Recording studio: Difference between revisions

Browse history interactively

← Previous edit Next edit →

Content deleted Content added

VisualWikitext

Inline

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-{{Further|Movie studio|Studio|Television studio}}
-[[File:Intermediapost Recording Studio.jpg|thumb|The control room of a recording studio]]
-[[File:An-Najah University media room Victor 2011 -1-70.jpg|thumb|right|An audio production facility at [[An-Najah National University]] ]]
-A '''recording studio''' is a facility for [[Sound recording and reproduction|sound recording]] and [[Audio mixing (recorded music)|mixing]]. Ideally both the [[Studio recording|recording]] and monitoring spaces are specially designed by an [[acoustics|acoustician]] to achieve optimum acoustic properties (acoustic isolation or diffusion or absorption of reflected sound that could otherwise interfere with the sound heard by the listener).
-Recording studios may be used to record musicians, [[voice-over]] artists for advertisements or [[Dubbing (filmmaking)|dialogue replacement]] in film, television or animation, [[Foley (filmmaking)|foley]], or to record their accompanying musical soundtracks. The typical recording studio consists of a room called the "studio" or "live room", where instrumentalists and vocalists perform; and the "[[control room]]", where [[audio engineer|sound engineer]]s sometimes with producer(s) as well operate either [[professional audio]] mixing consoles or computers (post 1980s) with specialized software suites to manipulate and route the sound for [[analog recording|analogue]] or [[digital recording|digital]] recording. Often, there will be smaller rooms called "isolation booths" present to accommodate loud instruments such as drums or electric guitar, to keep these sounds from being audible to the [[microphone]]s that are capturing the sounds from other instruments, or to provide "drier" rooms for recording vocals or quieter acoustic instruments.
-==Design and equipment==
-[[File:Neve VR60 (The Engine Room).jpg|thumb|upright|Neve VR60, a multitrack mixing console.]]
-Recording studios generally consist of three rooms: the studio itself, where the sound for the recording is created (often referred to as the "live room"), the control room, where the sound from the studio is recorded and manipulated, and the machine room, where noisier equipment that may interfere with the recording process is kept. Recording studios are carefully designed around the principles of room [[acoustics]] to create a set of spaces with the acoustical properties required for recording sound with precision and accuracy. This will consist of both room treatment (through the use of [[Absorption (acoustics)|absorption]] and [[Sound diffuser|diffusion]] materials on the surfaces of the room, and also consideration of the physical dimensions of the room itself in order to make the room respond to sound in a desired way) and [[soundproofing]] (also to provide sonic isolation between the rooms) to prevent sound from leaving the property. A recording studio may include additional rooms, such as a vocal booth—a small room designed for voice recording, as well as one or more extra control rooms.
-Equipment found in a recording studio commonly includes:
-* [[Mixing console]]
-* [[Multitrack recording|Multitrack recorder]]
-* [[Microphones]]
-* [[Reference monitors]], which are [[loudspeakers]] with a flat [[frequency response]]
-* [[Keyboard instrument|Keyboard]]
-* [[Drum kit|Acoustic drum kit]]
-Equipment may include:
-* [[Digital audio workstation]]
-* [[Music workstation]]
-* On Air or Recording Light
-* Outboard effects, such as [[audio level compression|compressors]], [[reverberation|reverbs]], or [[equalization (audio)|equalizers]]
-==Digital audio workstations==
-{{Main|Digital audio workstation}}
-General purpose  computers have rapidly assumed a large role in the recording process, being able to replace the [[mixing console]]s, [[multitrack recording|recorders]], [[synthesizer]]s, [[Sampler (musical instrument)|Samplers]] and sound effects devices. A computer thus outfitted is called a [[Digital Audio Workstation]], or DAW. Popular audio-recording software includes Apple [[Logic Pro]], Digidesign's [[Pro Tools]]—near standard for most professional studios—[[Cubase]] and [[Nuendo]] both by [[Steinberg]], [[Mark of the Unicorn|MOTU]] [[Digital Performer]]—popular for MIDI. Other software applications include [[Ableton Live]], [[Cakewalk Sonar]], [[ACID Pro]], [[FL Studio]], [[Adobe Audition]], [[Auto-Tune]], [[Audacity (audio editor)|Audacity]], and [[Ardour (audio processor)|Ardour]].
-Current software applications are more reliant on the audio recording hardware than the computer they are running on, therefore typical high-end computer hardware is less of a priority unless midi is involved. While [[Apple Macintosh]] is used for most studio work, there is a breadth of software available for [[Microsoft Windows]] and [[Linux]].
-If no [[mixing console]] is used and all mixing is done using only a keyboard and mouse, this is referred to as ''mixing in the box'' ("ITB").
-"OTB" is used when mixing with other hardware and not just the PC software.
-==Project studios==
-[[File:Allen & Heath GS3000 mixing console in The Furnace residential recording studio.jpg|thumb|right|upright|[[Allen & Heath]] GS3000 analogue mixing console in a home studio]]
-{{Main|Home recording}}
-A small, personal recording studio is sometimes called a project studio or ''home studio''. Such studios often cater to specific needs of an individual artist, or are used as a [[non-commercial]] hobby. The first modern project studios came into being during the mid-1980s, with the advent of affordable [[multitrack recording]] devices, [[synthesizers]] and [[microphone]]s. The phenomenon has flourished with falling prices of [[MIDI]] equipment and accessories, as well as inexpensive [[direct to disk recording]] products.
-Recording drums and electric guitar in a home studio is challenging, because they are usually the loudest instruments. Conventional drums require sound isolation in this scenario, unlike electronic or sampled drums. Getting an authentic electric guitar amp sound including power-tube distortion requires a power attenuator (either power-soak or power-supply based) or an isolation box or booth. A convenient compromise is amp simulation, whether a modelling amp, preamp/processor, or software-based guitar amp simulator. Sometimes, musicians replace loud, inconvenient instruments such as drums, with keyboards, which today often provide somewhat realistic [[Sample-based synthesis|sampling]].
-The capability of [[digital recording]] introduced by the [[Alesis]] [[ADAT]] and its comparatively low cost, originally introduced at $3995, were largely responsible for the rise of project studios in the 1990s.<ref>George Petersen, "In Memoriam: Keith Barr 1949-2010", Mix Magazine Online, Aug 2010, http://mixonline.com/news/keith_barr_obit_2508/index1.html</ref>
-==Isolation booth==
-An ''isolation booth'' is a standard small room in a recording studio, which is both soundproofed to keep out external sounds and keep in the internal sounds, and like all the other recording rooms in sound industry, it is designed for having a lesser amount of diffused reflections from walls to make a good sounding room. A drummer, vocalist, or guitar speaker cabinet, along with microphones, is acoustically isolated in the room. A professional recording studio has a ''control room'', a large ''live room'', and one or more small ''isolation booths''. All rooms are soundproofed such as with double-layer walls with dead space and insulation in-between the two walls, forming a room-within-a-room.
-Thomas A. Watson invented, but did not patent, the soundproof booth for use in demonstrating the telephone with Alexander Graham Bell in 1877.<ref>The birth and babyhood of the telephone</ref> There are variations of the same concept, including a portable standalone isolation booth, a compact guitar speaker isolation cabinet, or a larger guitar speaker cabinet isolation box.
-A ''gobo panel'' achieves the same idea to a much more moderate extent; for example, a drum kit that is too loud in the live room or on stage can have [[acrylic glass]] see-through gobo panels placed around it to deflect the sound and keep it from bleeding into the other microphones, allowing more independent control of each instrument channel at the [[Mixing console|mixing board]].
-All rooms in a recording studio may have a reconfigurable combination of reflective and non-reflective surfaces, to control the amount of reverberation.
-In animation, vocal performances are normally recorded in individual sessions, and the actors have to imagine (with the help of the director and/or a reader) they are involved in dialogue (as opposed to a monologue). Animated films often evolve rapidly during both development and production, so keeping vocal tracks from bleeding into each other is essential to preserving the ability to fine-tune lines up to the last minute. Sometimes, if the rapport between the lead actors is strong enough and the animation studio can afford it, the producers may use a recording studio configured with multiple isolation booths in which the actors can see each another and the director. This enables the actors to react to one another in real time as if they were on a regular stage or film set.
-== History ==
-{{See also|History of sound recording}}
-{{Anchor|Acoustical recording}}
-=== 1890s to 1930s ===
-[[File:Control-room2.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Watching a trumpet player from the control room, during a recording.]]
-In the era of acoustical recordings (prior to the introduction of microphones, electrical recording and amplification), the earliest recording studios were very basic facilities, being essentially soundproof rooms that isolated the performers from outside noise. During this era it was not uncommon for recordings to be made in any available location, such as a local ballroom, using portable acoustic recording equipment.
-In this period, master recordings were made using a [[Direct to disc recording|direct-to-disc]] cutting process. Performers were typically grouped around a large acoustic horn (an enlarged version of the familiar [[phonograph]] horn). The acoustic energy from the voices and/or instruments was channeled through the horn's diaphragm to a mechanical cutting lathe located in the next room, which inscribed the signal as a modulated groove directly onto the surface of the master cylinder or disc.
-Following the invention and commercial introduction of the [[microphone]], the electronic [[amplifier]], the [[mixing desk]] and the [[loudspeaker]], the recording industry gradually converted to electric recording, and by 1925 this technology had replaced mechanical acoustic recording methods for such major labels as [[RCA Victor]] and [[Columbia Records|Columbia]], and by 1933 acoustic recording was completely disused.
-===1940s to 1970s===
-[[File:DM Recording Studio.jpg|thumb|right|The [[Siemens]] Studio for Electronic Music ca. 1956.]]
-Electrical recording was common by the early 1930s, and mastering lathes were now electrically powered, but master recordings still had to be cut [[Direct to disc recording|direct-to-disc]]. In line with the prevailing musical trends, studios in this period were primarily designed for the live recording of symphony orchestras and other large instrumental ensembles. Engineers soon found that large, reverberant spaces like concert halls created a vibrant acoustic signature that greatly enhanced the sound of the recording, and in this period large, acoustically "live" halls were favored, rather than the acoustically "dead" booths and studio rooms that became common after the 1960s.
-Because of the limits of the recording technology, studios of the mid-20th century were designed around the concept of grouping musicians and singers, rather than separating them, and placing the performers and the microphones strategically to capture the complex acoustic and harmonic interplay that emerged during the performance. Modern [[sound stage]]s still sometimes use this approach for large [[film score|film scoring]] projects today.
-Because of their superb acoustics, many of the larger studios were converted churches. Examples include [[George Martin]]'s [[AIR Studios]] in [[London]], the famed [[CBS 30th Street Studio|Columbia Records 30th Street Studio]] in New York City (a converted Armenian church, with a ceiling over 100 feet high),<ref name="SIMONS">{{cite book|last=Simons|first=David|title=Studio Stories - How the Great New York Records Were Made | location = San Francisco | publisher = Backbeat Books | year = 2004 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=uEmmAK1qjbYC&printsec=frontcover}}</ref> and the equally famous [[Decca Records]] [[Pythian Temple (New York City)|Pythian Temple]] studio in New York (where artists like [[Louis Jordan]], [[Bill Haley]] and [[Buddy Holly]] were recorded) which was also a large converted church that featured a high, domed ceiling in the center of the hall.
-Facilities like the Columbia Records 30th Street Studio in New York and [[EMI]]'s [[Abbey Road Studio]] in London were renowned for their 'trademark' sound—which was (and still is) easily identifiable by audio professionals—and for the skill of their staff engineers.
-In [[New York City]], [[Columbia Records]] had some of the most highly respected sound recording studios, including the [[CBS 30th Street Studio|Columbia 30th Street Studio]] at 207 East 30th Street, the [[CBS Studio Building]] at 49 East 52nd Street, [[Liederkranz Hall]] at 111 East 58th Street between Park and Lexington Avenues (a building built by and formerly belonging to a German cultural and musical society, The Liederkranz Club and Society),<ref>[http://www.liederkranznycity.org/history.asp "History of The Liederkranz of the City of New York"] - The Liederkranz of the City of New York website. The Liederkranz Club put up a building in 1881 at 111-119 East 58th Street, east of Park Avenue.</ref><ref name="KAHN2001">[[Ashley Kahn|Kahn, Ashley]], [https://books.google.com/books?id=6QArFwi9buUC&printsec=frontcover ''Kind of Blue: The Making of the Miles Davis Masterpiece''], Da Capo Press, 2001. Cf. [https://books.google.com/books?id=6QArFwi9buUC&pg=PA75&lpg=PA75&dq=liederkranz+hall+columbia+records&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6#v=onepage&q=liederkranz%20hall&f=false p.75]</ref> and one of their earliest recording studios, "Studio A" at 799 Seventh Avenue.<ref name="SIMONS"/>
-Electric recording studios in the mid-20th century often lacked isolation booths, baffles, and sometimes even speakers, and it was not until the 1960s, with the introduction of the high-fidelity [[headphones]] that it became common practice for performers to use headsets to monitor their performance during recording and listen to playbacks.
-It was difficult to isolate all the performers—a major reason that this practice was not used was simply because recordings were usually made as live ensemble 'takes' and all the performers needed to be able to see each other and the ensemble leader while playing. The recording engineers who trained in this period learned to take advantage of the complex acoustic effects that could be created through "leakage" between different microphones and groups of instruments, and these technicians became extremely skilled at capturing the unique acoustic properties of their studios and the musicians in performance.
-The use of different kinds of [[microphone]]s and their placement around the studio was a crucial part of the recording process, and particular brands of microphone were used by engineers for their specific audio characteristics. The smooth-toned ribbon microphones developed by the [[RCA]] company in the 1930s were crucial to the "crooning" style perfected by [[Bing Crosby]], and the famous [[Georg Neumann|Neumann]] U47 [[condenser microphone]] was one of the most widely used from the 1950s. This model is still widely regarded by audio professionals as one of the best microphones of its type ever made.
-Learning the correct placement of microphones was a major part of the training of young engineers, and many became extremely skilled in this craft. Well into the 1960s, in the classical field it was not uncommon for engineers to make high-quality orchestral recordings using only one or two microphones suspended above the orchestra.
-In the 1960s, engineers began experimenting with placing microphones much closer to instruments than had previously been the norm. The distinctive rasping tone of the horn sections on the [[Beatles]] recordings "[[Good Morning Good Morning]]" and "[[Lady Madonna]]" were achieved by having the saxophone players position their instruments so that microphones were virtually inside the mouth of the horn.
-The unique sonic characteristics of the major studios imparted a special character to many of the most famous popular recordings of the 1950s and 1960s, and the recording companies jealously guarded these facilities. According to sound historian David Simons, after Columbia took over the 30th Street Studios in the late 1940s and [[A&R]] manager [[Mitch Miller]] had tweaked it to perfection, Miller issued a standing order that the drapes and other fittings were not to be touched, and the cleaners had specific orders never to mop the bare wooden floor for fear it might alter the acoustic properties of the hall.
-There were several other features of studios in this period that contributed to their unique "sonic signatures". As well as the inherent sound of the large recording rooms, many of the best studios incorporated specially-designed [[echo chamber]]s, purpose-built rooms which were often built beneath the main studio.
-These were typically long, low rectangular spaces constructed from hard, sound-reflective materials like concrete, fitted with a loudspeaker at one end and one or more microphones at the other. During a recording session, a signal from one or more of the microphones in the studio could be routed to the loudspeaker in the echo chamber; the sound from the speaker reverberated through the chamber and the enhanced signal was picked up by the microphone at the other end. This echo-enhanced signal—which was often used to 'sweeten' the sound of vocals—could then be blended in with the primary signal from the microphone in the studio and mixed into the track as the master recording was being made.
-Special equipment was another notable feature of the "classic" recording studio. The biggest studios were owned and operated by large media companies like RCA, Columbia and EMI, who typically had their own electronics research and development divisions that designed and built custom-made recording equipment and mixing consoles for their studios.
-Likewise, the smaller independent studios were often owned by skilled electronics engineers who designed and built their own desks and other equipment. A good example of this is the famous [[Gold Star Studios]] in Los Angeles, the site of many famous American pop recordings of the 1960s. Co-owner David S. Gold built the studio's main mixing desk and many additional pieces of equipment and he also designed the studio's unique trapezoidal echo chambers.
-During the 1950s and 1960s, the sound of pop recordings was further defined by the introduction of proprietary sound processing devices such as equalizers and compressors, which were manufactured by specialist electronics companies. One of the best known of these was the famous [[Pultec]] equalizer, which was used by almost all the major commercial studios of the time.
-With the introduction of [[multi-track recording]], it became possible to record instruments and singers separately and at different times on different tracks on tape, although it was not until the 1970s that the large recording companies began to adopt this practice widely, and throughout the 1960s many "pop" classics were still recorded live in a single take.
-After the 1960s, the emphasis shifted to isolation and sound-proofing, with treatments like echo and reverberation added separately during the mixing process, rather than being blended in during the recording. One regrettable outcome of this trend, which coincided with rising inner-city property values, was that many of the largest studios were either demolished or redeveloped for other uses.
-In the mid 20th century, recordings were [[Analog recording|analog]], made on ¼-inch or ½-inch [[magnetic tape]], or, more rarely, on 35mm [[film stock|magnetic film]], with [[History of multitrack recording|multitrack recording]] reaching 8 tracks in the 1950s, 16 in 1968, and 32 in the 1970s. The commonest such tape is the 2-inch analog, capable of containing up to 24 individual tracks. Generally, after an audio mix is set up on a 24-track tape machine, the signal is played back and sent to a different machine, which records the combined signals (called ''printing'') to a ½-inch 2-track stereo tape, called a ''master''.
-Before digital recording, the total number of available tracks onto which one could record was measured in multiples of 24, based on the number of 24-track tape machines being used. Most recording studios now use [[digital recording]] equipment, which limits the number of available tracks only on the basis of the [[mixing console]]'s or computer hardware interface's capacity and the ability of the hardware to cope with processing demands.
-Analog tape machines are still well sought, for some purists label digitally recorded audio as sounding too harsh, and the scarcity and age of analog tape machines greatly increases their value, as does the fact that many audio engineers still insist on recording only to analog tape.
-==Radio studios==
-[[File:Ridge Radio Studio.jpg|thumb|The studio at Ridge Radio in [[Caterham]], England]]
-Radio studios are very similar to recording studios, particularly in the case of production studios which are not normally used [[Radio broadcasting|on-air]]. This type of studio would normally have all of the same equipment that any other audio recording studio would have, particularly if it is at a large station, or at a combined facility that houses a station group, but is designed for groups of people to work collaboratively in a live to air situation (see [http://www.allenandunwin.com/default.aspx?page=94&book=9781742372075 Ahern, S, Making Radio]).<ref>Ahern, S (ed), [http://www.allenandunwin.com/default.aspx?page=94&book=9781742372075 Making Radio], Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 2011. Studio Chapter</ref>
-Broadcast studios also use many of the same principles such as sound isolation, with adaptations suited to the live on-air nature of their use. Such equipment would commonly include a [[telephone hybrid]] for putting [[telephone call]]s on the air, a [[POTS codec]] for receiving [[remote broadcast]]s, a [[dead air]] [[alarm]] for detecting unexpected [[silence]], and a [[broadcast delay]] for dropping anything from [[cough]]s to [[profanity]]. In the U.S., stations [[broadcast license|license]]d by the [[Federal Communications Commission]] (FCC) also must have an [[Emergency Alert System]] decoder (typically in the studio), and in the case of full-power stations, an encoder that can interrupt programming on all channels which a station transmits in order to broadcast urgent warnings.
-[[personal computer|Computer]]s are also used for playing [[radio advertisement|ad]]s, [[jingle]]s, [[commercial bumper|bumper]]s, [[soundbite]]s, phone calls, [[sound effect]]s, [[traffic report|traffic]] and [[weather forecasting|weather reports]], and now full [[broadcast automation]] when nobody is around. For [[talk show]]s, a producer and/or assistant in a control room runs the show, including [[call screening|screening calls]] and entering the [[calling party|caller]]s' names and subject into a [[wikt:queue|queue]], which the [[radio personality|show's host]] can see and make a proper introduction with. Radio contest winners can also be edited on the fly and put on the air within a minute or two after they have been recorded accepting their prize.
-Additionally, [[digital mixing console]]s can be interconnected via [[audio over Ethernet]], or split into two parts, with inputs and outputs wired to a rackmount audio engine, and one or more control surfaces (mixing boards) and/or computers connected via [[serial port]], allowing the producer or the talent to control the show from either point. With [[Ethernet]] and [[audio over IP]] (live) or [[FTP]] (recorded), this also allows [[:wikt:remote access|remote access]], so that [[DJ]]s can do shows from a home studio via [[ISDN]] or the [[Internet]]. Additional outside audio connections are required for the [[studio/transmitter link]] for [[Wireless|over-the-air]] stations, [[satellite dish]]es for sending and receiving shows, and for [[webcasting]] or [[podcasting]].
-==See also==
-* [[Audio engineering]]
-* [[Isolation cabinet (guitar)]]
-* [[Re-amp]]
-* [[Record producer]]
-* [[Room acoustics]]
-* [[Sound recording and reproduction|Sound recording]]
-* [[Soundproofing]]
-* [[Sound baffle]]
-* [[Talkback (recording)]]
-* [[List of music software]]
-==Footnotes==
-{{reflist|2}}
-== Further reading ==
-* Cogan, Jim; Clark, William. ''Temples of Sound: Inside the Great Recording Studios''. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2003.
-* Horning, Susan Schmidt. ''Chasing Sound: Technology, Culture, and the Art of Studio Recording from Edison to the LP''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2013.
-* [[Phil Ramone|Ramone, Phil]]; Granata, Charles L. ''Making Records: The Scenes Behind the Music''. New York: Hyperion, 2007.
-==External links==
-* [http://www.recording-history.org/ The History of Sound Recording Technology]
-* [https://soundbetter.com/s/recording-studios The Complete Directory of Recording Studios]
-{{DEFAULTSORT:Recording Studio}}
-[[Category:Recording studios| ]]
-[[Category:Television terminology]]

Revision as of 19:16, 21 July 2016