Assignment 5 - Short Recordings (quiet)
Make sure you've completed Assignment 4 (med/loud recording) before moving ahead with this assignment.
Also, please make sure you've copied Assignment 2 (editing) to your folder on the studio computer.
Part 1 - Quiet
This is the same assignment as last week (assignment 3), but with a focus on quiet sound sources, finding the right position for the pop screen, and improving on your technique in general.
In teams of TWO, record the following text using a QUIET voice (almost whispered):
"Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked.
If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,
Where’s the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?"
Alternatively, you can also choose to sing or rap other tunes/lyrics, but should do so with a quiet voice. You can also choose play an instrument as you're singing/talking/rapping, and record the other instrument with another mic. However, as I said above, the focus here is recording quiet sources and using the pop screen, so you must use your voice in some way.
• Do TWO takes PER PERSON. Do one recording in a booth, and the other in the main room, then switch who reads and who's the engineer and do another two takes (so you'll have FOUR recordings in total).
• You will of course need the pop screen; consider using it on its own stand.
• Record with ONE condenser mic at a time, but change mic with each recording. Be sure to choose mics that have the highest sensitivity, and lowest self-noise. Use the CMC Mics page to make your choice (when looking at this mic list, ask yourself: which type of mic tends to have the highest sensitivity and lowest noise?)
• for ONE of your recordings, try using the RE20 mic instead of a condenser, WITHOUT a pop screen. (In other words, of your FOUR total recordings, THREE should be with a condenser and pop screen, and ONE with the RE20).
• Use the preamps of your choice.
• The reader/performer must use the Aviom to monitor.
• The engineer should use the headphone output on the SATORI when recording in the main room (you can take any pair of available headphones ).
Part 2 - Free recording
Record a sound source(s) of your choice. The object here is to keep trying different mics, preamps, and booths, to increase your comfort and skill level with all the equipment. Ideally, you should try recording a sound source that is similar to what you would like to record for your final project; this assignment can then become a test for a future session.
Be prepared to present your Logic project in class
Grading:
/3 Good recording levels
loudest parts reach -6dB, no clipping
/3 Good quality sound capture from the microphones.
This depends on the sound you’re recording so it's a case-by-case situation, but in general a “bad” sound could involve any of the following:
noisy because of poor choice of mic, too much room sound, mic too close to the source (too focused and therefore unnatural), pop sounds from consonants if recording vocals, too bright, too dull, etc.
/4 Correct signal chain for headphones
This is what we looked at last class for creating a headphone mix: using a “Send” in Logic, pre-fader, setting the level (the little circle that acts like a fader), and then dialing in a good listening level on the headphone amp.
Total /10