Resources

Home
Tutorials
Software Projects
Project Studio
Contact The Staff
Admin

Music Technology Lab
"I love the MuseLab" -Euterpe, muse of music


Tutorial V: Recording Process

Home | Tutorials

This tutorial will guide you through the setup and recording of a concert.
  1. Camp Concert Hall
    1. Most of the setup was discussed in Tutorial III: The Triangle. Please refer to this tutorial for any setup questions.
    2. Signal from the triangle should be coming in on channels 9, 10 and 11 on the O2R board.
    3. These channels are normalled to the DAT and CDR in the PS Rack (to the left of the O2R boards).
      4. This means that the signal is automatically sent to the two recording sources.
    4. The system is hooked up so that the signal is sent both digitally and analogally. It is much easier to take the digital approach, considering it's all hooked up for you already.
    5. Place a DAT tape in the DAT deck.



    6. Press Record and Pause at the same time and the DAT machine will go into record mode. You should then see activity on the Level Meter (You should be receiving signal). The Display Screen should also read "AES/EBU44"
    7. The switches on the right side should read as follows:

      8. Clock Record Mode Fs Input Digital Input Analog Input
      D-IN
      Standard
      44.1k
      Digital
      AES/EBU
      CAL

      (You can switch the record mode from "Standard" to "HR (24BIT)" for a higher quality recording - however, this mode shortens the length of recording time on the DAT tape.)
    8. When you're ready to record, press record and play together. You make have to press them several times. Make sure the DAT is actually recording.
    9. You may want to record a little bit before the concert even starts and listen back to make sure that it recorded. (Listen back through the headphones hooked directly into the DAT deck.)
    10. Get a program of the concert before it starts and mark the time on the DAT on the program as each piece starts.
    11. While you're recording, you can tell how far the DAT is away from clipping by the number on the display screen to the right of the level meter, called the margin. A margin of 0 means that you have clipped. You do not want this to happen. The margin keeps track of the loudest sound that has happened, so if you are monitoring and changing levels, you will want to push the little button called "margin reset" to give you an accurate picture of your so-called audio ceiling as the concert progresses.
    12. When the concert is over, it is the lab assistant's responsibility to:
      1. Stop the DAT, rewind it, label it and place it in the "DATs to be done" box in the project studio.
      2. Shut down all recording equipment in the lab (including phantom power on the mics (on the preamp) and the switch to the Grace preamp on the wall)
      3. make sure that a decision has been made about what to do with the microphones (if they are to be taken out of the triangle, he/she will do that), and assist Modlin Center staff in any additional post-concert gathering of cables, etc.