Recording Studio

During this lesson we were taught basic skills of how to record in a studio set up. Aside from experiencing a basic recording studio set up at home, this was the first time I had been inside a proper recording studio setup, consisting of a control room and a live room.



We began by setting up instruments in the live room and micing them up. We used an assortment of mics including AKGD112 for the kick drum, Shure SM57 for the snare, floor tom and rack tom and condenser mics for the cymbals. Electrical instruments were channeled straight through to the mixing desk. I found setting up the instruments very interesting as I was able to learn about what mics were appropriate and just how moving the mics slightly affected the sound. I also learnt the importance of making sure all wires were safely taped down to avoid trips and falls.



We noted all mics and instruments onto a whiteboard in the live room to ensure we could identify what each channel on the mixing desk was being used for.



We recorded the instruments using the mixing desk and the recording software protools. Compressors could also be patched in using the patch desk. We had to sound check each individual instrument to ensure the levels were correct. We found we had to adjust the mic on the snare drum as it was capturing a sound of just the drum skin being hit without the snare. We made a basic recording of a band playing a cover song.

The session in the studio was very interesting, i did feel I would like more time within this environment so I could learn more about how to work a mixing desk and how various compressors work and the different sounds they make. It was very useful for learning how to mic instruments but i believe more time is needed to fully learn the workings of the studio.