Recording Handbook - Hol.gr

levels of your boxes and how you interconnect them. When it's not right, it often hums or sounds a little
screwed up. It still might work, but it will give you much less than optimum performance.
To be sure that the sound at the source gets "through the gear and back to your ear", you need to check the
"gain stages" in the "signal path". Distortion can crop up in several places. Step one is your ear! Make sure
the sound at the source is what you want.
Step two is the microphone or direct output of the guitar, synth or whatever. In the case of a microphone,
the levels must be set carefully to ensure faithful reproduction of the input. Some mikes have a "pad"
switch on them as do most mixers, to prevent overloading the input level.
Step three is the input channel to the board. The level here must be set so that the signal doesn't overdrive
the channel electronics. Once that is right, the signal can be sent to tape through the "bussing" matrix (or
"group outs" as they are sometimes called) or the direct out on the channel. Obviously with multiple
signals to one track, they must go through the group outs and the level to tape is controlled by the group
output level.
Generally, in the analog world, very bright sounds get printed a little lower, to help prevent crosstalk bleed
to adjacent tracks. Sharp transient sounds and low frequency stuff like bass can be printed hot to take
advantage of tape compression. Slamming the tape isn't against the law, but make sure that's the sound
you want. This is only an analog phenomenon, overdriving digital recorders results in highly unusable
audio!
Tape return levels are optimized for direct connection to the machine so if this has been done correctly,
there is only one place left for distortion to be created... your monitor system. As long as you are aware of
how your speakers and listening enviornment are affecting the sound and you listen within the volume
limits of your amp and speakers, you should have a baseline for clean signal reproduction. Now, you can
introduce distorton at any of these points in the chain to any effect you prefer.
b. Equalization
"Equalization" is the term used to describe the process of changing the balance between high and low
frequencies. Equalizers allow us to selectively boost and/or cut specific frequencies or bands of
frequencies. "Q" refers to the width or range around the centered frequency that we are EQing, that is also
affected when we boost or cut. A narrow "Q" would be .2 of an octave, a wide "Q" would be 3 octaves.
There are many types of equalizers and they get used in many different ways by different people. In
general, "Parametric Equalizers" allow for very specific effect with adjustable Q and frequency control for
each frequency band. "Graphic Equalizers" feature as many as 31 individual sliders centered on fixed
frequencies. Tube equalizers utilize vacuum tubes in their circuits as oppossed to transistors ("solid state")
and are often preferred for their warm sound.
All mixers provide some kind of EQ, switchable on or off, in the signal path. These days semi-pro
consoles usually feature a couple of overlapping bands of semi-parametric EQ on the low-mids(200-2K)
and hi-mids(1.5K-7K), and one EQ each for the low(100 hz) and high(10K) bands with shelving switches
and low-frequency roll-off. Professional consoles offer fully- parametric designs and more overall
flexibility, as you might expect.
Since we can't all afford Neve VR consoles at home, another option for small studios is outboard
equalizers. Get a couple of good ones and insert them into the signal path and print through them to tape.
This will definitely take your sounds up a notch without totally blowing your college fund.
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