Unit 3: Studio Recording
Learning Outcome 1: Plan a recording session in response to a given brief
Alan Jedrzejowski
Health and safety:
Exposure to noise at work: The legal amount of noise exposure a person can intake at work is a maximum of 85 decibels, which is the daily or weekly average exposure, this is too avoid permanent damage to your ears or ultimately lose hearing, which is not what a music producer wants to risk. And the maximum amount employers who are in training are allowed to listen to is 80 decibels, so their ears can adjust to the loud sounds and prepare them for the 85 decibels their ears will intake after they come out of training. Also the maximum time you are allowed to listen to 85 decibels is a maximum of 8 hours daily and if your workplace allows 88 to 90 decibels you are only permitted to 4hour work daily at 88-90 decibels.
www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg362.pdf
www.hse.gov.uk/NOISE/regulations.htm
Display screens: The HSE recommends you to take a 5 to 10minute break after every 50 to 60 minutes of you looking at a computer monitor, which is also healthier than taking a 20minute break after 2 to 3 hours of monitor usage. The amount of monitor usage daily which you are allowed to get up to is 11 hours but you should definitely take 5 to 10 minute breaks between each hour to help you reduce headaches, which some could make you reduce your work pace and if you have a deadline coming up soon, this could prove costly. Also there are obvious long term consequences to over usage of monitors/ electronics and not taking breaks in between, which is the loss of sight or in the scenario only damaged eyesight, which still could prove very costly to producers later in the career.
https://www.ihasco.co.uk/…/it-health-and-safety-how-often-should-i-take-a-break-from-…
Trip hazards: Trip Hazards are a very common thing in the music studio, these small trip hazards are very dangerous in a studio as even one tiny spill or trip can break the whole studio, the way to avoid trip hazards is to clean up any spills instantly, a smart idea would be have some tissues or wet wipes in your studio at all times, make sure the walkways are clear off debris, rubbish and obstacles such as chairs and other things like that, as if someone is not looking directly where they are going then just make sure any walkways are always clear of anything, and keep rubbish in the bins if you have in or outside the studio. If you have any cabinets or desk drawers inside of the studio make sure they are always closed if not in use as if someone is walking past or standing up it is use to knock that drawer which could tip something over such as a cup which could prove to be very costly for the studio. Always cover cables or cords inside of walkways to make sure they don’t wrap around someone’s leg. Also if any bulbs have burnt-out make sure to replace them promptly to keep your studio lit up well so you see everything in walkways and the trip hazard is removed, one more way to eliminate trip hazards is to replace used up flooring and to potentially mount abrasive floor mats onto flooring where it is required.
https://www.safetyandhealthmagazine.com/articles/14029-preventing-slips-trips-and-falls
Microphones and DI:
Dynamic Microphones: Dynamic microphones are best used for recording high volume and percussive instruments such as snare drums, guitar amplifiers and also vocals. They are the best for this as they extremely durable and take a lot to break, which means they’re perfect for busy studios where there is a higher chance of them getting knocked over, as they are able to take a beating. You still have to take care of them, but if an accident happens they’re more rugged than condenser microphones so have a much lower chance of breaking. Thay also provide good sound quality in all the areas of microphone performance, even though you are able to purchase them for a relatively cheap price so there’s a lot of advantages to dynamic microphones but there is also obvious disadvantages, such as they are a heavy microphone, which results in the movement of the diaphragm and the wire coil will be limited to the movement of the assembly, which will end up restricting the frequency and transient response of the microphone. Also as this microphone is designed to take lower and louder frequencies, it will not be suitable to record an instrument with higher frequencies such as a violin, and if that is the only microphone you have available then it could result in big problems in recording with a band which contains a violin player, so this would result in you being annoyed as the recording didn’t go to plan and will also leave the band annoyed as you didn’t do your research and didn’t plan the recording correctly. So overall Dynamic microphones can be used for many applications, produce an excellent sound and are suitably rugged. They are best avoided when recording high frequency content on an important recording.
The sound produced from a dynamic microphone can be described as being mellow and well rounded.
(What ones do we have – Shure SM57 + Shure SM58 – which ones are you going to use and why?)
Condenser microphones: Condenser microphones are most commonly found inside studios, they also have a much greater frequency response and transient response, which means they are much better with higher frequencies as they are very sensitive to lower frequencies and louder frequencies, which means they are the best with much mellow and higher sounds and those kind of instruments are violins, violas and cellos. A main advantage to the use of a condenser microphone is that the diaphragm assembly is far more light compared to a dynamic microphone, which will result in it being more efficient in moving them around if needed, and is capable of capturing much higher sounds and a bigger range of them. Also its transient response is much better than dynamic microphones. Also, it is easier to obtain a flat frequency response, which therefore will result in a much extended range of frequency. Also, these are a lot smaller in design, which will result in them being much easier to transport around the studio or wherever they need to be moved to. But, on the other hand a main disadvantage of using condenser microphones is that there is a limit to the maximum signal level the electronics within the microphones can take, which is lower than the that of the dynamic microphones. Also, they are far more complex than dynamic microphones in use and also tend to be more adversely affected by extremes of temperature and humidity, which means you have to make sure your studio is cool and is not humid, which could potentially be hard to achieve in the winter seasons, if you do not have windows or air con, and could prove costly as you may have invest in the purchase of air con within your studio if you don’t want your condenser microphones to break. Also, the cheaper models of condenser microphones have a chance of making a small amount of noise within the electronics, which may result in unwanted background noise within your track which you obviously won’t want inside of your track.
What ones do we have – Rode NT1-A, AKG 414, AKG D1 12, Sontronics STC-1S, Nueman TLM 103 (going to use it for vocal overdub) – which ones are you going to use and why?