The Beginners

Guide to Studio
1

By Ned Flaherty

The Control Room:

The control room is where all the inputs from the live room and the vocal
booth are routed so that the audio can be recorded and manipulated by an
audio engineer. In Studio 1s control room, the DAW (Digital Audio
WorkstaBon) Logic is used to mix and record audio. An opBon for recording
audio in the control room is with Direct Input (DI recording) which allows
performers to plug in their instrument to a preamp and play directly into Logic.
Depending on the sound you are looking for, this may not be as good as micing
up an amp in the live room as DI recordings will have a much more dened
sound without a lot of the natural reverb that comes with recording in the live
room.
With the control room being the main hub of the studio for recording and
mixing, it obviously has a lot of equipment in it. Studio 1s control room has 2
sets of near eld monitors. Firstly, there are the KRK Rokit 5s. These are
powered monitors that have a fairly at frequency response, although they do
have a slight bass boost between 100-200Hz.
There are also the Adam A77Xs which are also powered monitors. Also
similarly to the Rokit 5s the A77Xs have a at frequency response. This is
good because it allows you to listen criBcally to how certain elements of the
mix sound at dierent volumes.

The control room also has capabiliBes to record

MIDI data with the NovaBon Impulse 49
keyboard available to use. This is a great
keyboard as it has capabiliBes to control the
soZware in use from the keyboard itself,
meaning less Bme away from it trying to tweak
se[ngs. However if you have a MIDI device of
your own you wish to play that doesnt use USB, then there is an emagic AMT8
available to hook up to.
Also there are emagic Logic Control and Logic
Control XT surfaces available for people who
arent so keen on working solidly with a mouse
and keyboard and prefer the experience of a
control surface to produce on.

There are 2 audio interfaces in Studio 1s control room, both coming from
Focusrite. The Sare Pro 40 and Octopre MK2 both work an an analogue/
digital converter, as well as having up to 8 mic preamps or 8 line inputs. These
inputs are routed from both the live room and vocal booth so that audio can
be recorded, converted and then mixed in Logic. They both have the ability to
deliver phantom power for condenser microphones, and the Pro 40 has 2
individual headphone outputs for monitoring. On the front of each interface
are knobs to tweak the gain and a small LED level meters to see how balanced
the mix is. Paying aeenBon to this is important to obtain a balanced mix for
example if you are recording a drum kit and the kick is too loud in comparison
to the rest of the kit, then the input level meter will show that and you can use
the knob for its designated input to reduce the gain.

Just below both these audio interfaces is the Samson Sphone, a headphone
mixer and amp. This is an important piece of equipment for everyone involved
in the process of recording. Performers need to be able to hear what they are
playing and sounding like, and engineers will need to be able to talk to them
and maybe even listen to the mix through a pair of headphones themselves.
The Sphone allows this to happen and also adds the benet of having 2 band
mixer for each output, meaning if a performer would like to hear more bass in
his monitor then the engineer can make that happen without aecBng the mix.

For direct recording in the control room there is the Focusrite ISA One preamp
which allows you to directly plug in an instrument and record it into Logic aZer
going through on of the audio interfaces. The preamp gives the sound of the
instrument more body, and
strengthens the audio signal
being delivered to the interface.
Some performers prefer the
clean sound it can help to
deliver, but may op for a miked
up amp when looking for a more
natural sound.

With the control room being where the engineer will be placed, he needs a
way to communicate with the performers in the other rooms. This is made
possible with the SPL 2381 talkback and monitor controller. This piece of a
equipment does a few things. Firstly, the talkback funcBon allows the person
using it to talk to performers in another room through their headphones. This
means engineers can give some direcBon on what they would like the

performer to do, or vice versa without having to keep going between rooms.
Then theres the monitor controlling which lets you control the levels of either
the backing track or what the performer is playing so they can be happy with
their monitoring. It also controls the near eld monitors in the control room
itself without interrupBng any of the performers monitors.

The Live Room:

The Live Room is seen by many to be the most important part of any studio. It
provides a space with good acousBcs for instruments to be played and
recorded from. Studio 1 has quite a large live room that contains a full drum
kit , microphones, amps etc. that allow performers to get the sound they are
looking for. Recordings are routed through 2 stage boxes in the live room, both
with 8 inputs to plug in microphones via XLR cable. The audio is sent to the
sound cards in the control room to be converted from an analogue signal to a
digital one that can be manipulated in Logic. The stage boxes also have
headphone putputs so performers can monitor what they are playing. The live
room also has a wide range of equipment that is used in the process of
recording.
Firstly, the main piece of equipment used in the live room is of course the
microphones. Without them no live instrument could be recorded unless it was
through DI which isnt always an opBon. Studio 1 has a wide range of
microphones that are used for dierent purposes.

The Shure SM57 is a dynamic microphone meaning it

uses a coil of wire and a magnet to produce a current
when the coil of wire is moved past the magnet due
to sound waves hi[ng the diaphragm. It also doesnt
require power unlike condenser microphones. It also
means it can deal with quite high sound pressure
levels. It is also a cardioid microphone, meaning it
picks up most sound from the front of the
microphones an only some form the side making it less suscepBble to feedback
and leakage. It can be used to record snares, toms and placed to record guitar
amps. It has a fairly at frequency response, although there is a boost towards
the high frequencies.

Following the SM57 is the Shure SM58. The SM58 is another cardioid dynamic
microphone that much like the SM57 is extremely popular in the industry as it
is extremely durable. The SM58 however is more known for vocals, but can be
used to record a many number of percussive elements too due to its fairly at
frequency response. It picks up a bit more in the mid-low and mid-high areas in
comparison to the SM57 but will sBll deliver a very good representaBon of the
sound being captured.

Next is the Audix f2. There are 2 of these in Studio 1 that are mainly used for
recording the toms on the drum kit, but they can be used to record all sorts of
sound from guitars, basses and brass instruments. Again, the f2 is a cardioid
dynamic microphone and it is also very durable thanks to it cast
zinc alloy body and steel mesh cover. The frequency response
for the f2 is not as at as the Shure mics. There is a boost at
both the low and high end making it ideal for trying to capture
those sort of sounds.

Studio 1 also has an Audix f6 which once again is a cardioid dynamic

microphone. Its designed for instruments with alot more bass which is
reected in its frequency response. There is a big boost in the low end which is
why it is mainly used as a kick drum mic.

There are also condenser microphones in

Studio 1 in the forms of Audix f9 and the
Rode NT1000. Condenser microphones
dier from dynamic microphones both
because they require power to funcBon
(usually between 12 and 48 volts) and how
the funcBon. Inside the microphone are 2
plates, a back plate and a diaphragm.
Between the 2 plates there is the phantom
power running through, and when sound waves hit the diaphragm the distance
between it and the backplate are reduced, therefore changing the outgoing
voltage and changing the output signal. Because of how delicate the
diaphragm is, condenser microphones arent meant to be used to record high
sound pressure audio as it could damage them.
The Audix f9 is designed to record instruments with alot of higher frequencies
which is why they can bused as overhead mics for drum kits. Its useful to pick
up on the cymbals which might not be miked up, as well as capture the sound
of the room. The frequency response graph shows that the f9 is fairly
balanced, but is clearly boosted towards the high end.

There is also the Rode NT1000 which being a condenser microphone isnt oZen
used with instruments. It is primarily used for vocals, but has its uses as a room
mic when performers want to get some natural reverb from their
performance. Its can also be considered to be quite a good room mic when it
comes to the frequency response of it. Due to it being very at, with a boost
towards the high end, it should be very good for capturing the sound of a room
accurately .

The live room also has various sizes of mic stands, from small low to the
ground ones to get a good posiBoning for a kick or amp mic as well as taller
ones to get overheads into an even posiBoning to get the right sound.

The vocal booth:

The vocal booth is the smallest room in Studio 1, but is prefect for recording
vocals with the acousBcs of it being so dry. There are 2 XLR mic inputs as well
as 2 headphone outputs so 2 people can be singing together or a small amp
can be recorded along with the vocals. There is a Rode NT1000 condenser
microphone in the booth that is perfect for recording vocals along with the
acousBcs.