This course will introduce the basic audio engineering techniques of
effective patching and monitoring.
There will be some theory, however most topics will be presented through demonstrations and hands-on group recording exercises. Our goal is to develop the skills necessary to record high fidelity audio using commodity equipment. Natural corollaries to this include the ability to make more informed decisions about production style, studio setup, specific gear, etc.
Course topics:
– fundamentals of audio monitoring
– psycho-acoustics and effective monitoring
– the 3 primary monitoring domains
– issues related to polarity and mono
fundamentals of analog patching
– balanced/unbalanced cables and connections
– line level vs. instrument level signals and impedance matching
– ground loops and debugging signal path quality issues
– null and A/B testing
– gain stuctures
fundamentals of digital recording
– differences between digital and analog, preserving dynamic range and SNR
– sample rate, bit depth, and dithering
– word clocks and phase issues in multi-track recording
– relative merits of various clocks, soundcards and digital
transmission mediums (Firewire 400/800, USB 2.0/3.0, SPDIF, lightpipe,
etc)