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11
CHAPTER
Studio
Basic Concepts
Recording
Procedures
How to Record
Any Instrument
Mike Shea
McGraw-Hill
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Copyright © 2005 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Manufactured in the United
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0-07-146957-5
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DOI: 10.1036/0071469575
xi
0-07-146957-5
This book is dedicated to my mom, Mrs. Mary
Antionette (Giorgio) Shea, who always told me,
“If you’re going to do something, do it right.”
200593_FM_Shea 3/2/05 3:24 PM Page iv
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CONTENTS
Preface xi
Introduction xiii
Chapter 1 The Basics 1
Why the Big Mystery About Decibels? 2
How About Some Answers? 3
Decibels, Dumbbells, and Jezebels 4
Some Historical Background 4
Logarithms 5
You Still Gotta Problem with Decibels? 5
Who Really Cares? 7
Basic Electronics 7
How Simple a Circuit? 8
Prefixes 9
There Ought to Be a Law: Ohm’s Law 9
Watts It All About: Watt’s Law 10
Series and Parallel Interconnections 11
Kirchoff’s Law 13
Parallel Circuits 15
Watt? I Mean What? 17
Series/Parallel Circuits 18
Alternating Current 20
Some Help from Our Graphic Friends 20
Ground 22
Passive Electronic Components 24
Resistors 24
Capacitors 24
Inductors (Coils) 25
Transformers 27
Humbucking Coils 28
Active Electronic Components 32
Diodes 32
So What’s Rectification? 33
Tubes and Transistors 35
vi Contents
dBu vs. dBm 36
The Values 38
The Equations 38
Impedance Explained 49
Facts to Forget 50
Noise 51
Balanced Lines 51
Transformers and Line Noise 52
Back to Balanced Lines 52
Common-Mode Rejection Ratio (CMRR) 53
Differential Input Stages 53
Audio Recording Meters 56
Reality vs. Theory 59
Electrodynamometer 59
Thermal Meters 59
The VU Meter 60
The Peak Program Meter (PPM) 62
Everything Has Its Limitations 63
Two Meters in One 64
The Bottom Line? 65
Audio Gain Stages and the Weak Link 67
Adjusting Levels Is More Than Positioning Faders 68
The Trade-Off Between Headroom and S/N Ratio 69
The Audio Chain from Hell 75
Standard Unbalanced-to-Balanced Converters
Always Work 78
Why Would Anyone Want to Do This? 79
Why Use Impedance-Matching Interfaces? 80
What Are Distribution Amps Used For? 81
Gain Stage Setup (Level Setting) 82
Mixing-Console Gain Stages 83
Using Audio Equipment Manuals 84
Flow Charts, or Block Diagrams 87
Patch Bay Layout 87
Operation Guide 88
Control and Indicator Layout Diagrams 88
Installation Section 88
Specifications List 88
Schematic Diagrams 89
Contents vii
Examples of the Charting of Gain Stages 89
The Console Bus 89
The Altec 250 T3 Control Console 90
The Tascam M-50 Mixer 93
A Side Trip for More Background 96
Format 96
Split vs. In-Line (I/O) Console Layouts 99
Assign Switches 100
The SSL I/O 101
Back to Examples of the Charting of Gain Stages 101
The MCI 600 Series Console 102
The Manufacturers Specifications for the
MCI Series 600 Console 105
The MCI 600 Gain Stage Chart 116
The Solid-State Logic (SSL) 4000 G Series Console 122
Bridging the Generation Gap 133
Chapter 2 The Tour 135
The Studio Tour 136
The Tour Begins 136
Format 137
Input/Output (I/O) and SPLIT Console Layouts 137
The Mixer 138
Console Specifications 141
Cross Talk or Channel Separation 142
Console Functions and Terms 143
Input Selector Switch 144
Sends 145
The Output Section 147
Auxiliary Returns 148
Phase Reversal Switches 148
Phantom Powering 149
The Producer’s Desk and Side Cars 151
Equalizers 156
Parametric Equalizers 161
Tone Control EQs 162
Shelving EQ or Filter 162
Peak and Dip EQs 162
