Survey of Recording Technology Comprehensive Study Guide
What are the differences between a sine and complex waveform?
A sine wave is the purest form of sound. A complex soundwave includes other frequencies (harmonics).
What is an octave, and how can you determine where the next octave will be?
An octave is the doubling of the original frequency.
Who invented the disk record, and what machine played them? Why was this technology a leap forward for the record industry?
Emile Berliner did in 1888. the gramophone played them. You could now mass produce recordings to give to the public in the form of a disk.
There is too much mid-frequency on the guitar.
Equalizer
What is the function of a fader? Where is it located?
Faders adjust the volume of its respective track. Faders are located at the bottom of the I/O strip. (closest to the engineer).
A low pass filter allows only the high frequency information to pass through.
False
It is common for an object/material to completely absorb or reflect a sound.
False
Oberlin smith is credited with building the first working magnetic recorder.
False
Ribbon microphones are the only microphones that require phantom power (48v).
False
The ratio on a compressor will always have a higher number after the lower number (i.e. 1:3 or 1:4).
False
To prevent print-through, we store analog tape heads out.
False
When a sound wave spreads around an object, it is called diffusion.
False
What determined song choice for recordings during the acoustic era?
The limitations of bandwidth, length of recordings, portability, and placement of musicians.
DVDs use a smaller laser beam, which allows them to have smaller pits and lands. As a result, you can store more data on them.
True
Equalizers give engineers tonal (frequency) control over an instrument.
True
Les Paul is responsible for the invention of Select/Sync tape recording.
True
MIDI is a protocol that allows synthesizers to communicate with each other, but no audio passes through it.
True
Non-linear access digital recorders allow an individual to instantaneously recall and play audio from any location, instantly.
True
Sound reflects off of objects at equal angles to the angle of incidence.
True
The Alesis ADAT was popular because it was a modular digital recording system, meaning you could link multiple units together to have as many tracks as you wanted.
True
The Capstan and Pinch Roller are designed to prevent Wow and Flutter by regulating the tape's speed during the recording process.
True
The DAT (Digital Audio Tape) became the standard for CD masters.
True
The Nyquist Theorem states that the sampling rate must be 2x the highest frequency you wish to record.
True
To properly use the ORTF stereo microphone technique, you must have teh mics placed at a 110-degree angle.
True
Sampling, Quantization, and Coding are the three major steps in converting audio to a digital signal.
Ture
The biggest advantage to digital audio is that it can be copied an infinite number of times without loss of quality.
Ture
What is the difference between analog & digital signal processors?
analog is a continuous signal while digital is not
How do humans perceive frequency?
pitch
What microphone accessories are most common in the studio and what are they used for?
pop filter, isolation shield, stabilizer, gain control
What is the difference between surround sound and stereo speaker setups? How many speakers are required, respectively.
stereo takes 3 speakers, one in the middle and one on each side surround sound takes 6, one woofer and 5 full-range speakers
What are the effects of duplicating an analog tape?
tape hiss, wow/flutter, overall lesser sound quality
What is distortion?
the alteration of the signal's original waveform.
List at least three characteristics of a Ribbon microphone.
- sensitive - uses magnets - good high-frequency response - invented by Dr. Walter H. Schottky and Erwin Gerlach -bi-directional pick-up pattern
What is the threshold of human hearing/what is the threshold of pain?
0/140. (120 is the threshold of feeling)
What is the speed of sound in feet-per-second at 70 degrees? How does temperature affect it?
1130 ft/sec (770 mi/hr). Sound travels faster the hotter it is.
Do you know the important inventions, their inventors, and in what order they were invented?
1844 - The Telegraph - Samuel Morse 1857 - Phonautograph - Edouard-Leon Scott 1876 - Telephone - Alexander Graham Bell (Emile Berliner) 1877 - Phonograph - Thomas Edison 1886 - Graphophone - Alexander Graham Bell 1887 - Gramophone - Emile Berliner
What is the Sampling rate of SACD, and what is this sampling method called?
2.8224MHz. It is called direct stream digital and uses 1 bit delta sigma modulation.
What is the bandwidth (frequency range) of human hearing?
20 hertz - 20,000 hertz
What is the frequency range of human hearing?
20Hz-20,000Hz
What is the Nyquist frequency?
2x the highest frequency you wish to record
What are some common sampling rates/word sizes, and which of them are most commonly used?
44.1 kHz(CD-Audio) 16 bits 48.0 kHz(DVD-Video) 24 bits 96.0 and 192.0kHz(Blu-ray,DVD-Audio) 24 bits
How many distinct amplitude voltages can a 16-bit resolution represent?
65,536
How were recordings made during the acoustic era?
A bunch of instrumentalists/vocalists would surround 1 microphone accordingly and record the songs.
What is a condenser mic?
A condenser mic is a mic with 2 plates with a charge. Quick response, external power, very sensitive. What I have.
What is the purpose of a crossover? What types of crossovers are there?
A crossover network separates frequencies and sends them to the correct speaker.
What is a decibel? Remember to look up important sound (dB) levels to know.
A decibel is a unit of measure of sound pressure level. 0 dB is relative silence 120 dB is the threshold of feeling 140 dB is the threshold of pain
What is a surround sound system, and how many speakers does it use? How do we represent this in numeric form?
A surround-sound system gives the listener the auditory illusion of staggered placement of different parts of an audio track. Most systems have 5 tweeters and 1 subwoofer (5.1).
What is a transducer? list examples
A transducer is something that changes one form of energy to another. Examples: Microphone, Ears, etc.
What is a sound wave?
A wave of compression and rarefaction, by which sound is propagated in an elastic medium such as air. Graphic representation of sound. Wavelength, velocity, frequency, and amplitude make up a sound wave.
What machine used VHS cassettes to record onto?
A-DAT, Alesis 8 track
What studio were Beatles known for recording in?
Abbey Road Studio (2)
When and where was Sgt. Pepper recorded?
Abbey Road Studio 2 in June 1967
Who is Emile Berliner, what did he do?
An inventor who worked for Bell Labs and invented the carbon microphone.
Who is E. C. Wente, what did he do?
An inventor who worked in Bell Labs and invented the condenser microphone.
What are Bit Depth and sample rate? What happens when you reduce/increase them?
Bit depth is dynamic range, and sample rate is frequency range. Increasing either one increases the sound quality and vice versa.
What influenced the sound of the Sgt. Pepper album?
Brian Wilson, Indian music, cereal commercial, drugs, etc.
What are the differences between CD, DVD, SACD, and DVD-A formats?
CD- a 5 inch disc. 700 MB capacity. 44.1/16 bit DVD- 4.7 GB per side. 8 audio tracks. Smaller pits and lands. 48kHz/24 bit SACD- Stereo 5:1. 4.7 GB Needed own player so it failed. 2.8224MHz/24 bit DVD-A- high audio format, expensive. Could not put in CD player, had to put in DVD player. 96 & 192.0 kHz/24 bit
What kinds of microphones were used during this era? Which was the first to be invented?
Carbon (first invented), Condenser, Ribbon, Moving Coil, Dynamic
Can you make it sound like I have a group of me playing that guitar?
Chorus
There are a few places where the piano is too loud.
Compressor
What is the difference between capacitance and dynamic microphones?
Condenser - two plates with a charge - quick response - external power - not ideal for high volume Dynamic - loud live - does not require power - very versatile
What is constructive and destructive interference? How does it relate to phase?
Constructive interference increases amplitude. Destructive interference decreases amplitude. The type of interference that occurs is dependent on whether the signals are in phase.
What are the advantages of digital recording that other methods do not have?
Copies are identical to the original. Overdub process is easier, mixing is easier. Post recording processes are easier.
Can you put some echo on my cowbell?
Delay
What does DAW sand for?
Digital Audio Workshop
Can you explain the 3 to 1 rule and why is it important?
Each mic must be 3x further apart than each is from the sound source.
What is Echo and what are its different uses?
Echo is a form of delay, and it uses are: Doubling- gives an instrument a more fuller sound. Chorus- achieved by recirculating the doubling effect. The delay time is the same except it is repeated. Slap back echo- delay perceived as a quick echo. Pre reverb delay- using a delay unit to delay the input signals before it gets to the reverb unit, making it sound more natural.
What is a carbon mic?
First microphone invented. Used in early radio and television. Invented by Emile Berliner. Mid range microphone.
What is the difference between flanging and phasing?
Flanging is produced electronically. Basically, they sound the same though. Phasers produce a less pronounced pitched effect than flangers because their delay times are slightly shorter and the phasing effect has less depth than with flanging.
What is frequency, how is it measured, and how does it relate to pitch?
Frequency is the amount of times a sound wave compresses and rarefacts. It is measured in hertz (Hz). Low frequency, low pitch. High frequency, high pitch.
What are the differences between a fundamental, its harmonics and its overtones?
Fundamental is the bass tone of A440(harmonics). Overtone's are any frequencies above that bass note. Whole number frequencies of the bass note are considered harmonics.
Who is Harry Nyquist and what was his contribution to digital audio?
Harry Nyquist invented the Nyquist Theorem, which states that you must record at a sampling rate 2x the highest frequency that you want to record.
What contribution did Oberlin Smith make to magnetic recording?
He conceived the idea of magnetic recording.
What contribution did Vlademar Poulsen make to magnetic recording?
He developed the magnetic wire recorder and the first continuous radio wave transmitter.
What contribution did Fritz Pfleumer make to magnetic recording?
He invented magnetic tape for sound recording.
Who was Enrico Caruso and why was he popular?
He was an Italian tenor crooner with a strong, loud voice.
What contribution did John T. (Jack) Mullin make to magnetic recording?
He worked with magnetic recording for the U.S. during WWII.
What is the physical difference between low and high frequencies?
High frequency has a shorter wavelength than lower frequency.
What are the common connections for data transfers between the computer and other equipment?
IEEE1394 (Firewire), USB, Thunderbolt, and DANTE Audio Network.
What factors determine microphone choice and placement?
It all depends on what you are recording, what tone you want, and if it is live or in the studio.
What effect did the digital modular multi-track have on professional recording studios?
It allowed artists to now record from home and still sound professional. It took away business from the studios.
What do we use inserts for?
It allows us to insert a separate piece of analog equipment after the preamp but before additional processing.
What is a dual-layer disk? Know examples.
It has two layers so it has double the capacity. Reads the top then the bottom. Ex- DVD. Blu-ray, and DVD-RW
What is an expander used for?
It increases dynamic range by decreasing the signal below the threshold. Inverse of a compressor.
What is a Spring Reverb and how is it made?
It is a cheap and easy way to add reverb but it has mediocre sound. It uses a transducer at one end of a spring and a pickup at the other, to capture vibrations within a metal spring.
What is the Color book?
It is a manufacturing guideline in the making of CD's
What is a Plate reverb and how is it made?
It is a thin steel plate suspended under tension in an enclosed frame. It then vibrates moving the plate transducing electrical energy into mechanical energy.
What is the Color book? Know the standard for Red book CD's.
It is the manufacturing guideline in the making of CD's. Series of standards. Red Book- Requires TOC, 74 min of audio @ 44.1kHz/16 bit
What is amplitude, and how is it measured?
It is the number of molecules in motion, the size of the sound wave. Loudness. It is measured in dB
Why is 440 hz important to music?
It is the universal tuning standard for A4.
What is MIDI and what is it used for?
It is used for triggering sounds in audio software. More importantly it can be used is a sequencer in post recording to correct time and pitch. It is data, not audio.
What is dither and why do we use it?
It is what we do to reduce quantization error. We do this by adding noise to the lowest bit. Amplitude= to 1/2 of one bit. signals below the smallest bit will now be added to the noise, thus it is rounded up.
What is the equal loudness principle?
It is when a listener perceives a constant loudness when presented with a pure steady tone. The ear is more sensitive to high and low frequencies.
What is non-destructive editing?
It is when the original content is not modified at all. It is not destroyed.
What is error correction, and what occurs when error correction fails?
It is when we minimize data loss. It includes redundancy, which is extra info added, and inter leaving, which is scattering data. If it fails, there can be overflow, which is clipping, and there can be one bad bit, several bad bits, and missing data.
What does it mean if a DAW is said to have "unlimited tracks?"
It means you can have as many tracks as the system you are recording on can handle. The processor.
The word "Electric" refers to what in electric recording?
It refers to using an electric microphone instead of a horn to capture sound.
What is Phantom Power, and what is it used for?
It sends DC voltage through the mic cable and used for most condenser mics.
Why was the invention of the microphone important to the electrical era? How did this affect recording techniques?
It started the electric era. Better sound quality, higher dynamic range. New instruments could now be in the recordings. More bandwidth. Easier placement of instruments.
Why was the gramophone able to sell more records to the public?
It used disks instead of cylinders.
What is a digital modular multi-track, what are the advantages it had over a fixed head digital recorder? Can you name the most popular one?
It was invented around 1991 by Alesis. It is borrowed from VHS tape, it is tape based with linear access. It has a rotating head. It was modular, so it allowed for home recording studios. Could not do this with fixed head digital recorders. Ex- Alesis (ADAT) 8 tracks.
What was the original intended use for the LP record, and how did it end up being utilized? How did this affect the record industry?
It was originally going to be used for classical records because of their length. It was eventually used to put full albums on it. Opened industry for full albums to be bought on one disc.
What is important about the carbon microphone, and how does it work?
It was the first electric microphone. Two metal plates separated by granules of carbon. The diaphragm vibrates, causing electrical resistance between the plates.
Who is Les Paul and what are his major inventions/contributions to recording?
Les Paul was a country, jazz, and blues guitarist who invented the electric guitar, selective synchronization, and multi-track recording.
What does linear and non-linear mean in reference to multi-track recorders?
Linear- if you want to edit you have to roll through to the part to edit. Non-linear- look at 153.
What is lossless compression? How does it reduce file size?
Lossless compression simply reduces the dynamic range of a track.
What are Lossless and lossy compression? Which sounds better? Know examples.
Lossless is like a zip file. This is the best sound quality for compressed audio. Ex- MLP, used in DVD-Audio. FLAC Lossy takes out stuff that you may not hear. Uses a codec. Examples-Dolby Digital, DTS, MPEG, AAC, advanced audio coding.
What is auditory masking and auditory beating?
Masking is the hiding of one sound by another. The louder sound covers the softer sound. Beating is produced when two tones differ only slightly in frequency and have a similar amplitude. This can create a chorus-like effect.
What are microgrooves? How did they change the record?
Microgrooves are a smaller version of dick grooves that allowed for the invention of the LP.
What effect did the introduction of the radio have on the music business?
More people listened to music, but certain inventions such as the gramophone became obselete.
What are the major structures of the ear?
Outer Ear- Sound collected in the eural canal (pinna) Middle Ear- ear drum transduces acoustic energy to mechanical. Ossicles that has 3 bones: Hammer, anvil, and stirrup. They vibrate. Inner Ear- vibrations are applied to the cochlan, which is fluid filled and lined with tiny hair receptors called cilia. Auditory Nerve and Brain- Aud. Nerve carry impulses to brain perceived as sound. Individual experience influences what you hear.
Why was the mastering step in record production introduced in the electrical era?
People now had the ability to modify the grooves of a disk using machines, so they could EQ a recording.
The guitar sounds good, but when I stop playing I hear the click track.
Noise Gate
What is noise, how do we rate the amount of noise in a room, and what do we do to prevent noise in a studio?
Noise is any unwanted sound. We rate noise based on the noise criteria scale. We prevent noise by isolating people, focusing on mic placement, and focusing on the structure and materials of the building.
What is non-linear editing?
Non linear editing is when you can pinpoint a place in a recording and be able to edit it without having to locate it sequentially. You cannot do this in tape recording, but you can in Pro Tools.
What were the early recording methods for electrical recording?
One mic in front of a room of musicians. Placement and design of studio was very different.
What is phantom power and how does it get to and from the mic?
Phantom power is labeled as +48V on a mic. It is a method that sends DC voltage through microphone cables. Power source for most condenser mics.
What is the recording industry's standard for DAW software?
Pro Tools
What is quantization and quantization error?
Quantization is the thing in digital recording that directly relates to amplitude. It is the level. These values in quantization form bits. Quantization error is when a sample falls between 2 bit values, so we are forced to round the sample up or down. This rounding is called quantization error.
What do the threshold, ratio, attack, and release do on expanders and compressors?
Ratio: the rate of change between input and output Attack and Release: How quickly it responds to an amplitude rising and how quickly it does back is release. Threshold: certain dB in which it will stop a noise from going higher or lower than it.
What changes in recording brought about the need for audio consoles?
Recording shifted from "live performance" to "creating a performance."
Can you make the vocal sound like I recorded in a cathedral?
Reverberation
Can you describe the difference between an ribbon and moving coil microphone?
Ribbon - light metal ribbon between two magnets - better high-frequency response Moving Coil - coil connected to a diaphragm
What are the storage capacities of SACD, DVD, CD, and Blu-ray?
SACD- 4.7 GB DVD- 4.7 GB CD- 700 mb Blu-ray- 50 GB per layer
What are sample rate and bit depth (resolution)? How do they affect digital recording?
Sample rate is snapshots of the audio at timed intervals. Sampling relates to time. Bit depth is the number of bits or info in each sample, and it directly corresponds to the resolution of each sample. They are what make up the sound in digital recordings.
Can you describe the life cycle of a sound in a room?
Sound Envelope: attack, decay, sustain, release
What is signal flow, and what does it tell the engineer?
Signal Flow is the path audio takes through a sound system.
Can you tell the difference between a sine, square, and triangle wave?
Sine is the basic sound wave form. Square and triangle have harmonics. Square has odd harmonics equal in amplitude. Triangle has odd harmonics lowering in amplitude as you go up.
What are crooners and what did they do to become popular?
Singers who used the electric microphone to their advantage by singing very close to the mic.
What does the word binary mean?
Something that has 2 parts. In this case, binary includes 2 numbers.
What are the differences between a woofer and tweeter, why are these differences needed?
Subwoofers emit low bass frequencies. Tweeters emit high frrequencies.
What are the SACD and DVD-A?
The DVD-A has very high quality but it failed because you have to put it in a DVD player, and it costs a lot of $. SACD had to have its own player so it failed.
Do you know the differences between the phonograph and the gramophone?
The Gramophone has a higher dynamic range, decreased distortion, increased ability to capture subtleties, increased bandwidth, and greater signal to noise ratio.
Who is MPEG and what did they develop?
The Moving Picture Experts Group.
What is RT-60?
The amount of time it takes an audio signal to fall to -60 dB.
What were the determining factors in choosing a song to be recorded during this era?
The fact that mics in this era could not pic up certain sounds/frequencies, such as drums, that well led them to have to place their instrumentalists/singer in certain places to get the best recording.
What was the original purpose of the LP record, how was it ultimately used? How did this change the record industry?
The original purpose of the LP was to be able to fit an entire classical work on a single disk. It was the reason that albums of about 12 songs exist today.
What is signal to noise ratio?
The ratio between the desired signal and the noise of the system.
Be able to describe the sound envelope and know what influence it has on a sound.
The sound envelope has four parts: attack, decay, sustain, release. The attack is the build-up when the sound is initiated. The decay is the time it takes the sound to reduce after the initial peak. The sustain is the constant volume after the decay until the release. The release is how quickly fades after the end of the note. The sound envelope affects amplitude.
What happens when you make a copy of analog tape?
There is a decrease in overall sound quality.
What do time/spatial processors effect, how do we use them?
These are devices that affect the time relationships of signals. These effects include reverberation and delay. We use them to add cool effects to the signals.
What do amplitude and noise processors effect, how do we use them?
They affect dynamic range. It controls sound that varies in amplitude and prevents distortions. It also changes the acoustic envelope. Examples are compressors, limiters, expanders, and gates. Noise- noise reduction, dehisser. Eliminate noise from an audio signal
What are SPDIF, AES/EBU, and Light-pipe audio connections? How many channels of audio can each carry?
They are specialized methods for passing digital audio from one device to another. SPDIF is 2 channels, it is the RCA connector for consumers. AES/EBU is the pro standard 2 channel XLR. Light-pipe is the semi pro 8 channel fiber optic.
What kind of EQ was used on records and what did this EQ do for the recording process?
They use manual EQ, and this introduced the double stereo.
What is a compressor used for?
This decreases gain as input increases. This allows an overall volume increase.
Can you describe the Equal Loudness Contours/Fletcher Munson Curves?
This diagram shows that the ear is more sensitive to higher and lower frequencies rather than mid-range frequencies.
What is a gate used for?
This is a limiter in reverse. If noise falls below a threshold it turns it off. Allows loud to pass, but quiet signals stopped. Not a noise processor!
What is timbre and harmonics? How do they relate?
Timbre has to to with an instrument's unique sound, which is dependent on the amount, range, and presence of its harmonics.
A Helmholtz absorber is a tuned absorber designed to remove sound at specific frequencies.
True
A crossover network is designed to split the audio signal into two or more frequencies to be sent to different speakers.
True
A higher sampling rate increases the bandwidth of a digital recording.
True
A microphone that has a cardioid pattern will pick up sound from the front, but phase cancel sounds from behind using porting.
True
A noise gate is designed to prevent quiet signals from passing through but is NOT considered a noise processor.
True
A redook CD must have a sampling rate of 44.1 and a bit depth of 16 bits.
True
A shock mount is designed to prevent unwanted rumble from being picked up by a microphone.
True
A standing wave is when sound bounces between two parallel surfaces, causing them to reinforce themselves continuously.
True
An analog signal is continuous, or you could say it is "always on."
True
An analog tape recorder consists of three major elements: the tape heads, the transport, and the record/playback electronics.
True
What is the difference between VU and PPM?
VU measures average dB levels while PPM measures transient dB levels
What is sound transmission?
Vibrations through a wall. One room to another.
What is the main advantage to digital audio over analog audio?
We can produce a recording that will last forever without losing the quality of the original.
What is the Precedence (Hass) effect and how does it factor into localization?
When a wave is followed by another after a very short time delay, we perceive a single sound, and we precive the location of the sound based on the first wave.
What is lossy compression? How does it reduce file size?
With lossy compression, the computer removes data that it thinks we wont hear.
What is the difference between a filter and a shelving EQ?
a shelving EQ uses a more gradual cut than a filter
What is a mix bus?
a single plug-in containing multiple effects or sound processors
What are the basic acoustical properties of sound?
absorption, reflection, diffusion, diffraction, transmission
What is aliasing?
aliasing is when a signal is processed incorrectly and becomes indistinguishable.
What is a plug-in?
allows you to add a seperate feature to your system
What do the binary digits represent, frequency or amplitude?
amplitude more bits=larger number
What is the purpose of having both near-field and far-field Speakers? What are their advantages and disadvantages?
both good for different volumes
What are the primary parts of a speaker?
cone, voice coil, spider (woofer and tweeter)
How did the philosophy about recording music change in the 40's and 50's compared to recording methods from the 30's and earlier?
editing, multi-track recording, and the audio console were invented, which allowed the philosophy to change from "capturing a performance" to "creating a performance"
Know the order and function of the 3 tape heads on a tape machine.
erase, record, playback
What is electromagnetic induction?
fixed magnet and a movable diaphragm to which a small, light-weight coil is suspended between the poles of a fixed magnet
What is linearity?
frequencies fed to a loudspeaker at a particular volume are reproduced at that same volume
What is bandwidth?
frequency range
What are the specifications used to determine a microphone's quality?
frequency response, proximity effect, and transient response
A digital recording works off of closure where the brain believes interprets a series of snapshots as a continuous signal, similar to how a ________ works.
movie/motion picture
What is Selective- synchronization?
moving the record head during overdubs to align the playback with a new recording
Where and with whom did Les Paul record Chester and Lester?
in Studio RCA B with Chet Atkins
How do we measure tape speed, what happens when you increase/decrease tape speed?
inches per second slow tape speed is better for low-frequency response, and fast tape speed is better for high-frequency response
What is different between an inline and split console?
inline is one system and split console is multiple linked systems
Close microphone techniques are generally used to aid in what?
isolation of what you are recording
What does a parametric EQ do?
it allows you to set your own frequency control parameters
What does a notch filter do?
it can filter a very small frequency range
What is Q?
it is a measure of the range of frequencies an equalizer affects
What was the purpose of the 45-RPM Record?
it was an attempt by RCA monopolized the record industry by making a record that could only be played on their player
For the first time we can create a recording that can virtually _____ ______.
last forever
Which digital format was the "first step backwards" by reducing the sound's quality?
lossy compression
On a capacitor microphone, there sometimes exists 2 switches (other than the pattern switch) to give the sound engineer more flexibility with the sound. What are these switches and how are they used?
low cut filter - reduces the level of low frequencies gain switch - when applied, it reduces gain by 10 decibels
Do you know the four block diagram blocks and their proper arrangement?
mic, preamp, volume, speaker
What are the different parts of an I/O strip, and their function?
mic/preamp - records signal and brings mic level to line level channel assign/routing - routes signals to correct channel EQ stage - manipulates frequency levels FX sends/faders - adds effects and manipulates channel levels
What innovation(s) enabled the LP and 45 rpm records to be successful?
microgrooves
Name the three types of stereo microphone techniques that we learned.
spaced pair, coincident pair, near coincident pair
What is a preamplifier and what is its function?
raise mic level to line level, functions as a boost for input
What does a low-pass filter do?
removes all frequencies above a certain frequency
What does a high-pass filter do?
removes all frequencies below a certain frequency
What is the purpose of aux sends and returns on a console?
routes signals to and from effects and sends Q mix
What is the formula for calculating audio file data rates?
sample rate x resolution x number of channels x number of seconds data rate= ____________________________________________________ Bits/Bytes
What is the standard for Red book CDs?
sampling rate of 44.1kH and bit depth of 16bit
What is print through and how do we reduce its effect?
signals from one layer of the tape magnetize the next layer, distorting the sound recorded on that layer we store them tails-out
Why can a DVD hold more information than a CD?
smaller pits and lands and are closer together
What brought about Electric recording?
the invetion of the radio and the carbon microphone
Know the process in which we record onto magnetic tape.
the magnetic signal aligns the domains on the tape
What is a microphone's polar pattern? What are the three basic types?
the pattern describing how the mic picks up sound spatially; omni, cardioid, and bi-directional
What is dynamic range?
the range of amplitude levels
Microphone selection and positioning depend on what factors?
the recording space, what you are recoding, and what tone you want
What is sound diffusion?
the scattering of sound in all directions
What do spectrum processors effect, how do we use them?
they manipulate bandwidth, adn we use them to get the tone or timbre that we want
What is the electric stylus and vacuum tube?
they were invented in the electric era to improve sound.
What is a limiter used for?
to keep the amplitude from going over a certain level
What is a pan pot used for?
to pan each channel to the left or right speaker
Know the 3 distinct sections of an Analog Tape Recorder.
transport, metering, electronics
What are the basic physical properties of a sound wave?
wavelength, velocity, frequency, and amplitude
How do we measure frequency and what determines the frequencies of a sound?
wavelengths per second (hertz)
What is sound absorption?
when energy is absorbed by surface material
What is sound reflection?
when sound reflects off of surfaces at the same angle it hit the object
What is sound diffraction?
when sound spreads around barriers or bends through an opening.