160
      6. Royer Labs R-121
      7. AEA R84
      8. Neumann KM 180 Series
      9. AKG C3000B
      10. Marshal MXL 2001
      11. Neumann Solution-D Digital Mic
      12. Studio Projects LSD2 Stereo Mic
  12. 5 The Analog Tape Recorder
    1. To 2-Inch or Not To 2-Inch?
    2. Magnetic Recording and Its Media
    3. The Professional Analog ATR
    4. The Tape Transport
    5. The Magnetic Tape Head
    6. Equalization
    7. Bias Current
    8. Recording Channels and Monitoring Modes
    9. The Remote Control Unit and Autolocator
    10. To Punch or Not To Punch
    11. MIDI Machine Control
    12. Tape, Tape Speed, and Head Configurations
    13. Print-Through
    14. Cleanliness
    15. Degaussing
    16. Head Alignment
    17. Electronic Calibration
      1. Playback Alignment
      2. Record Alignment
    18. Backup and Archive Strategies
      1. Backing Up Your Project
      2. Archive Strategies
  13. 6 Digital Audio Technology
    1. The Basics of Digital Audio
      1. Sampling
      2. The Nyquist Theorem
      3. Oversampling
      4. Quantization
      5. Signal-to-Error Ratio
      6. Dither
    2. The Digital Recording/Reproduction Process
      1. The Recording Process
      2. The Reproduction Process
      3. Digital Audio Transmission
      4. Signal Distribution
    3. Digital Audio Recording Systems
      1. The Fixed-Head Digital Audio Recorder
      2. The Rotating-Head Digital Audio Recorder
    4. MiniDiscs
    5. Hard-Disk Recording
      1. Advantages of Hard-Disk Recording
      2. Hard-Disk Multitrack Recorders
      3. Hard-Disk and Flash Memory Portable Studios
      4. The Digital Audio Workstation
  14. 7 MIDI and Electronic Music Technology
    1. MIDI Production Environments
    2. What’s a MIDI?
    3. System Interconnections
      1. MIDI Cable and Port Connections
      2. USB and FireWire Connections
      3. mLAN Network Connections
    4. The MIDI Message
    5. MIDI Channels
    6. Channel Messages
    7. System Messages
    8. System-Exclusive Messages
    9. MIDI Machine Control
    10. The MIDI Interface
    11. The Multiport Interface
    12. Electronic Musical Instruments
      1. Inside the Toys
      2. Keyboards
      3. Percussion
      4. Performance Controllers
      5. MIDI Guitars
      6. Sequencers
    13. Mixing in the MIDI Environment
      1. Console Automation via MIDI
      2. Effects Automation in MIDI Production
  15. 8 Multimedia and the Web
    1. The Multimedia Environment
    2. Delivery Media
      1. The CD
      2. The DVD
      3. The Web
    3. Delivery Formats
      1. Digital Audio
      2. MIDI
      3. Graphics
      4. Desktop Video
      5. Multimedia and the Web in the “Need for Speed” Era
      6. On a Final Note
  16. 9 Synchronization
    1. Synchronization between Transports
      1. Time Code
      2. Synchronization Using SMPTE Time Code
      3. MIDI-Based Synchronization
      4. Proprietary Synchronization Systems for Modular Digital Multitrack Recorders
      5. Digital Audio’s Need for a Stable Timing Reference
      6. Video’s Need for a Stable Timing Reference
    2. Real-World Sync Applications for Using Time Code and MIDI Time Code
      1. Master/Slave Relationship
      2. Routing Time Code to and from Your Computer
    3. Keeping Out of Trouble
  17. 10 Amplifiers
    1. Amplification
    2. The Operational Amplifier
    3. Preamplifiers
    4. Equalizers
    5. Summing Amplifiers
    6. Isolation Amplifiers
    7. Distribution Amplifiers
    8. Impedance Amplifiers
    9. Power Amplifiers
    10. Voltage- and Digitally-Controlled Amplifiers
  18. 11 The Audio Production Console
    1. Recording
      1. Monitoring
      2. Overdubbing
      3. Mixdown
    2. The Professional Analog Console
      1. Channel Input
      2. Auxiliary Send Section
      3. Equalization
      4. Insert Point
      5. Dynamics Section
      6. Monitor Section
      7. Output Fader
      8. Output Bus
      9. Monitor Level Section
      10. Patch Bay
      11. Metering
      12. Gain Level Optimization
    3. Digital Console Technology
      1. Digital Hardware Consoles
      2. DAW Software Mixers and Controllers
    4. Console Automation
      1. Console Automation in Action
      2. Grouping
      3. Automation Modes of Operation
      4. Other Automation Options
      5. MIDI-Based Automation
      6. The Art of Mixing
  19. 12 Signal Processing
    1. The Wonderful World of Analog, Digital, or Whatever
    2. Plug-Ins
    3. Inline vs. Side-Chain Processing
      1. Inline Routing
      2. Side-Chain Routing
    4. Equalization
      1. Peaking Filters
      2. Shelving Filters
      3. High-Pass and Low-Pass Filters
      4. Equalizer Types
      5. Applying Equalization
    5. Dynamic Range
      1. Metering
      2. Dynamic Range Processors
    6. Time-Based Effects
      1. Delay
      2. Reverb
      3. Pitch- and Time-Shift-Related Effects
      4. Pitch Shifting
      5. Psycho-Acoustic Enhancement
    7. Multiple-Effects Devices
    8. Dynamic Effects Automation and Editing via MIDI
    9. Dynamic Effects Automation within a DAW/Sequencer Environment
  20. 13 Noise Reduction
    1. Analog Noise Reduction
    2. Do It Yourself Tutorial: Analog Tape Modulation and Asperity Noise
      1. The Compansion Process
      2. The dbx Noise-Reduction System
      3. The Dolby Noise-Reduction System
      4. Single-Ended Noise-Reduction Process
      5. Noise Gates
      6. Digital Noise Reduction
      7. Fast Fourier Transform
    3. Do It Yourself Tutorial: FFT-Based Noise Reduction
      1. Digital Single-Ended Noise-Reduction Systems
      2. De-clicking and De-popping
      3. Dither
  21. 14 Monitoring
    1. Speaker and Room Considerations
    2. Speaker Design
      1. Crossover Networks
      2. Powered vs Passive Speaker Design
    3. Speaker Polarity
    4. Monitoring
      1. Monitor Volume
      2. Monitoring Configurations
      3. Monitor Level Control
      4. Spectral Reference
    5. Monitor Speaker Types
      1. Farfield Monitoring
      2. Nearfield Monitoring
      3. Small Speakers
      4. Headphones
      5. Your Car
    6. Monitoring in the Studio
      1. Headphones in the Studio
      2. Speakers in the Studio
  22. 15 Surround Sound
    1. Surround Sound: Past to the Present
      1. Stereo Comes to Television
      2. Theaters Hit Home
    2. Surround in the Not-Too-Distant Future
    3. Monitoring in 5.1 Surround
      1. 5.1 Speaker Placement
    4. Practical Placement
    5. Active/Passive Monitors in Surround
    6. Surround Interfacing
    7. Surround Formats
      1. Dolby Pro Logic
      2. 3D Sound
      3. SRS
      4. Dolby Digital (AC3)
      5. DVD-Audio
      6. DTS
      7. WMA9
      8. MP3 Surround
    8. Mixing in Surround
    9. Virtual Surround Mixers
    10. Mixing Philosophies
    11. Re-issuing Back Catalog Material
  23. 16 Mastering
    1. The Mastering Process
      1. To Master or Not to Master—Was That the Question?
      2. Mastering the Details of a Project
      3. The Digital Audio Editor in the Mastering Process
      4. CD/DVD—A Mastering and Burning Software
    2. On a Final Note
  24. 17 Product Manufacture
    1. Choosing the Right Facility and Manufacturer
    2. CD Manufacturing
    3. The Process
    4. CD Burning
    5. Rolling Your Own
    6. Burning Speeds
    7. CD Labeling
    8. CD and DVD Handling and Care
    9. DVD Burning
    10. Cassette Duplication
      1. Real-Time Duplication
      2. In-Cassette High-Speed Duplication
      3. High-Speed Duplication
    11. Vinyl Disc Manufacture
    12. Disc Cutting
    13. Disc-Cutting Lathe
      1. Cutting Head
      2. Pitch Control
    14. Recording Discs
    15. The Mastering Process
    16. Vinyl Disc Plating and Pressing
    17. Producing for the Web
  25. 18 Studio Session Procedures
    1. Preparation
      1. What’s a Producer and When Do you Need One?
      2. Long Before Going into the Studio
      3. Before Going Into the Studio
    2. Setting Up
      1. Electric and Electronic Instruments
      2. Drums
      3. The Final Check
    3. Recording
    4. Overdubbing
      1. Punching-In
      2. Bouncing Tracks
    5. Mixdown
    6. Sequence Editing
    7. Mastering
      1. Digital Sequence Editing
      2. Analog Sequence Editing
    8. Marketing and Sales
    9. A Final Word on Professionalism
  26. 19 Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow
    1. Yesterday
    2. Today
      1. 1s and 0s
      2. The WWW
    3. Tomorrow
    4. Happy Trails
    5. Appendix A
    6. DSP Basics
      1. Addition
      2. Multiplication
      3. Delay
    7. Do It Yourself Tutorial: Digital Delay
    8. Echo and Reverberation
    9. The Real World of DSP Design
    10. Appendix B: Tax Tips for Musicians
    11. A Business Of Your Own
      1. “But, Dude, I Gotta Eat.”
      2. Write-Offs
      3. Gear Lust = Tax Savings
      4. Home Sweet Home
      5. Self-Employment Tax
      6. Health Insurance
      7. Eat, Drink, And Be Merry
    12. Vehicular Deductions
      1. Feed The Nest Egg And Save, Too
      2. EOY Tax Tips
      3. Get Help From The IRS
    13. Final Word
    14. Author Bio
  27. Index

Product information

  • Title: Modern Recording Techniques, 6th Edition
  • Author(s):
  • Release date: November 2012
  • Publisher(s): Focal Press
  • ISBN: 9781136117732