There are many recording techniques used when it comes to music production. We need these specific things to make the recording sound listenable and with the right mind, sound wonderful to the ears. Below I will just name a few techniques used in producing music and describe how each one works.
Microphones:
Polar patterns
A polar pattern is something that corresponds to certain microphones. It is the area in which sound is picked up by the microphone. For example, here is an image of a ‘Cardioid’ polar pattern, which is commonly found in Dynamic microphones:
Notice how there is a semi circle around the mic. This cardioid mic only picks up sounds that come from directly in front of it. It is mainly used for live sound, as the vocals need to be picked up and not all the noise of the instruments as well.
Here is another example, this one is a ‘Super Cardioid’:
This one is similar to the cardioid, except it has a polar pattern that goes both forwards and backwards, meaning that it can pick up sound from either end (albeit a little less sensitively from behind).
There are many more that are great for different things and it gives our product a more varied sound, some make things more distinct than others and it really takes a creative mind to find a good use for all of them.
Sensitivity
Like in the above statement, microphones need to be sensitive for them to be able to pick up vocals and amplify them. For example, a dynamic microphone is really sensitive from only the front, this is because there is a diaphragm in the basket that needs to be vibrated by sound waves for it to amplify anything; the louder you sing, the more you vibrate the diaphragm.
Then there are some Condenser microphones, which are sensitive to everything else. They are good microphones for recording with in a ‘dead room’. This is because any slight sound that is made in the background could possibly be picked up and ruin the recording.
Type (E.g. Dynamic)
Condenser
Condenser microphones are really good microphones for getting clear and crisp recordings. Unlike Dynamic microphones, this kind of mic runs off battery power and it also needs the aid of a mixing desk to work. You need what is called ‘Phantom Power’ which is just sending 48volts of electricity straight to the mic.
Ribbon
Boundary
Mixing Desk:
Routing
When you have a recording session going on, depending on what you’re recording, you are going to have the channels used up on the mixing desk. For example, in our studio we have a ‘Multicore’. A Multicore, commonly known as a stage box, allows the extension of equipment cables giving more distance between the mixing desk and the performer. Usually microphones are plugged into said system, then the Multicore is already wired up to the desk. Each input of the system is paired up with a channel on the desk. So, routing is when you make said instrument in Channel 2 record onto input 2 on Studio One (In our case).
Channels
Channels are located on the mixing desk. There are faders located at the bottom of the desk, and those are the grey blocks that you can slide up and down. They are the volume control on each channel. When something is recording on said channel, you will see the volume go up and down from Green to Red.
Busses
When you use a bus, you are just routing more than one audio signal to any given destination. These destinations would be things like Groups, auxiliary sends or a stereo mix. More commonly though, busses are used in routing channel signals to a master fader or the main stereo master fader.
auxiliaries
Auxiliaries are pots on the mixing desk that are settings for each instrument you have set up in a channel, or they can sometimes be used for setting the volume right in each channel. Or for example, if a guitar is being used, you could use the two pots for reverb and pan them left and right; this is what is called as the Dry/Wet Mix.
Inputs
When you have a sound source going into an Input, it means that it has been recognised by the desk and it is time to get it ready for the output into studio one. You would do this by setting a ‘Gain Structure’ which is getting the sound source loud enough to be recorded, but not so loud that it would start clipping/distorting. You would do this with the Gain pot on the mixing desk:
As you’ll notice above, the green lights, this is usually what you want it to look like when you’re setting a gain structure. When it gets in the red, the sound will be distorted and hard to listen to.
Recording Devices
There are two types of recording medium, these are Analog and Digital. Digital is what is used more often in this day and age whereas Analog (Usually Reel to Reel equipment) is more of a piece of nostalgic mantle piece. Reel to reel uses tape as it’s sound source capture, when you want to edit the sounds, you have to actually cut the tape where ever there is a mistake and then put it back together again. This was a method that really needed someone with both a keen eye and ear, because things like solos or harmonies could have been lost. Digital recording is done using programs on computers, typically most people go with the top three: Studio One, Logic or Pro Tools. Gone are the days of having to cut tape and put it back together again, with Digital recording, you can cut sections away and copy and paste sections of audio. This is essential and very helpful because you can record songs in mere hours instead of having days of just messing around with tape.
Mark Kirby 