| What
is a 'studio' anyway? |
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There
are many different types of 'studio' or recording facility
The
high-end music recording studio is often a large facility
with an acoustically designed control room, several performance
areas and equipment of a high calibre.
It
typically has a large mixing console, various multitracks, quality
monitors, many signal processors and professional microphones to
handle any recording situation.
Most
top studios will generally also have one or more Digital Audio Workstations
(DAWs) - specialised audio computers that integrate with the other
equipment to allow complex recording, mixing, signal processing
and post-production.
The
whole package can look, feel and sound fantastic - both to the engineers
working there, and the clients who record. And
the cost? Well, the control room shown here is only one small part
of the Metropolis Audio complex in Melbourne, Australia - which,
while no-one actually knows the exact sum, was reputed to have cost
several tens of millions to set up ...
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the other end of the scale, we have ... |
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The
home recording set-up, often located in somebody's spare
room. It can be as basic as a stand-alone digital recorder-mixer
similar to the Roland VS840 shown at right, a set of headphones
and a budget mic or two.
Or
it could consist of a digital or analogue multitrack recorder teamed
with a simple mixer and some ancillary equipment ...
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or a computer with a sound card and some recording software ...
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or a MIDI computer set-up with a keyboard and MIDI software ...
Or
any combination of these.
The
only thing that is almost certain is that once you start with a
recording set-up at home, it is very rare not to add to it, piece
by piece, until gradually ...
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The Roland VS840
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...
your home studio, which started out as something simple, begins
to evolve.
It
metamorphoses into a complex specialized workplace that begins to
resemble - or even becomes - a small version of the next type of
studio described below.
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A simple mixer
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| Somewhere
between the big commercial studio and the home studio, we have ... |
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The
project studio, or special-purpose small studio which
is usually intended for specific tasks. They are usually built by
someone with a passion for recording and a mission in life - perhaps
to record demos for their band, to knock their songwriting ideas
into shape, to record advertising jingles, or produce music and
effects for film and video.
Some
of these started off as home studios and evolved into project studios.
Others are designed from scratch to be a small, privately-controlled
recording environment.
Many
end up as boutique facilities that are available for hire to other
musicians, composers and songwriters. And if the owner trusts you
with their 'baby', you might even get to cut your teeth as a sound
engineer in one of these ... but don't hold your breath.
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By
now, you're probably getting the idea - the terms used to
describe studios are fairly meaningless. They are convenient
labels, but they are labels that represent points on a
continuum, not specific types of recording facility.
Small
studio recording has improved so much that sometimes recording
quality exceeds that of the big studios as long as proper
attention is paid to production details such as mic technique,
control of unwanted noise, correct recording levels and appropriate
use of EQ.
If
both you and your recording facility are equipped to 'do the
job', you will probably do some fine work there.
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| So
what is 'the job' that a studio should be equipped to do? |
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Instead
of taking an "inventory" approach, i.e. "what equipment do we find
in a studio?", it is more useful to take a "needs" approach, i.e.
"What does a studio need to be able to do?"
If
you know what a recording facility needs to do it means that you
are already half-way towards understanding the nature of the equipment
needed to service those needs.
All
types of studio - from home studio to multi-million dollar commercial
studio - must satisfy these needs so that the studio can achieve
its purpose without making life difficult for both engineer and
talent.
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its type, the recording facility must be able to: |
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Capture,
record, route, combine, re-record and edit sounds,
modify their nature, and let you hear and see what is happening.
It should do all this in an appropriate acoustic and creative
environment that supports the people working there.
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These
are basic requirements - they apply whether you are operating
music software from home or working in a large professional studio.
Part
2 will look at these requirements in more detail ...
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More
detail
on these
requirements
in Part 2 ...
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Studio Recording - An Introduction
