Process

There are several steps involved in making a good recording in our studio.

• Set up one AKG C414 microphone, and connect it to the mixer.
• Set the mixer controls so that you get an optimum sound level from the mic — not too soft, not too loud — coming into the mixer.
• Set the mixer controls to route the microphone signal into the computer for recording.
• Prepare for recording in ocenaudio, and adjust sound level coming into the program.
• Record and save your sound.
• Listen critically to your sound, and repeat the process as needed.

The more recordings you make, the better you will get at this process.

Setting up the Microphone

3. Set up one AKG C414 microphone on the mono mic stand:
   • The mics and cables are in the top drawer of the left filing cabinet that’s under the desk next to the door. Place the mic stand close enough to the mixer so that you can operate the mixer controls while speaking or otherwise making noise into the mic.
   • The mic stand should have a shock mount attached to it. This has red plastic wings. The mount should screw into the end of the mic stand. Leave the wings facing up, as in this picture.

     

   • Unscrew the set screws of the microphone shockmount a few turns so as to leave enough room to insert the microphone barrel. Bring the female XLR end of the mic cable up through the shockmount and, while holding the mic above the shockmount, plug the mic cable into the bottom of the mic. It should click, though it is a tight connection, so it may not happen.

     Just a reminder: the silver screen is the front of the mic, and is the part you would talk or sing into; the black screen is the back.

   • Now lower the mic into the shockmount. Tighten the set screws so that the shockmount holds the mic securely.

   • Plug the male end of the cable into input channel 1 on the mixer. The XLR jacks are on the top of the mixer.
   • Turn on the mixer’s phantom power switch. (It’s next to the mixer’s power switch. Press the bottom part of the rocker switch to turn it on — to the position marked with a dash.)
   • When you are recording vocal sounds, including speech, you should use a pop filter to prevent plosives and breath from moving the microphone diaphram around too much. Normally, you don’t use the pop filter when not recording vocals.

     

4. Set the microphone switches appropriately.
   • Pattern — choose between cardioid, hyper-cardioid, omni, and figure-eight. Usually, you’ll want cardioid.
   • Pad — set to 0 dB for speech and softer instruments, -10 or -20 dB for trumpet, percussion, screaming, etc. Without doing this, you might make a recording that sounds distorted, even though the meters on the mixer and computer do not show clipping.
   • Bass roll-off switch — Set to 70 Hz or 100 Hz to reduce mic stand vibrations, popping from voice, etc. The only time you will turn this off is if you’re recording low sounds: anything that has a pitch below the G string on the cello (c. 100 Hz).

Recording

7. Record your first sound in ocenaudio.
   • In the Mac’s Dock, click the ocenaudio icon to launch the program.
   • The first time you run ocenaudio, check that the audio driver is set correctly for the MOTU Ultralite AVB interface we use in our studio.
     1. Choose Preferences from the ocenaudio menu, and click the Sound icon. The first popup menu should read CoreAudio. Set the Playback and Record devices to the Ultralite.

        

     2. Choose Record Mixer Config from the Controls menu. Put a 1 in the first column at the Input #5 row and a 0 at the Input #1 row.

        

     3. Quit ocenaudio and relaunch it. This appears to be necessary sometimes to make these configuration changes stick.
   • Click the red circular record button in the transport area, or press the 'r' key.

     

     A dialog box appears, requesting that you choose the sample rate, the number of channels, and the resolution. Choose 48000 Hz, Mono, and 24 bits.

     After you press OK, recording begins immediately.

   • Make some noise into the mic. While ocenaudio records, watch the levels on the meter in ocenaudio, and set your recording level. To control the level of signal reaching the computer, use the bus out 1 fader (labeled MOTU IN 1) on the mixer.

     Aim for peaks no higher than about 0.70 in ocenaudio. It’s okay if your peaks are rarely above 0.25. If they are much less than this, your level is too low. Or you’re recording a sound that is inherently soft, such as whispering or pins dropping. These guidelines are just rough rules of thumb.

     By the way, it’s better to see the amplitude scale expressed in decibels (dB). To do that, choose the View > Vertical Scale Format > Decibels menu command. 0.70 becomes -3 dB, and 0.25 becomes -12 dB.

   • Once you have a good level, stop recording. (Press the space bar.)

     Choose File > Undo Record to remove the recorded material.

   • Press the record button again to record for real this time.
   • Save your file now (using File > Save), but don’t play your sound yet! When saving, you can accept the Wav PCM Linear default format. There are many other formats in this popup menu, but only a few of them are uncompressed formats, which is normally the only thing you should use for recording. AIFF (or AIFFC) is the other main one.
8. Listen to your recording.
   • On the mixer, make sure you have the mic channel muted (MUTE button) while playing back your sounds!

     This is to prevent feedback between the mic and speakers. (Do you see how this can happen?)

   • The sound will come from the computer via the MOTU Analog 1-2 mixer channels, which are channels 9 and 10. Raise both faders to unity.
   • On those input channels, engage the L/R buttons to assign the signal to the main mix (i.e., “Speakers L/R”).
   • In the mixer’s output section, raise the “Speakers L/R” fader at the far right.
   • Play back your sound in ocenaudio. (Press the space bar.)
   • Before you resume recording, turn the speaker fader down all the way, and unmute the mic.
9. Record more sounds.

   To record into a new file, choose File > New.

Manuals

Manuals for the Mackie 1604 VLZ mixer and AKG 414 microphones are in the Manuals folder on your Desktop.