Frankly Audio

Figure 2

This flow chart shows a simple studio type signal path. Basically all of your audio runs into and out of the mixer. Your computer serves as what used to be the multitrack tape machine but it does much more. You will most likely apply effects and mix from within the computer. Some computer audio interface devices have XLR inputs that will accept microphone connections directly but unless your hardware has input equalization capabilities and phase reversal you really want a mixer, especially if your using multiple microphones simultaneously and want real-time monitoring of EQ and outboard effects. There are many, many different hardware combinations with their attendant feature sets, this post is designed just to get you started. If you have specific questions feel free to email me .

Here’s a selection of various computer audio interfaces to look over:

Lexicon Alpha USB Desktop Recording Studio

TASCAM FireOne FireWire Audio and Control Interface

The Presonus Firepod

As I stated in my initial post, I want to help get novices on their way to recording and mixing. Beside the fact that I love music and appreciate the bond that music creates between us all, I remember having been frustrated at the “teaching” style of others when I was trying to get some information and help. Right now you can use the comments section to contact me or click here. I will have a link on the right hand column shortly. I am looking to create a mailing list as well.

To help the novice as well as anyone looking to get into Quartz AudioMaster audio recording software, I have created a tutorial to get your feet wet. I’m sure there are things I’ve left out that you may want help with so feel free to email me or post a comment.

I  spent a an hour or so getting aquainted with Quartz AudioMaster (QAM) today and have to say I am very impressed. The interface is sleek and pleasing to the eye, the quality of performance is very good except for a lag between making manual adjustments to controls and the execution of the move by the program. You can use rubber band/envelopes to create value changes so in a worst case scenario, if you can’t execute and capture mix moves live, you’ll be able to input them manually.

You have a four track maximum with the freeware version of QAM. If you like it I strongly suggest paying for the program. It’s a great value. If you want to get something a little more ubiquitous, splurge on the Sony products. Those of you familiar with digital audio workstation (DAW) software probably noticed that I have nothing to say about ProTools. Here’s why; I’ve hardly ever used it. It’s expensive and has never offered anything that I couldn’t either do in ACID or VEGAS or live without. I understand it is the industry standard, but if you follow along here you will find concepts and information common to all audio recording environments. If someone wants to set me up with a free ProTools workstation… I’m all ears!

So here’s an introduction to Quartz AudioMaster software:

Quartz AudioMaster Tutorial-Introduction


Quartz AudioMaster User Guide

Figure 1

Getting hooked up can be a bit confusing now that we are recording tracks. What you need to be able to understand a execute is that when you are recording multiple tracks to add layers to your composition, you need to be able to hear what you’ve already recorded but you want to make sure you’re not sending it back in with your new track and re-recording it. You want all of your tracks to be clean individual takes of the various parts.

Those of you using self contained multitrack units will find this already a function of your equipment. Those of you using ACID or another software PC based solution will find this as well but if your are not properly set up you could easily find yourself blending tracks that you don’t want to blend.

Figure 1 shows the simplest hook-up for those using a PC. Audio goes into the mic/line jack on your computer and audio comes out of the speaker/line out jack. You will arm tracks to record within your software and you will use your soundcard’s mixer utility  to select what source is recorded. Do not select “what you hear” as a recording source. Select instead, line or mic input, whichever your sound hardware supports and the corresponding input jack you are using. If you are using a microphone it must be made specifically for high impedance or line level inputs. If you really want to do this right you should invest in an audio mixer.

This step in the recording process can be very complicated or very simple, depending upon the objective. If I seem brief in covering this at this time it is not because I am trying to trivialize this step it is because I tend to have a different approach to learning and teaching this kind of material. I have noticed that several course syllabuses in audio engineering begin with the physics of sound and build from there. To me this puts the cart before the horse in a way. It is certainly a valid sequence to take but I think you will appreciate more in-depth topics and discussion once you are more familiar with the process. I want to get you going.

In tracking you want a good solid signal that will require as little manipulation as possible in the mix. Certainly, you can color the sound as much as you want if that is the effect you want and are sure that you won’t want to uncolor it later. If you can, take the time you need to get the track to sound the way you want it. Don’t rely on “fixing it in the mix”.

There are differing philosophies regarding weather or not to track with compression. In the digital domain if you have a low noise floor and can manage to be confident that you will not exceed acceptable input levels, you can do without it. If you happen to be using analogue tape and have access to a high quality compressor, maybe just a tad will help you maximize signal to noise. Generally speaking I recommend against it.

We’ll talk a little more about tracking and compression.

Before we mix we have to have something to mix. These initial posts are intended to get us all on somewhat the same page, so the next logical step is recording your performance or “tracking”. You may use different approaches to starting this process. If you are attempting a straight forward typical song arrangement without tempo changes you may want to use either the internal software metronome or a simple drum loop to preform with to maintain meter. You can program tempo changes but we’ll get into that later.

Again, if we use the paint-a-picture allegory for recording multitrack music, this is where you define your horizon and lay down the base color palette. You’ll use the instrument you are likely most comfortable with, guitar, bass, keys or just a pilot vocal, all of which you can eliminate after you build up your tracks so don’t worry so much about the quality at this point unless you are sure footed enough to record a “keeper” on your first track. One of the great things about working in the digital realm is that even if you have only four audio tracks to record with you can “bounce” them indefinitely without degradation (provided the source you record includes little or no noise). Bouncing tracks is a process that was also used decades ago with analogue tape recordings. What you are doing when you bounce tracks is combining multiple tracks together on to fewer tracks, even a single track. In the digital realm you can combine all four tracks in a four track application into one track and have three free. Something that could not be done in the analogue domain because the destination track would be wiped (recorded over) in the process. Also in the analogue domain the structure of audio tape itself along with noisy circuitry added a suffocating amount of noise and decreased dynamic range tremendously as the number of bounces increased.

In theory, as far as the actual recording parameters you have in your PC, you have the ability to record a signal technically better than almost every recording up to around the 1980’s. The magic is the music not so much the technical specs.

We’ll continue with more on tracking.

So, if things are moving along without incident:

1. You have the hardware you need
2. You have chosen some software to work with.
3. You have successfully connected your source to be recorded

Now, I’m going to share a trade secret with you.

Okay, well, maybe not a god but it sure as heck helps!

The manual is your friend. Now, I know that the inclination of most of us is to think we don’t need no stinkin’ manuals, but I have to tell you, you’re just shooting yourself in the foot if you don’t make peace with the evil document.

I feel your pain, I really do. Many manuals are poorly translated and even worse, poorly written as an after thought in the first place. Writing a cogent, human friendly manual is really an art and few there are who manage it. It takes time, money, talent and a company philosophy that really cares about the client to produce a really good manual. That said, you are generally better off squeezing what you can out of even some of the poorest manuals.

If you read my about page you know that when I started as a technician at Criteria Recording Studios I had little real hands on electronics experience. I had to rely heavily on my esoteric interpersonal strengths and on the documentation at hand (Manuals) to compensate for my exoteric weaknesses (not to mention having a great friend and chief engineer, Andy Pechenik ).

When I came to the Tampa Bay area I started working in television. It was a very exciting time in technological innovation. We were moving from analogue to digital technologies. We went from hardware specific utilities to multifunction computer hardware and software solutions.Taking the manuals home with me at night gave me a tremendous advantage in the workplace as well as the satisfaction of learning great new technologies and concepts.

Use your manuals.

Use the help file.

This blog will cover “mixing” audio not “re-mixing”. What’s the difference? The mixing we’ll cover here is the blending and arranging music sources like guitar, bass, drums, vocals, keyboards et cetera into a final complete song. Re-mixing is blending already mixed song segments into new arrangements, beat matching and scratching. There is another form of re-mixing that involves taking multi-track audio sources already used to create a mixed version and going through the mix process again to change the arrangement, sound and feel of the previously mixed song. There is a plethora of information on the Internet covering re-mixing but less covering traditional audio mixing. Again, traditional audio mixing is the focus of this blog.

We will also discuss “tracking”. Tracking is the process of recording the different parts of the song like the guitar, vocal et cetera. Tracking will include the selection of microphones, mic placement, equalization, punch-ins and more.

When I started in recording engineering we used razor blades to cut reel to reel audio tape when arranging and editing music. Today that process is much easier, safer (both to the source material and your fingers), and accurate. I guess you could call that and some of the techniques I still use “old school”.

Hopefully you’ve tooled around in the recording software you’ve chosen and have an idea of what it does. Now we need to get signal in to the software from the outside world. Sony’s ACID is not only capable of recording audio from the input of your sound card/audio interface but it is also a powerful loop based application. Even if you can’t play any instruments you can create music with a myriad of audio samples available for legal use in ACID and other loop based programs. These samples range from drum beats and bass lines to almost anything you can imagine.

If you have chosen to use only pre-recorded sampled material this post won’t offer you much but if you plan to do any recording of a live input signal, it will. At the most basic level, if you’re reading this on your computer, you likely have audio recording and playback capabilities and unless your PC is very old, you can play back multiple audio samples at one time.

For the purpose of this post we will assume you have at least one input jack and one output jack on your computer. Listening to your creations leads us into another topic we’ll cover later, monitor speakers and power amps. For now, as long as you can hear audio from your PC, we’re good.

If you want to use anything other than a PC microphone you’ll need an audio mixer. If you want to record an electric guitar, bass, keyboard or a professional or semi-professional microphone you may be able to plug directly in with cable adapters but I wouldn’t recommend it. A mixer will give you more control over your sound and create a more compatible signal to record.

For years I have used a Zoom PS-02, which is itself a palm sized four track digital recorder and signal processor to record guitar and bass lines but there are many new and inexpensive comparable devices available today. Here are some examples:

As you can see, if you have a pedal board or effect you can also go directly into your audio card with the proper adapter. Some effects units include a USB audio interface- all the  better.

CONNECTIONS

There are roughly four common jack or connector types you’ll deal with. They are:

• RCA (audio video connectors - DVD players etc.)
• 1/4″ (guitar/instrument, sometimes called phone jack)
• 1/8″ (personal listening device/PC, sometimes called mini-plug)
• XLR (low impedance, professional microphone, sometimes called Canon plug)

This is another reason why an audio mixer is preferred. It will allow you to combine and convert all of these types to a suitable format for input to your PC.

Here are some Audio Mixers to check out:

In summary, you can conceivably plug your instrument directly into your PC but it is generally a very bad idea. You can also use a PC type microphone but again, the results will be severely compromised. If you are using pre-recorded loops you can certainly do without an audio mixing board.

If you’d like to follow along, I’ll be using Sony ACID Pro software for the PC (Windows) for the most part which is one of the Sony ACID family of multitrack audio recording applications. If you’re considering purchasing one of the ACID programs there’s a fairly hefty difference in price between ACID Music Studio and ACID Pro. Look at their feature comparisons and prices to determine which is right for you. Both programs can be downloaded as thirty day trial versions, all that is required is filling out a brief registration form after installation.

There’s a very nice freeware application called Quartz AudioMaster . It’s a very capable application and one of the best I’ve seen especially for freeware. The layout and basic functions are essentially the same as ACID and most other multitrack audio recording packages.

Both programs allow you to record audio and MIDI. The freeware version of Quartz is limited to four tracks of audio. Take some time to familiarize yourself with the interface, play around, do any included tutorials and scan the help file.

Welcome to Frankly Audio.  This blog’s mission is to be a resource for those who are both new to audio engineering as well as those with experience. What I would like to accomplish for the novice is concise and practical guidance to get you going. This blog will be a combination of technical resources and instruction along with some experiential tales and anecdotes. Some readers may (understandably) not be interested in anything but the meat and potatoes. To help you avoid the “stories” I will use categories and tags to identify them.

There will be some software and hardware specific examples used but I will maintain the focus on audio engineering concepts and techniques that can translate across platforms and specific applications. Audio engineering is an art. A teacher can do a great deal for the student but ultimately it is the talent of the student that makes all of the difference.

Like a painter, the audio engineer seeks to create his picture with the tools of the trade and the tools at hand. Today’s technology enables terrific freedom and an unparalleled quality of material to be produced with a fraction of the fiscal investment that was required a few years ago.

Many like to use the Beatles’, Sergent Pepper as an example of what could be done with eight track analogue recording equipment but for me Revolver has more air and edge, most likely due to less bouncing of tracks. My point is, don’t be intimidated by equipment. Gear is only part of the equation, sound is the sum.