Studios

"Down town" studios are many and varied.  This is a complex method of earning a buck.  You can get sucked into this world and blow a lot of money and get nothing out of it.  You need to study this proposition carefully before diving in.  Read the rag sheets like Mix magazine and definitely visit several studios and get acquainted with how they operate.  This is a challenge, since their time is worth cash, and they don't want to waste their time.  The ideal situation is tag along with some group that is about to spend their life savings on recording a tune, and sit in the corner an observe.

If you have a plan, and you are already familiar with the recording industry, go for it.  Your game plan should have a solid reason to use the massive electronic potential of a professional studio.  Maybe you have a contract and your producer booked the studio.  In that case your in wonderland anyway.  If the bill is being paid by you, have a good plan, especially and exit plan.  Know when to quit before your broke.

If this all sounds scary, then I've done my job.  You can do so much with your own home studio.  It does require a space that is logical to do sound recording (not adjacent a ball bearing plant or a dog kennel ).  It requires a basic set of gear.  And it needs to be set up on a permanent basis, not a fold down from a closet that is in the dining room, and has to be out of the way by dinner.

Bob's Basic Hit Factory

Okay, its time to lay it out on the table.  The plan that is, please!  A room of about 10x13 is the minimum.  Try for something bigger, maybe 20x20.  This allows for other musicians to set up amps, etc. , and still have room to breathe - not deeply though.  Bigger the better until the room starts to reverberate, then you have to get into acoustic padding to control the reflections.  At some point you are looking at two rooms.  One for the gear, and one for the musicians.  Many people have such an arrangement in their house, but it is not that necessary to go so far, especially if you are mainly MIDI based.

I will focus on a one man show that has a set up of outboard rack mounted tone generators, drum machine, a couple of synth boxes, and a MIDI keyboard.  Along side that is a computer that has a card plugged in that has four channels of analog conversions, so that stereo can migrate in and out without having to change wiring.  We will need an outboard mixer for the analog outputs of the rack tone generators and a MIDI interface box to connect the computer to the rack mount equipment.  Next is a couple of close field speakers that have the amps built in or a stereo rack mount amp to drive them.  It is also nice to have a set of drum pads mounted so they can be hit in a natural drumming way.  Lets use a Multipad unit that has six square pads arranged as a square about 18" on a side, and mount that on a snare drum stand set at chair height, so Bob can hit the pads with easy from the Master Control Throne or comfortable chair that is set for ease of using the computer and the MIDI keyboard.  Here is the arrangement.

We'll use Bob's Studio as a hypothetical and work from there.  Most rooms have a window or two, but the less the better and that is really a noise consideration more than anything.  You don't want to record the next door neighbors yelling at their cat to come in.  Noise from the rest of the house is also a big concern.  Try to pick a space that is relatively isolated.  Basements are superb. You will probably have to do a little isolating and padding to get it right.

More basics.  Power - always use the protective power strips to hook up equipment.  All of it is sensitive to voltage noise and spikes.  Wall warts or those little lumpy plugs that convert AC down to some low voltage that run a lot of boxes and are a nuisance.  You can buy short AC lines that plug into the wall wart and then into the power strip making available all the plugs on the strip.  You can also buy a rack mount box that converts the voltage down and then only small cables from the back of this box go to your equipment.  This is even better.  Watch where you plug the PA system amp and mixer, so that when powering up or down you avoid a loud pop in the speaks.  Separate things logically when plugging into the power strips.  This way you can turn off the power at the strips and leave the rack front panel power buttons on. Just make sure the speaker amp comes on last and goes off first.

When using separate rack mount boxes, put them into a fiberglass cabinet built to accept them.  These boxes usually have covers for the front and back.  Bob is going to use a 12U rack.  A "U" stands for unit and measures 1.75" high.  This is a standard sizing technique used for most rack mountable boxes.  I've never seen an exception, but better manufacturers shave a little off the top and bottom, so that adjacent boxes don't run into each other when placed in the rack mount shell.  Modular MIDI gear is measure in "U's".  So a 4U Moog synth box would be 7" high and you would have 8U left to stuff other things into the cabinet.  Using this arrangement is nice, because you can wire the thing as a unit and move it without undoing the connections.  There will be analog outs, AC ins, and MIDI wires coming out the back, but if kept organized, can be hooked up easily and quickly. Here is Bob's rack.

Now lets see more of Bob's Studio.  This arrangement allows for easy access to all the music making elements.  The cassette player is only useful when that medium is use.  Most of the music will find its way back into the computer and onto a CD.

Here's How It Works

The sequencing software is launch, once all the gear is powered up.  This software in your computer senses the MIDI interface unit an a map of what is connected is established by the MIDI interface box itself.  Each module and the keyboard are on a separate MIDI connection to the interface box.  In this example the MIDI interface has 8 connections as follows:

     MIDI in/out 1 - is reserved for internal computer run synth or effects plug-ins

     MIDI in/out 2 - connects the top synth module.  Proteus/2 unit.

     MIDI in/out 3 - connects the next synth module.  Proteus/1 unit.

     MIDI in/out 4 - connects the drum module.  Alesis DMPro.

     MIDI in/out 5 - connects to the keyboard.  Yamaha P-200.

     MIDI in/out 6 - goes off to a DX7 elsewhere in the studio

     MIDI in/out 7 - connects to the top effects box.  Aleiss QuadraVerb.

     MIDI in/out 8 - is not used, but has access on the front panel of the interface unit, which is handy for some other
     module or keyboard that might be added temporarily.

Each unit has to be adjusted to also match the pattern described above to know which connection to send and receive its MIDI data.  Then when the keyboard is struck, the sequencing software sees it.  Place the sequencer software in record mode, and the keyboard activity is recorded.  You can play different parts on the keyboard and record them on different tracks in the software to keep them separated as to what they represent, such as piano, bass, and horns, etc.

The keyboard acts as a MIDI controller to the Proteus 1, 2, and drum module.  These modules can be set to respond to data coming in on their connection that matches the MIDI channel the keyboard is transmitting on.  This allows you to play the keyboard with added voices coming from the other synths.  This arrangement is known as "stacked sound".  More practically, it allow you to preview voices you want to use easily.  All of the real music data will be in the computer held by the sequencing program on separate tracks, one for each synth or drum machine.

Once you have the parts in the computer, you assign the playback to the various modules in the rack or plug-ins within the computer.  The analog signals coming out of the keyboard and the rack are mixed and sent to the near field monitors, and a stereo pair back to the computer.  Now the sequencing program is in total control.  Hit playback and all the members of this MIDI setup come to life and play your tune.  Once all the settings around the setup are adjusted, each song can be easily and quickly be recorded and played back.  The rest is in the skill of the operator to generate great tunes.  Once you get used to your studio, you don't have to think about it, and can concentrate on the music making.  As you can see there is a lot of set up, therefore, you want this to be a permanent arrangement that you set up once and forget.  Well, until you add a new piece of equipment.  Then you get to do it all over again.

A CD is made of the final run by setting up a new set of stereo tracks in the sequencer program to grab the audio coming back into the computer via the A/D converter plug-in card.  This audio is recorded on these tracks at the same time the MIDI data is being sent out to the rack!  Then save the stereo tracks as a .wav file for the CD burner software to use.

Complications in this basic setup comes, when tempering the arrangement of modules to their own peculiarities.  The Proteus units have three sets of stereo outs that can be used.  That's 6 connections!  Two of those units can create 12 analog out connections.  Add a few more units and what do you do with all the audio?  Bob just uses one stereo set from each.  One stereo set from the keyboard and drum module.  Therefore, this setup only uses 8 channels of the mixer plus one more single channel for the DX7 (yes, the original DX7 was mono).  This mixer is designed to handle four of its channels as stereo pairs.  This leaves 8 single input channels left.  One is used for the DX7.  The others are there for live instruments.  This is also where the compressor/noise gate would be used, which is the top unit in the rack.  Let's say you want to record a live bass guitar into the computer to go along with your previously laid down tracks of a tune.

We will connect the bass to one of the channels of the compressor/gate unit.  Set the compression to squash the boomers, set the noise gate off, and connect the output to the channel one input of the mixer and set a level that doesn't distort.  Now you can collect a group of tracks in the sequencing program and mix them within the program (the program has a software mixer built in) and output them via your D/A convert on the computer plug-in card back out to the outboard PA set up.  The mixer that is in the rack is convenient to do this submix job, so that a set of headphones can be used, when a voice or acoustic input is recorded from a microphone.  In this case the bass isn't bothered by the sound feeding back, so the monitor speakers could be used to listen to the song, while the bass is played and recorded.  Bob also uses the rack mixer to control the speaker volume, and submixes from the Proteus units when needed, and the cassette tape machine input.

The drum module used here has trigger inputs that connect to the drum pads.  This allows for realistic timing and volume that can only really be obtained by hitting a pad with a stick (or a real drum, but that is much harder to record).  Trying to program in complex drum patterns is near on to impossible.  The drum pad allow specific complex things to be recorded into the sequencer like hi-hat, open and closed patterns of 16th notes, or drum rolls, or complex set of flams and paradiddles.

When microphones are used, things get a little more complex in that the mics have to be isolated from all other sounds in the room.  Computer fans, 60 cycle hum, house noise are all critical problems.  At this point you need assistance.  Place the person or thing to be recorded in an isolation booth - the next room, and have someone else run the gear.  Use a Shure 58 for voice and a nice condenser mic for acoustic guitars.  It should be noted that any instrument that has built in pickups is going to be much easier to deal with, such as an acoustic guitar with piezoelectric pickup in the bridge.  These things can be connected directly into the mixer.

Now the challenge is to get started on your own system.  There are a million ways to set up a small studio.  A lot depends on the equipment you already own, tailoring to the space available, and how much mic-ed input is required.  There are a lot of music clubs that are full of musicians that have MIDI studios.  Check out as many of them as you can before you start, and get an idea of all the things that went wrong with these people's grand experiments.  It will give you real insight to getting yours done well the first time.  Good luck.

Demos - Arrangements and Groove

In the harmony classes we talked about doing demos from the point of view of its importance to getting songs noticed.  This segment will be about practical ways to get that job done.  Getting a basic song down with drums is a two way street.  You can write out the basic song with piano or guitar, but where I want to start is where you have the melody and chords figured out.  To get the groove into the tune you can go two ways.  Develop the groove, then adlib a tune on top or have the tune developed and add the rhythm.  I will be adding the rhythm.  Once the rhythm and tune are married, we can arrange it for different instruments, etc.

Style is what it is all about.  What style do you want the tune to fall into?  Let's say this tune is a rock genre with a reggae twist.  Okay, what makes it reggae?  One good way to learn groove is to buy a few books on bass lines that are written to show you different styles.  The beat will be there.  Then listen to the style done by the best artist around.  Listen for the bass drum first, then the backbeat - usually a snare or other high pitched drum.  Listen for Latin and African instruments - conga, claves, maracas, bongos, timbales, wood block, Agogo bells, etc.  These are the critical rhythm makers.  The cymbals are mainly for accent with the exception of the hi-hat cymbal.  This device is a multi-tasker.  When closed, the hi-hat is one of the most common feel setters.  Eighth note or sixteenth node hits set the speed feel of the tune for fast tunes.  Open and closing the hi-hat on slower tunes.

Reggae accents the "and" beat, like, "one, and, two and...".  There will be something on the off beat.  Many times it is a muted electric guitar playing scratch hits.  It has a shuffle lilt to it, which means triplet beats in there somewhere.  There will be little straight beat.  Overall the rhythm will be a very steady pace with these qualities mention above built in.  Usual it is best to use a little content as needed to get the beat across.  Very thick complex drum patterns only work well with Latin Salsa, where very complex arrangements of many rhythm instruments is the main point of the song.

Once you get the beat you want, you can program it in directly into the sequencer placing each instruments rhythm pattern in as a note assigned to that drum.  Each drum module will have a set of drums pre-assigned that you will become familiar with quickly as to what drum sound is assigned to what note.  At first precise alignment with the tempo or quantized to the sequencer program is okay.  If something needs to be a little off, we can enter it via the drum pads and combine it with the rhythm track.  One of the hardest things is to get right is the relative volume among the drums to balance like a real drummer would do naturally as he plays.  Listening to a lot of drummers play is the only way to get it or better yet learn the drums yourself for a while to get the idea.  One way to get acquainted with rhythm is to just create a MIDI file of drum tracks of various styles and from various artist done with your sequencer.  I found a book one time that was a ad basically for a brand of electronic drums that had 25 famous drummers in it.  The book showed the typical trapset the artist used and his bio, then along the top edge of the pages was his signature drum line!  I programmed all those lines in my sequencer and used them as the basis for many a song.  They were much more interesting than the standard drum patterns that come with the machines.  Now your at a point where the tempo matters.  You need to establish the feel of the song with its God given tempo.  Each song has a speed at which it sounds best.  Too fast or slow and the feel is lost.  Of course, there is a lot of slack, but you can feel when it's right.  Now is the time to establish that, because the choice of drum sound may be impacted.  The slower the tempo the more each rhythm member stands out.

Cymbals are very cool.  They add a lot and they along with fill drums, get you around in the song.  They usually announce the next segment of a tune, they add style change and mood, or they can add accent with a punch.  Most of the time hi-hats, pings, and small cymbals run at a steady pace.  The big thing is they vary in volume a lot.  Sequencer programs have a graph volume setting technique that should be used a lot.  You can get a good feel to things like hi-hat by varying the volume along the steady line pattern.  If the pattern you need is to hard to program, use the pads.

Once you get the intro, verse, chorus, and bridges drum tracks done, you can cut-n-paste throughout the song to match the music.  Editing or adding 8-bar segments is easy.  It is better to have the drum track programmed out across the whole song to avoid editing nightmares that focus on small sections of your tune.  The other way of doing rhythm tracks is to compose a bunch of loops for each drum and combine them using sequencer power.  These programs are very complex and can do any type of tracking that you can imagine.  You can spend years just create drum patterns.  They are great fun.

Arranging the piece to add horns, strings and other supporting parts is great fun and will involve your outboard synths.  Add tracks of various instruments and assign them MIDI channels within a MIDI connection to a particular synth.  You can combine sounds by "stacking" or playing a group of voices balanced to produce a new type of sound.  If unrealistic sounds are what you are going for, then this approach is great.  Also, arpedios are great fun.  This is where you program a run of notes up and down that are played very close together, etc. 64th notes, that form a rhythmic pattern.  The music of the 70's was full of them.  They were all cool and deserve a come-back.

Collaboration

This is not a disease, but a very powerful way to either create music way beyond what you can do as an individual or completely destroy any sense of creating a successful tune.  Sharing is fun and expands your horizons.  Of course, getting two people or more into a tiny studio is a problem.  The best way to do this is divide the labor.  Usually, one techy is enough that is a gear head or sound engineer.  The other is a music composer.  They crossover where the song design comes in, and choices in effects, balance, and style become important.  Many a studio teams are famous - like Motown.

© 2003 John Wolf - Wolf Tracks Music

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