Studio Manual

Fire exit

Studio B live
room

Studio A live
room

Fire exit
Studio A
control room

Studio B
control room

Office

Fire exit

Studioswillhaveacontrolroomandaliveroom.Acontrol
roomiswherethewholerecordingprocessiscontrolledand
recorded.Itisalsowhereallthepostproductionisdone.These
roomscontainvariousequipmentmixingdesks,outboard
equipment,amacwithlogic,monitors,soundcards,anda
keyboard/synth.Aliveroomiswhereclientswillrecordthe
vocalsandacousticinstruments.Thisroomwillusuallycontain
adrumkit,thecorrectmicrophonesandcablesconnectingthem
tothecontrolroom.Thediagramonthenextpagewillshowa
controlroom.

Out
board
equipme
Sound
modules

Sound
cards

Speakers

Computer
screen

MIDI keyboard

Mixing Desk

Tape
machines

Patch
bay

Inastudio,thereareavariedamountofcables.Eachcableis
eitherbalancedorunbalanced,anunbalancedcablehas3black
linesontheendofthecable2conductorsonetogrounditand
onetocarrytheaudiosignal.Thesecablescanpickup
unwantednoiseorfuzzinthebackground.
Balancedcableshave3conductorsapositive,anegativeanda
ground.Whenabalancedcableisusedthepositiveandnegative
conductorscarrythesignalbutthedonotcanceleachotherout.
Thisisbecausethenegativeconductorhasitspolarityinverted.
Thismeansthatthesignalsaredifferentanddonotcancelout.
Thereasonthatbalancedcablesdonotpickupinterferenceis
becausethesignalisonbothpositiveandnegativeandtherefor
cancelsitselfout.

Typesofcablesyoullfindinastudio
XLRcables
TRSandTScables
RCAcables
Jackcables
USBleads
Bantamleads
HealthandSafety
Studioscontainlotsofexpensiveequipment.Thereforitis
importanttomakesurethattheroomissafeofhazards.You
shouldnothaveanyfoodordrinksinthestudioasaspillage
coulddamageequipment.Cablesrunningalongthefloorshould
becovereduporkepttidyasnottotripoverthem(notonlyfor
soundtechniciansbutforclientstoo)meaningtherulesapplyto
theliveroomalso.Ifcablesarepulledoutitmayalsocause
damagetothestudioaswellaspeople.Knowingwherethe
nearestfireexitisalsoimportant.
Thechannelstrip
Amixingdeskisalargepartofastudio.Onthedeskitwill
havemultiplechannels.Onaprogramlikelogicyouwillhavea
mixeronitthatyouusetocontrolthelevelsoneachtrack,a
mixingdeskisbasicallythesame.
Whenrecordingitisimportantthatyougetagoodrecording
andaddingeffectsshouldbeleftuntiltheendasyouwontbe
abletochangethefinalrecordinginpostproduction.
Itisimportanttodoasoundcheckbeforestartingtherecording,
tosetthelevels,makesuretheclientcanhearwhattheywant
andhavetunedinstruments.

Chanel Strip

Gain

Tape Return

Phantom
Power

Line
Instrument/Jack

Lowcut
(Cuts
frequencies
bellow

Phas
e

Noise Gate

Flip
Frequency
Range
Threshol
d
Channel

Release

Hold

Noise gates will cut

off a signal when it
dips below the
threshold. This is
usually used to cut
out the bleed from
tracks during a
recording.

Shelving EQ and
Semi-Parametric
EQ
Shelving EQ
High
Frequency
Gain (12k)
Low
Frequency
Gain (60Hz)
SemiParametric
EQ
HMF
Gain For
HMF
Gain For
LMF

LMF

The HMF and

LMF are the
dials that will
select the
frequency and the
gains will control
if you are
boosting or
cutting them.
Allowing you to
control gain and
frequency where
as shelving EQ

Auxiliary
Control

Headphones

Reverb

When pressed it
will put the
channel into
post fader and
when unpressed it will go

Aux1and2areusuallyusedtosendthemixthroughthe
headphonesfortheclient,allowingthemtoplayalongtoatrack
orotherrecordedparts.

Chanel Fader

Pan (when you select

output 1- pan left
and when selecting
output 2- pan right
and so on)
Pre Fader Level
Outputs
Cut/Mute

Fader
Bounce

Monitor Fader

Pan
Solo
Mute

Fader

Master Mutes

ThePatchBay
Ontherighthandsideofthemixingdeskisthepatchbay.This
connectsthedeskwithoutboardequipmentsuchas
compressors,pitchshifters,reverbect.
Routing
Eachchannelhasitsownauxiliarysendsandcontrols,this
meansyoucanroutethesignalthroughthedesktotheoutboard
equipmenteffectsandbackintothedesk.Meaningthesame
effectcanbeusedonmultiplechannels.
RecordingintheStudio
Anaudiointerfaceconnectsthesoundorinstrumentstoa
computer.
Recordingsofvocals,acousticinstrumentsanddrumsaredone
intheliveroom;thisconnectstothecontrolroom.Depending
onhowyouwanttorecorddrumswillchangethemicrophones
youneed,forvocalsandotheracousticinstrumentsyouwould
needtosetupacondensermicrophone.Ifrecordingdrumsyou
canjustusethesamemicrophonebutsomepeoplemaypreferto
usedifferentmicrophonestorecordeachdrumatonce.The
microphoneswillneedtobeconnectedtotheinputinthelive
roomviaaXLRcable.Ifyouputthemicrophoneintoinput1
youwillneedtoselectinput1inthecontrolroom.
Directinjection(commonlyknowasDI)iscommonlyusedto
recordguitarsandbass.AVUmetershowstheamountoflevel
theinstrument;youcanchangethisbyincreasingordecreasing
thegain.

TorecordwithaDItheclientcanbeinthecontrolroom.This
meansthattheycanplayalongsideanotherclientinthelive
room.

MultiChannelDrums
Whenrecordingdrumsyouwillneedaselectionsofdifferent
microphonesforthedrumsandhighhat,thesymbolsdonot
needtoberecordedandtheyarepickedupbytheoverheads.
Youwillneedtoselectthecorrectmicrophonesandstandsthen
placethemsothattheyarenotinthewayofthedrummerto
avoiddamage,howevertheystillneedtobecloseenoughto
pickupagoodsignal,whilepointingatthecenterofthedrum.
Thisisnecessaryasthemicrophonesaredirectional.
Themicrophonesforthefloorandracktomsshouldbeplacedat
thesideofthedrumbutstillpointingatthecenter.FortheSnare
youneedtoputonmicrophoneonthetopandoneonthebottom
(youwillneedtophaseoneofthesetopreventthemcanceling
eachotherout).Thehighhatmicrophoneneedstobeplaced
directlyabovethehighhatandpointingdown.Themicrophone
forthekickdrumshouldbeplacedatthebackofthedrum.The
placementofthismicrophonedependsonwhatsoundyouwant,
butdontplacethemicrophonetoofarawayasyouwillnotpick
upanysound.2overheadmicrophonesshouldbeplacedabove
thekittocapturethewholesound.
Thereis2waysofsettingupoverheadmicrophones:

Itisimportanttomakesurethatthemicrophonesarethesame
heightanddistancefromthedrumsandtheyhavebeenpanned
leftandrighttostopthemcancellingout.
Whenusingamixingdeskitisimportanttomanagewhatyour
doing.Youcandothisbynamingeachtrackcorrectly,placing
thingsintherightorderandusingthecorrectinputs.Once
everythingisdoneyoushoulddoasoundchecktomakesure
everythingisworkingandyourgettingthesoundyouwant,also
checkingthatthedrummercanhearwhathewantintheir
headphones(metronome).Afterthesoundcheckyoushouldbe
readytorecord.