Sound and Frequency

S2. What is Sound and how is it Produced? Kahn Academy
Study Questions: •Why do we sound different to ourselves on recordings? •What is oscillation? •How does sound "travel" through the air?

S3. What is Frequency and Wavelength?  (Youtube link) This is a good intro, but don't worry about the difference between period and wavelength. You can stop after three minutes! The only formula you need is frequency = speedofsound/wavelength.
Study Questions: •Why is sound well described by a sine wave? Answer: Air molicules move back and forth (and sound pressure moves up and down) in a smooth movement described in the sine function. •How does frequency relate to oscillations? •What is the frequency of an "A" note? •What is the range of frequency that humans can hear? •What range can dogs hear? •What is the wavelength of a sound wave? Answer: the physical distance between two adjacent compressions in the air.

S4. Getting to Know Frequencies. Wikiemedia - Important information here, although this fellow has imaginative pronunciations! The frequency examples are especially useful for training your ears to recognize frequencies in sounds that you hear.
Study Questions: •How do the number of completed cycles in a second relate to frequency? •What are low frequencies commonly called? •What are high frequencies commonly called? •Why does an A note on a piano sound different than an A note on a guitar? •What does a spectral analyzer show us? Answer: a graph with all the frequencies of a sound and their relative amplitudes. (Audacity can show you this.)

S5. Frequencies and Harmonics A very good review of frequency and harmonics. Listen to the sample tones a few times and try to become familiar with them.
Study Questions: •What is meant by kilohertz? •What frequency is the low E on a bass guitar? (41 Hz) •What are harmonics? •What range of frequencies seem louder to humans? •Why is this range of frequencies critical to mixing adjustments?

S6. Harmonics and Octaves. Why some people like tube amplifiers better than transistor amplifiers.
Study Questions: •What is a fundamental frequency in a musical note? •What is a harmonic frequency? Answer: a multiple of the fundamental frequency. •How is an octave related to a fundamental frequency? •What is harmonic distortion? •What is THD? •Why do some people prefer the sound of tube ("analog") amplifiers, to the sound of transistor amplifiers? •Which type of amplifier sounds "warmer"? (The answer involves odd or even harmonics.)

Audacity and Introductory Editing Tools

A1. Audacity on-line Manual And Audacity Support with quick How-Tos for everying from setting up a music view, and working with loops, to using their noise-reduction tools.

A2. Audacity Tutorial - Editing an Existing Audio File

A3. Audacity Tutorial - Your First Recording

A4. Audacity Tutorial - Mixing a Narration with Background Music

A5. Normalization in Audacity

Editing tools for Equalization and Filters

E1. Frequencies and Equalizers Recording Allstars-
Study Questions: •What is EQ? •What is the difference between a a high frequency wave, and a low frequency wave? •What is a Hertz? • Based on the waveforms shown in this article, how could you judge whether a frequency is high or low just by looking at a waveform? •What is the Hz range of human hearing? •What is an octave? •What is the Hz range of the bottom octave of hearing? •What is the Hz range of the top octave of hearing?

E4. Introduction to Filters This explains it well, with good audio examples.
Study Questions: •What is meant by High-Pass, Low-Pass, Band-Pass, Notch and Comb. •What does the graph of each type of filter look like? •What dose a HPF filter do? •What does a LPF filter do? A band-cut filter? A band-pass filter? A notch filter? (No one pronounces Comb and Parameter like this guy!) •What is a HPF filter slope? •What does a filter resonance look like on the graph?

Room Acoustics and Your Listening System

RA1. Room Acoustics for Home Audio - Crutchfield

RA2. Basic Room Acoustic Treatments - WikiBooks

RA3. Home Studio Monitor & Room Acoustics SOS studio guide

RA4. Studio Monitors - a guide to choosing wisely and setting up correctly - M-Audio publications

RA6. Fundamentals of Sound and Acoustics in your listening room. A little more in-depth summary of how to address problems in your listening or control room.
Study Questions: •What are the three physical properties of sound waves? •What is Hz? •What is a fundamental, an overtone, a sine wave, Fourier analysis, wavelength, compression, rarefaction? •What causes low-frequency anomalies in a room? •How could you calculate which frequencies will be a problem in a particular room? •What is a standing wave, a node, an antinode? •How do tangential modes (bounced off of four surfaces) and oblique modes (bounced off of six surfaces), complicate things? •Why would using a "golden ratio" of room dimensions help? •What is the advantage or disadvantage of the two basic responses: changing the angle of walls or adding absorbtion? •What is a bass trap? (Tuned cavity with a depth of 1/4 the wavelength of the offending frequency) •What makes an ideal room? •What is meant by "in-phase" and "out-of-phase"? •How close, in time, must two sounds be for us to perceive them as one sound? (25-50ms) •How do we perceive location information from sound? •What does delay have to do with it? •What does amplitude have to do with it? •What is the "mirror trick"? •What advantage does a LEDE arrangement provide? •What is "flutter echo"? •How does a duffuser help room sound?

RA7. Bass Traps - SOS Quick Overview
Study Questions •Do bass traps remove bass from your room? •What do bass traps actually do? •How do they help your room sound? •What are the typical problems with effective bass trapping?

RA8. Comments on Designing Studio Acoustics - Jim Keller in Tape Op - Study Questions: • Why might a home studio have a particular advantage over a commercial studio, when eliminating low frequecies resonances? • Which frequencies are easist to control? • What do we use for velocity-based absorption? • What do we use for pressure-based absorption? • What are several ways to minimize picking up ambient noise in your home studio? • What happens if you "cover" the walls with sound absorbers such as Owens Corning 703 rigid fiberglass? • What is a better method than covering all the surfaces? • What is the lowest-cost method of dealing with bass room resonances (besides buying headphones!)?

RA9. Project Studio Acoustics - Technical explanations and guidelines

RA10. Acoustics in Paradise - Mix magazine. Bruce Black creates a studio for Sony film mixer Paul Massey. Study Questions: • What were the author's goals? • What is meant by "the modes weren't distributed very well? • Many studios have non-parallel walls to avoid standing waves. The author prefers parallel walls. Why? • Even with careful planning, the predictability that comes from designing parallel walls comes at what price? • Why don't bass traps not work well at very low frequencies, such as 40 Hz? • How did he use Helmholz resonators to absorb low frequencies? • In general, without looking at the specific formulas, what dimensions of a Helmholz resonator make it affective with lower frequencies? • Where do you place diffusers? • Why did he use thicker absorptive panels?

Noise Reduction

NR1. Audacity's Noise Reduction Tool - Audacity -
Study Questions: •What is a noise profile? (sometimes called a noiseprint) •This is a two-step process. What are those two steps? •How long a profile do you need? •What happens if you catch some other sounds with the noise when you make the profile. •What does setting the level of noise reduction (in dB) change? •What does frequency smoothing do for you? Increasing the sensitivity setting might help get rid of the noise. •But what undesireable side effect might it have?

NR2. Short-duration-noise removal with Adobe's Audition: - youtube
Study Questions: What is a spectral frequency display? What is the healing brush and where is it found?

NR3. In-depth noise removal strategies with Audition - various types of noise- Sengstack -
Study Questions: •How do you bring up a spectral view? •How is a spectral view different than a waveform view? •Where is the noise-print tool found? •Auto-heal is used for what kinds of noises? •Where is auto-heal found? •What is one of the two ways to reduce little "tic" noises? •What should you do right after using auto-heal?

NR4. Noise Reduction Tools and Techniques - Sound on Sound Magazine. This is a bit more technical and in-depth.
Study Questions: •What kind of noise does a noise gate work best on? •How much noise should you actually reduce? or When is the complete removal of noise counterproductive? •What is a noise-fingerprint reduction tool? • What new type of tool is good for bumps or coughs or door slams? • What are the five  pieces of general advice given at the end of the article? 

Editing tools for Reverb and Dynamics

R1. Audio Processing (Compression, EQ, Limiting, Reverb, Flange, Chorus) Media College - Basic definitions and introduction

R2. How to Create Realistic Room Sound Using Reverb (WAVES software co) Study Questions: •What is different about early reflections, compared to direct or dry sound? •How do we measure (and state) the difference in time between direct sound and early reflections? •What is pre-delay? •What is Reverb time? (The reverb time in a real room is the time it takes between the source of sound stopping, and the reflections dropping down 60 dB? This is not quite to 0, but is reduced to where we don't notice it anymore.) •What is the dry part? The wet part? •What is dampened when you increase damping? (Typical for most reverbs) •What physical room characteristic affects the sound color of the early reflections? •What room characteristics affect pre-delay and reverb time? •What effect on reverb, will a room full of people have?

R2b Alternate Reverb from First Principles - SOS - from intro to sophisticated.

R3. Audacity Guide: Reverb - Adjusting the reverb settings -
Study Questions: •How do you change reverberance for larger rooms? •How does damping affect the reverb frequencies? •What is pre-delay again? •How does tone-low and tone-high affect the reverb? •Again, what are wet and dry components? •From your experience, how would you describe what room-size does to the sound?

R4. A Wash of Reverb - Recording Magazine - Why and how sound editors add reverb to projects.
Study Questions: •If algorithmic reverbs use mathematical formulas to generate reverb, what do convolution reverbs use? •What are two mechanical (analog) ways to make reverb, such as in a guitar amp? •What are the example reverb types useful for electronic music, choir, or rock vocalist? •These days, what are plate and spring reverb effects (in their digital form usually) still used for? •Describe a gated reverb. (here is an example using a snare drum) •What is an impulse recording? •What does the “delay time” control do? (Actually this is probably a typo, "decay time" is more correct, and a more common term is “reverberation time.”) •What is an example decay time for a small room? Answer: 3/4 second. •What does using too much reverb do to your mixes? •Compare early reflections to diffusion. •What does reverb damping have to do with realistic rooms? •Describe "mix level," or "dry/wet" mix control?

R5. Use Reverb as a Pro - Mixing - Using Reverb to improve a musical mix - Sound on Sound Magazine -
Study Questions: Know how the proper reverb can knit together a mix; how to set up a common reverb track and use sends; how to use "wet" and "dry"; how a mix might benefit from more than one type of reverb; how to EQ reverb; how to use pre-delay, length, and level; when delay works better than reverb.

R6. Designer Delay Effects - SOS

X6. Audacity's Tempo Tool - Audacity

C1. Audacity's Compressor - Audacity - Study Questions: •What do these controls do: Threshold, Ratio, Attack Time, Release Time, Makeup Gain. •In what situation is the Noise Floor control useful for? (Dialog so the background noise won't appear to come up during pauses in speech.)

C2. How Does a Compressor Work? - SOS -
Study Questions: •The threshold control represents which level? •How much the signal is pulled down is set by which control? •If the ratio was 4:1, and the input signal exceeds the threshold by 8 dB, how much will the output level be reduced? •What is the difference between settings, comparing a compressor to a limiter? •Which is more suble: hard or soft knee? •How do you use a compressor to raise low levels, rather than reduce loud sounds? •What does the attack control in a compressor do? The release time control? •Does the author like the preset library settings that come with a compressor?

C3. How a Compressor Really Works - WAVES on Youtube - This Presonus demonstration is one of the best at letting you see and hear what an audio compressor is doing. This may help you make sense of all those new terms: threshold, ratio, attack, decay, makup gain.

C4. Compression Made Easy Sound on Sound - a more advanced discussion with examples and great practical advice:
Study Questions: How do the controls on different brands of compressors work? How much compression should you use? What are the right attack and release times? Notice especially the underlined content.

C5. Using Compression to Control and Fatten Sound - SOS magazine. This starts with a insightful review of how compressors work, and goes into detail on how to use them professionally in mixes. Study Questions: •When does a typical vocal track need compression? Review: what is threshold, ratio, hard-knee and soft-knee, attack and release? •What is level-pumping? •Why might you also need a little "hold" time before release? •Why are old-style VU meters popular on compressors? •What can you do if the bass energy in the track is dominating the compressor and producing unwated modulation of the high frequency sounds? (longer attack time or use a multi-band comp) •How do you set a compressor so that it appears to "thicken" a sound? (light ratio + very low threshold). •How can you create "ducking" to automatically reduce background levels to make a solo or vocal more audible? (by feeding the signal you want to control - say the rhythm guitar - into the main input, and the signal doing the controlling - the vocal - into the side‑chain input.) •How does compression affect the signal-to-noise ratio of a track?

C6. Multiband Dynamics (Advanced Compressors)- Recording Magazine - this is a great article to deepen your understanding of compressors, and explain the usefulness of this popular type of plugin. - Notice especially the underlined content.

C7. SOS Latest Squeeze - Parallel Compression Explained - Parallel compression is used a lot in pop music. This explains why parallel compression works better than in-line compression in many cases. Very well explained.

Microphones

M1. Microphones 101: Condenser, Dynamic, and Ribbon. Darkhorse Institute. This PDF file, will review what you learned in the lecture, and add a bit more knowledge.
Study Questions: •Why would you choose a dynamic microphone over a ribbon or condenser? •Why would you choose a condenser microphone over a ribbon or a dynamic? •What are the "cons" for condenser mics? (a couple new ones here, including differences in mics of the same model, effected by humidity and temperature)

M2. Mic Basics: What is Frequency Response? - Shure Company - Study Questions: •What does the frequency response graph of a particular mic tell us about the expected performance? •Give a practical example of how it would help us make a useful recording? •What is meant by a "flat" frequency response? •A purposefully "shaped" frequency response would typically have what characteristics? •Whether a particular mic has a shaped or flat frequency response, what characteristic of the line should be similar in either case? (Hint: use the word "smooth"). •What is an SM57 especially good for? •In the chart fort an BETA SM58, what do the several dotted lines tell you that is useful?

M3. Mic Basics: What is Transient Response? - Shure - A quick read. Study Questions: •What is transient response? •Why does a condenser mic naturally have a transient response advantage over a dynamic mic? •From this information, how would to describe what "a transient" actually is? •How is a transient related to the "attack" part of a sound envelope?

M4. Microphone Guide - A quick overview of microphone types, frequency response, patterns, diaphragm size, and most common uses - Sweetwater

M5. Choosing a Microphone: Types and Uses - Sound on Sound - Notice especially the underlined content. Study Questions: • How do microphones "hear" differently than our ears? Cardioid microphones (the most common type) are designed to pick up sound strongly from the "front" of the mic, and much less from the "back" of the mic. They all, however, pick up some sound from the back and side directions. • Why is the quality of the sound a microphone picks up from the side, even if it is not designed to pick up sound from the side, important to us? •Why do we hang sound absorbers (such as sleeping bags or duvets) around a room we are recording in?    

M6. Studio Microphones for All Budgets - Recording Magazine - Notice especially the underlined content. This should be required reading if you are considering spending serious money on a microphone. It is a few years old, but most of these mics are currently available and still the cream of the crop.

M7. How to Mic Anything - SOS • Why is close-mic-ing an unfamiliar source with a single mic usually a bad idea? • Why is distant mic-ing often not a good idea? • Why is picking a spot in the room where it "sounds good to our ears" often not a good idea? • Is the directionality of a microphone similar to the directionality of our ears? Is that a good thing? • What is it about an omni mic that sometimes gives it an advantage over a directional mic? • What are the three things to establish as you decide how far away and in what direction to place a mic? • When is using 2 mics on a single source a good idea? • What is the pitfals of mic-ing too close? (at least 2) • What is the "universal" staring point for mic distance?

M8. Large Condenser Microphone Capsules - Tape Op magazine - The surprisingly few major categories of capsules that almost all popular LDCs use. Each type of capsule has spanned a family of similar-sounding microphones.

M8-B. Large Condenser Microphone Capsules Illustrated - Look at this while reading M8. From Recording Hacks website.

M20. The Best Condenser Microphones for Home Studio Recording for Under $1000. There are other mics to consider at other price points, but his good advice is a place to start. Also if you are in the market, you will find links to microphone recomendations for specialized uses such as acoustic guitar, vocals, drums, electric bass.

Microphones for Video Production - DSLR - BH Photo

Audio Systems for Video and Film Productions: A systems and techniques guide from Shure

Condenser Microphones - Technical Differences - How to Build a Smart Mic Locker. 1 hour podcast with Matt MCGylnn

Large Diameter Condenser Microphone Categories Explained (goes with the above podcast)

Using Microphones

RC1. Introduction to Home Recording PDF - Shure - There is a good overview and review here, including descriptions of mic types, patterns, and uses.
Study Questions: •What is meant by audibility, and intelligibility, and fidelity? •Describe the best "recording environment." •Why should you make and listen to a sample recording before you begin your actual recording? •If you want high sensitivity, low self-noise, and a truer sound, what type of microphone is recommended? •What are the (7) recommendations for "general recording techniques"? •What are the recommendations for recording voice? (Including best distance, how to aim the mic, and why not to turn your head as you speak.)

RC3. Recording Great Vocals from Home - Recording Magazine - A complete guide including setting up the space, mic types to consider, the use of typical effects such as EQ and compression, how to get the best performance from your talent, and how to "comp" (combine the best parts of several takes) - Notice especially the underlined content in the first half.
Study Questions: •Why is a "dead" room better? •What is a reflexion filter? (Braukmann thinks they are OK but over-rated!) •Does an omni-pattern mic have the same proximity effect as a cardioid? •Where do you place the mic relative to the vocalist's lips, for starters? •What does the gain knob on your preamp in your interface do? •How do you know if your interface is clipping?

RC4. How to Prevent Distortion - Media College -
Study Questions: •What causes distortion in a recording system? Listen to the two examples carefully, and avoid creating the second one. •What does a clipped waveform look like? (Notice the tops of the waves are clipped off neatly in a straight line, as if done by a scissors.) •How do "peak" or "clip" lights help you?

RC5. Microphone Positioning for Vocals - Braukmann
Study Questions: •What is the usualy working distance range for recording vocals on a LDC microphone? •Which way do you move the mic for a warmer sound? •What can you do if you are getting too much sibilance in the recording? •If you are getting plosive pops in the recording? •What do you tell the voice talent about moving around?

Voice Overs

VO1. Voice Over - Reading - William Williams
Study Questions: •Why is natural speech different from reading aloud? •What is in your speech non-verbal tool kit? •How should we move our eyes as we read VO script? •When you first read a script, and you make a mistake, should you go back right away to try to correct the problem? •Why?

VO2. Voice Over Microphone Technique - William Williams
Study Questions: •What kind of mic should you use? •Why should you remember the microphone is like a flashlight shining in your face? •What is the starting distance for lips to microphone? •What do you do if the script calls for you speaking loudly? •What do you do if the script calls for you speaking very softly? •What are a couple problems for the recording that are caused by you being too far away from the mic? •Should you alter your performance to match the recording setup, or change the recording setup to match your performance?

VO3. How to Read a TV Trailer Voice Over - Gary Terzza
Study Questions: •What would you have if your client provided a brief for you? •What is the first thing you do when marking up the script? •What is the second thing? (A:do a quick run-through and see what is working. Change what isn't working.) •How do make a list reading sound less boring?

VO4. How I Improved My Terrible Voice Over Script - Gary Terzza - Study Question: •How would you mark places to put a pause and/or a breath?

VO5. Energize Your Voice - Gary Terzza
Study Question: •What are several ways you help tap into your natural enthusiasm?

VO6. Voice Over Bad Habit - Tailing off at the End of Sentences - Gary Terzza
Study Questions: •Describe what tailing off means? •Why do we all tend to do it when we read out loud? •How can we avoid the problem?

VO7. Breathing Issues in Voice Overs - Gary Terzza
Study Questions: •How do you avoid breathing issues? •What should you consider when deciding whether or not to edit out breaths?

VO8. Five Golden Rules of Voice Over - Gary Terzza - Actually the first four good rules are great for this course.
Study Questions: •What are they, and •what do they mean? (The fifth is important if you are trying for a career in VO)

VO9. 11 Tips for Better Voice Over Recording - Sweetwater
Study Questions •What are the 11 tips? •What is the second part of tip 11, related to what to do when you make a mistake? There are a couple important things to remember here, that haven't come up in other resources, like a script stand, your posture, and having a drink handy.

VO10. Producing Professional Voiceovers At Home, Part 1 - Sound on Sound
Study Questions: What are the roles of producer, engineer, actor, director and editor? •Review how to set up the microphone. •What are the goals of voice over production? •What are the two most important responsibilities for each of these roles: Producer, Engineer, Actor (the "talent"), Director, and Editor?

VO11. Voice Over Guide - A good printed summary of VO
Study Questions: •What is paramount - equipment or technique? •What the 5 difficulties to overcome when starting VO? •Where does the author suggest placing the mic for VO, to avoid plosives, lip and tongue noises, and breathing? (The 6" x 3 rule.) •How does the author set up her room to minimize echoey reflections? •You cannot perform a VO using your regular speech patterns: what do you need to CHANGE from your usual speech patterns? •How does Mary Had A Little Lamb help you? •When practicing your script (several to many times), what do you do with the "tongue-twisters" that sometimes trip you up?

VO13. Producting Professional Voiceovers At Home, Part 2 - SOS

VO14. Recording Voiceovers in a Cruise Ship Cabin - SOS - Study Questions: •What characteristics did their closet have that helped it serve as a vocal booth? •What did they do to improve it? •How did they arrange the deck chair cushions? •Why did that work better than the closet? •How can you apply these tips to your own bedroom? 

Music

MU1. Music Theory in Half an Hour - Andrew Huang-
9:54 Study Questions: • What are notes?
• How many different notes are there?
• On a keyboard, what are the names of the white notes?
• What does sharp mean?
• What does flat mean?
• If a vibration is twice as fast as another one, it is called what? A: An octave
• What is a semitone? A:difference between one note and next note.
• What is a whole tone? A: 2 semitones
• What is another term for a semitone? A:a half-step
• A common combination of notes is called a? A:Key.
• What are the most common categories of keys?
• How many notes are in a major or minor key? A:7
• What key uses all the white notes on a keyboard?
• What is the difference between a key and a scale? A:Key is the home base group of notes. Scale a set of notes played in conjunction with a key.
• What is an accidental? A:means a sharp or a flat.
15:17 Chords. • What is a chord?
• What do chords do?
• How do you make a C-major chord? A:Root +3rd +5th
23:44 • What are Inversions? A:Changing the positions of one or more notes in a chord
• What do inversions allow us to do?
27:08 • What are Melodies? A:Single sequences of melodies played with the chords, usually played above the chords. Melody notes not in the chord often create tension.
• What is a bar or measure?
• Bars most often contain how many beats? A:4 beats per measure
• What does this represent? 1 e &  a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a  A:16th note count bar

MU2. Loops in Studio One - SOS - • What makes Studio One's Musicloop format different from regular loops?

MU3. Tempo Tools in Studio One - SOS - "Audio Bend in Studio One is a great way to time correct your audio. How it works is that it detects the transients in your audio event. It then bends these transients on audio so that it sits on the grid better. This way you can quantize your audio." Groove is a tool that extracts subtle tempo variations from a performance that give the music rhymic character, or make it seem to swing.
Study Questions: • What can you do with an extracted groove? • What does detecting transients mean? • Summarize what the author was doing in this article.

MU5. Are Loops Cheating? - SOS - • What is your personal position on using loops?

Pro Tools (Note more important questions are in bold italic)

PT0. Why do people choose Pro Tools over competing DAWs?

PT1. Pro Tools for Beginners in 12 Minutes - Zachary BrownSkills Factory. A clearly presented introduction. Lots of information. - Study Questions? • What is the dashboard? • What is a session? • How do you start the play function? (click at a starting point in the gray timeline strip and press spacebar) • How do you loop playback in a specific region? (click and drag in the same gray strip and then right-clicking on the play button to select loop) • How do you prepare a track for recording? (Click on I/O in MIX and select the microphone source - then "arm" the track with the red button to the left. Then hit the main record button in the transport contol box) • How does the smartool combine the trim, selection, ad grabber tools? (Click on the rim around the tools) • What is the difference between slip, or snap? (slip is no snap) • What does automation do? (Changes any variable in any track, over time as it plays) • How do you add audio effects to a track/channel? • How do you remove an insert? (click on the little dot to the name of the inserst) • What is a MIDI clip? (A music file that only contains information about the notes to play, duration, velocity, and so on - but not the actual sounds. Those are provided by a software instrument) •What is the Pro Tools native saving format? (PTX)

PT2. Pro Tools Introduction by AVID - (pdf) Study Questions? •What is the difference between a session and a project? (session is local, project is collaborative on the cloud) •Give a three examples of what is found in the toolbar (zooms, snaps, trimming and selection tools, counter, grid size). Three examples of what is found in rulers? (Tempos, Bars/Beats or Minutes/Seconds or Samples, Markers, Chords, Key Signature changes, etc) •How do you choose which view options you see in the Mix window? (View > Mix Window Views) •Which keys are used to toggle between the Edit and Mix windows? (Command =) •What is a workspace? (A database to manage files, settings, presets, sound effects libaries) •What are two ways to create a new track? (Track > New > then select type. Or double-click in the Tracks panel) •For recording a voice over, or video, your best timeline option would be minutes/seconds. What is the usual best option for music production? (Bars/Beats) •What is a click track, and how do you create one? (a metronome for musicians to record to. Use Track > Create Click Track) •What are the basic steps to recording audio? (Set up the audio device with Setup>Hardware. Go to MIX and under I/O choose the input channel from your device you want to use. Arm the tracks using the dots to the left of Mute and Solo. Press Record on the transport. Press the spacebar. This works for MIDI also.) •How do you bring in audio files or clips? (Select a track and use File > Import > Audio. Or drag file into a blank part of the workspace) •How do you apply EQ and Compression inserts to a track? (Click on an emptty INSERT space and choose) •How do you export your mix? (File > Bounce)

Also as we move along later the course, this PT2 resource will explain how to: •Bring in audio files •Select and trim clips •Rearrange clips •Play a virtual instrument using the on-screen keyboard •Edit MIDI notes •Use Auxilliary tracks to apply effects such as reverb •Create mix automation.

PT3. Pro Tools Intro Tutorial (Part 1) - Some review of PT1 above, but with lots of additional information. Installing the software, setting up the DAW, Recording and Editing. Study Questions: • What is iLok for? (software security & copy protection) • How do you choose sample rate and bit depth and file type for your session? (Those options show up in the Dashboard when you choose NEW) • What do you do if Pro Tools doesn't know where to record from, or play to? (Setup > Hardware and Playback Engine. Then set your desired I/O in the MIX window) • Know in general which sets of tools are for snap behavior, mouse editing, zooming, play and rewind, setting the grid to musical snaps. • How do you tell Pro Tools to prepare a certain track for recording, or to "arm the track," so when you press the record button in the transport controls, it does record on that track? (Press the dot to the left of Solo and Mute) • How do you trim a clip? (#1 set the cursor and press "A". #2 Drag the I-beam tool to select a part of a clip, and press delete) • What are several ways that "snapping" works? (Slip means no snap. Spot means go to a particular beat or second location. Shuffle means if you cut out something, everything to the right on that track moves left to fill the gap - great for pod-casting type editing)

PT4. Pro Tools - Tutorial for Beginners in 13 Minutes. A good introduction on its own, and an excellent alternative to review the content of PT1 and PT2.

PT5. Pro Tools Basics Part One - Emily Bowie - A very good step by step introduction, including getting a new session started, and examining common editing tools, although she uses 48k sample rate which is more often used for film sound. Good overview of edit modes such as slip, zooms, smart tools, settings such as window visibility, and automation follows edit.

PT6. Pro Tools - Basics Part Three - Emily Bowie - A little more advanced discussion of how to set up a Pro Tools in a recording session. How to connect your audio interface to your computer with Pro Tools, and how to organize busses for connecting more external hardware. Emily uses a Mac.

PT7. Pro Tools Fast Start - Recording Vocals - - Study Questions • Discuss dynamic vs condenser microphones, using an external interface, and using headphones. • How do you make sure that the input on the Pro Tools track I/O matches the input on our microphone interface? • How do you set the level or gain for best sound? • How does bussing make using reverb better? • What does latency refer to while recording a vocal? • How should you set the hardware buffer size? • What is "pre-roll" and "punch-in"?

PT8. Pro Tools Fast Start -Mixing - Starts as some of our mixing assignments do - with the tracks ready, and moves right to the Mix window. • What to listen for when preparing a track? • How to use pan, levels, EQ, compression to advantage?

PT9. Automation in DAWS - SOS - - Study Questions • When creating mix automation, explain the "write mode" option. • When might vocal-level automation have a better result than simply applying a compressor to the track? • Why would you ever use vocal-level automation AND a compressor? • What would be a good example of using vocal reverb-send automation to improve a mix? • Explain the advantage of using EQ-automation to improve the mix of an instrumental track playing during a vocal track? • If you have a fairly long delay effect on a guitar track, the delayed sound can clash with the next guitar chord if the guitarist is changing chords. How can automation help out?

PT10. Excellent Plugins Included with Pro Tools Intro

SO10. Advantages of Grouping Using Studio One
Study Questions: •In what way do groups help you edit (such as cut or move) across several tracks at once? •What is the greatest benefit of grouping within the mixer? •What is meant by the term VCA faders? •How is routing channels through a buss  channel different from grouping the channels? •What is a track folder?

Mixing

MX2. Sound Mixer Tutorials - Media College - Whether you are using a hardware mixer to record, or a software mixing metaphore for mixing your tracks on a computer, this explains what those controls do!

MX3. The Solid Mix - Recording Magazine - Starting with a typical set of pop/rock tracks, this is a great first tutorial. There is just enough detail to get you to a satisfactory mix. - Notice especially the underlined content.

MX4. Mixing Essentials - Sound on Sound - After reading The Solid Mix above, this excellent article will fill in details, reinforce fundamentals, and take you a "step up"

MX5. Mixing - Using Sends for Effects - Sound on Sound
Study Questions: •What are the practical and sonic benefits to using send effects (FX) rather than running separate effects on each channel (4 benefits)? •Are EQ and Compressors also commonly used with sends? •What is the term used for the positive results of "bus compression"? •Compressors sometimes delay the sound a bit as they take time to process the sound. This delay is short, usually a few ms, and is referred to as "latency." So why might latency be a problem with "parallel compression," that is compression set up using sends? (Hint: will the sound from the channel fader to the master bus arrive at exactly the same time as the sound from the FX channel fader?)

MX6. The Five Most Common Mixing Mistakes - SOS and HOFA College - •Does your new mix exhibit any of these problems? Of most importance are the "Our Advice" sections. Study Questions: •How are mixes most often out of balance? •How loud should the vocal seem? •How should you consider the fundamental frequencies of individual instruments or tracks? •How does reverb often place instruments in the wrong depth? •What does too much/too little reverb do to a mix? •What problems does poor dynamic control cause? •Why sound you start adjusting a compressor by setting the threshold low and listening? •Why is the second adjustment to make on a compressor to start quickest attack and move to longer attack times, while listening? •What kind of problems does incorrect gain-staging cause? •What levels are hardware-emulation plug-ins designed to work best at? (-18dBFS) •What should be the maximum output level of your finished tracks? (-3.0 dBFS) •What does dBFS mean?

MX7. 10 Essential Mix checks - SOS - Assuming you listen to your mix on more than one playback system, what are you listening for? • What types of checks are headphones OK for? • What are examples of technical delivery requirements? • What are the symptoms of a mix that starts strong but loses the listener's interest? • As a professional, how do you watch out for "over-mixing"?

Hardware

HW1. Gain Structure 101 - How to adjust hardware input and output levels to avoid distortion and keep electronic noise to a minimum. Study Questions: •What is noise? •What is gain? •What is gain structure?•How do we set the output level of one device to best match the input of the next device? •What happens if our gain structure is wrong?

Music as Communicator

MC1. Music as a Communicator of Emotions Part 1- Lecture by Prof. Aniruddh Patel, in the series Music and the Brain. There is a difference between a listener recognizing the emotional expression of a musical passage, and the ability of music to cause an emotional reaction in the listener - Central is the concept of multiple simultaneous cognitive mechanisms - •There is a connection between music processing and language processing - music and language share some cognitive mechanisms, but music can communicate some complex emotions that ordinary language cannot - •Prosody refers to elements of speech communication not including the actual words, such as intonation, stress, and rhythm. •Acoustic cues such as tempo, energy, dynamics, pitch range rises or drops, are borrowed from language and used as musical tools to express complex emotions. •Tension is easily expressed in music, as is resolution. •Are minor keys now perceived as somber or sad only because of conventional (learned) association in western music?

MC2. Music as a Communicator of Emotions Part 2- Lecture by Prof. Aniruddh Patel, in the series Music and the Brain

MC3. Consonance, Dissonance, Musical Scale Excerpts from Lecture 7- Lecture by Prof. Aniruddh Patel, in the series Music and the Brain

MC4. Composing for Film - SOS -  • (Sidebar)
Study Questions: •Why did his timecode values keep slipping a couple seconds out of sync on a project in Europe?  • What is a locked cut?  • When might digital film files be referred to as "reels"?  • What are three types of file formats you might expect the locked cut to arrive as?  • What extra requirements does the composer need?  • Why is "split track" an advantage to the composer? • Tips? • What is the timecode (00:00:00:00) format?  • For realism using samples: what is it about dynamics, articulations, instrument changes, and click tracks, that he would recommend?

Free Resources

 Voxengo Free Good-Quality VST and AU plugins http://www.voxengo.com/group/free-vst-plugins/

Very good free compressor and equalizer plug-ins at Tokyo Dawn. Also see their clever Proximity free plugin.

Online Tone Generator: http://onlinetonegenerator.com/

Free object sounds (Sometime Inaccurately Called "Sound Effects")

RC10. Microphone Positioning Techniques - Shure - specific recommendations for voices, ensembles, and common types of instruments such as guitar, bass, cello, harp, strings, piano, woodwinds, flute, brass and horns.  

RC11. Studio and Stage Recording - Shure - How to record typical instruments such as guitar, piano, horns. Not too long to read, but fairly complete.

RC12. Live Sound and Recording- Shure

RC13. How Sampling Works for Analog to Digital Converters

RC14. Recording Orchestras - Combination of Mix articles.

RC15. Guitar Recording Advice - EQ Magazine

RC16. Recording Vocals - Mix Magazine - How to work with a professional singer to find the right microphone and facilitate capturing the best performance. Includes interviews with professional engineers and singers, focusing on how to capture the best vocal possible.

RC17. Microphone Stereo Techniques - Recording Hacks - Different stereo mic techniques are demonstrated using drums. These examples make it easy to hear the difference between spaced pair, X/Y, M/S, Recorderman, and other techniques.

RC18. The Gerzon Array - and other arrays - SOS - What are the differences between Gerzon, NOS, ORTOF, XY Coincident, Blumlein and DIN arrays? What do they all have in common? Which should work better for mono mixes? Which would work better with small-diameter condensers than with large-diamiter condensers? And why? What does stereo shuffling do, and how is it set up?

RC19: Stereo Recording Techniques - Calculating Spacing - Charts showing ideal distances and angles for spaced pair, X/Y, NOS and ORTF - DPA

RC20. The Decca Tree - adapted from an article in Tape Op magazine.

RC21. Classical Recording - Michael Bishop interview- TapeOp

RC22. Recording Piano - Classical Recording Chapter 5

RC23. Engineering Jazz - Wayne Peet interview - TapeOp

RC24. Recording Strings - SOS

MAS1. Mastering Overview - Braukmann

MAS2. Mastering 101 - Uses Reaper and Izotope Ozone 9 - 1 hour - Discussion of mastering - All tools demoed - Includes a demo and discussion of mastering for specific types of contemporary publishing.

MAS3. Your Ears Are (Probaby) Lying To You - SOS -
Study Questions: • What factors conspire against our hearing? • Why might a mix sound much worse to you the next day? • Why are we more sensitive to frequencies between 1k and 5k Hz? • Do we hear bass frequncies as well as midrange frequencies? • Why do we often mix vocal tracks too low compared to other tracks in the mix? • What happens to our hearing as we tire? • When should we do our most critical listening? • From a hearing standpoint, why should you avoid listening to a song from the beginning, IF you need to analyze something in the later part of the song? • How can Voxengo Span help you "see" problems? • Why should you balance similar elements BEFORE adding compression to the mix? • How does "learning your room" help you? • Why is it common to pile on too much reverb? • How does stress affect your perception? Why doe the loudness curve affect your judgement? What level should you listen at, and why?

SD1. Designing Sounds - How to build new sounds. Metcalfe
Study Questions: •What is Nick Metcalfe's job description as a sound designer? •What does the crafting of sound effects and Foley provide for the medium? •How does layering of sounds make them more effective? •What types of elements did the author add to the explosion? •What would he leave off if the explosion was supposed to be farther away? •How can you increase the dramatic content of an impact sound? •How did he enhance the sound of the arrow hitting HARD? •In Pitch Black, how did sound design use contrast to enhance the drama of the ship losing power and starting to fall? •What is a hard cut? •What dramatic sounds were heard in the 2001 Space Oddessy extra-vehicular (space walk) scenes? •How is the force of the explosion that almost deafens Capt Miller, in Saving Private Ryan, conveyed? •What are Metcalf's 8 suggestions for efficient editing of sound? (There is a good chance this will appear on a quiz!)

SD2. The Sound Designer in a Major Film - SOS
Study Questions: •What do you do first to begin a sound design project? (4 or 5 things recommended).
•After acquiring a story board of key events, the author recommends using markers in your DAW that correspond to the story board and your sound map. •Where is this tool found in Studio One? •How does it work?
•Do novice sound designers tend to produce too many or too few sound layers?
•How many tracks in a typical commercial film would you allot to atmosphere? •To Foley? •How many for spot effects (object sounds, etc)?
•When layering atmosphere tracks, besides location, what other characteristics must be planned for?
•What happens if the atmosphere mix is too dynamic? •What is the obvious tool to control that?
•What makes for "bad Foley"?
•When doing footfalls, what should you keep in mind for a complete job?
•The main character in Ratatouille, Remy, is small.  How did the sound designer adjust the design of sounds that Remy himself would be hearing?

SD3. Recording Foley Sounds - An entertaining look at how Foley is done at Warner Brothers Studio - (6.5 minutes)
Study Questions: •What creates the sound of a dog's paw?  A bird's wings?  Snow footfalls? Cracking ice? •What is Foley sound? •Who was Jack Foley? •How many layers did you hear in the hiker in the waterfall scene? Carabineers and ropes. Water pouring. And what else???