Hey! What's that Sound? The Smaart Solo Bus

I just picked up Smaart v.7 from work. Let me just start off by saying, "man, what a powerful tool."  The ways you can use it are almost limitless, really depending on your own knowledge. My Solo Buss Idea

I was sitting at lunch today eating a sandwich and thinking about what sort of things I could use Smaart to tell me. Then the idea hit me- "What if I could have a frequency response trace for every single channel on the console?"  Then you would ask, "Why?" I could see problem frequencies on each channel. I would know why Sarah's voice sounds so honky. Or why the kick drum kinda rings out and lacks definition.  I'd have a plot of every channel.

And that might be great but if you have a 32 channel desk then that a lot of information for you to put on the screen at one time. Not to mention you'd be taxing the processor on that poor computer. There's a lot of math behind this information. So I decided there's a really easy way to set this up on a DigiCo console utilizing direct outs. So here's the basic steps. I'm just going to assume you kinda understand setting up Smaart, as well as a Digico console, mainly for time's sake.

1. Set up a Digico UB MADI or DigiGrid MGB on your computer running Smaart.
2. Set up a channel or a few channels on the console for measurement mics and route the direct outs for those channels via MADI to the UB Madi or MGB
3. Set up direct outs on your solo bus to run out via MADI to the UB MADI or MGB as well.
4. Set up Smaart to use the UB MADI or MGB as it's input device, route the signals, and  label things in Smaart appropriately.

And boom you're done!  You now have an RTA on every channel on your console. Quite handy for ringing out monitors, or finding anomalies very quickly. Who knows, maybe you'll figure out how to keep your mix phase and time coherent all the way through the console What you do with this information and how you process it is up to you!

~Andy

Messing with Time and Space- A review of the Radial Phazer Bank

This blog will deal with time, and phase quite a bit.  Unfortunately I don't have the time to go into a lot of the details and physics behind all of it. There is already a lot of information out there. The Yamaha Sound Reinforcement Handbook is a great place to start.  You may also want to look at almost anything Dave Rat has written. So with that all in mind...(cue the drum roll)

The Radial Phazer Bank

Let me start by saying the Radial Phazer Bank is an amazing device. Phil at Radial Engineering sent one of these to us at SE Systems a few weeks ago. It's been sitting on my desk for a while because my studio was packed up for a move. The unit has garnered a lot of attention.  It's well built, by real Canadians.   It's got lots of knobs. It would look great parked in your rig. I have gotten lots of questions about it.

Note that this is not a phaser in the sense of it being a modulation effect, or "rotating speaker" effect, or a funky filter. It's designed to shift audio waveforms so that they sum and work together rather than pulling against each other and canceling stuff out.  Radial explains it well here: http://radialeng.com/r2011/phazer.php

The Set Up-

Ideally, I would have loved to test this device in my recording rig at home. I've got a Radial JDX amplifier DI, and some great mics for mic'ing guitar amps. I would have put a  Sennheiser e906 on the guitar cab. and plugged the JDX between the amp's speaker output and the speaker cab. Then used the Phazer on the JDX to align the signals. The only problem is, my studio still isn't unpacked.

This past Sunday I used the Phazer Bank in a live situation. The church I volunteer at uses two PreSonus StudioLive 16.4.2 consoles linked together to give us 32 input channels. We utilize the direct outs, and a few auxiliary sends to feed an Aviom personal monitor system. It's a decent console but has a few limitations.  We had the following inputs:

• Lead Vocal
• Backing Vocal
• Acoustic Guitar 1
• Acoustic Guitar 2
• Bass
• Keys (Piano Etc)
• Synth
• Electric Guitar 1
• Electric Guitar 2
• Room Mic 1
• Room Mic 2
• Kick Mic 1
• Snare
• Hi-Hat
• Tom 1
• Kick Mic 2 (Normally Tom 2)
• Tom 3
• Ride
• Overhead (Not Used in Main Mix)
• Drum FX
• Vocal FX
• Video Left
• Video Right
• Wireless Hand Held (For announcemnts)
• Wireless Headset (Pastor)

You will probably notice that I have two kick drum mics.  I used one dynamic mic inside near the beater to pick up the attack, and a condenser in the bottom of the to pick up the "boom."  In a perfect world I would have put a slight delay on the kick drum inputs so that the kit would be "time aligned" with PA system.

Having the kick and PA "aligned" would mean that the speakers are delayed until the sound from the kick travels to the point in space where the speakers are, then the speakers fire.  Everything is moving in the same direction at the same time. It can make the difference between hearing the kick and feeling the kick.

Plugging It In

So the PreSonus StudioLive console doesn't have input delays. But I can at least phase align the kick with the PA system. This would mean that the peaks in the drum sounds are lining up with the peaks of the drum sounds coming out of the PA, and the troughs are lined up with the troughs.  I inserted one channel of the Phazer Bank each of the two Kick Mics. (Using the inserts on the appropriate channels on the console.)

I left the condenser mic muted while adjusting the Phazer on the dynamic mic. I swept through the shift settings until it sounded full.  Then I brought condenser into the mix, swept through the shift setting on it until it sounded super full. The results were amazing. I could feel the kick in my chest and the band wasn't even very loud. In fact before the service, the pastor asked, "why does it seem so loud? You're only hitting 87 dB SPL on your meter." Needless to say I was immediately impressed by the Phazer Bank.  I want to buy one. Now. It sounded great!

But Here's the Rub

The Phazer Bank works extremely well. Unfortunately on this particular audio console the channel inserts are pre- direct out.  Our direct outs feed the personal monitor system. This means that while I was pulling the kick into alignment with the PA, I was pulling it out of alignment with the drummer's in ear monitor mix. So he was losing the "kick" and "punch" that he usually had. There are ways to fix that, but it's going to take a few more pieces of gear... Or I can just revert to making "good" sound rather than "great" sound. But I still want a Phazer Bank.

~Andy

Recording From Your Digital Console: Choosing Recording Software

Picking Up the Lingo I'm going to start off and just throw a few terms that I might use in the series out there. That way we're all on the same page, and I don't have to type the words "recording software" every other sentence. This may also help as you explore the interwebs and research what options might be best for you. So, without further ado-

The Terms:

DAW- This stands for Digital Audio Workstation. This is what we generally call the software, whether it's Pro Tools, Cubase, Studio One, Reaper etc.

ITB- This is simply an abbreviation of In The Box. The box in this case is your computer. Some recording engineers prefer to mix out of the box, meaning they're using an audio console to mix their recording projects. Some prefer to mix in the box using the faders in the software.

Plug-Ins- Plug-Ins are virtual equalizers, compressors, reverb and other effect units.  In analog world we would typically patch or plug these into our mixer using cables. Many times ITB we just use a drop down menu.

DAW's- The Contenders:

I'm going to start by answering this question with a question. Which DAW do you like? There are free options like Audacity (which doesn't play nicely or at all with Audinate's Dante Virtual Soundcard. It could have been a problem on my end.) Reaper is a nearly free option ($60 for students or non-profits $255 for everybody else.) Both of these are distributed directly from their websites

Then there's the paid options.  Most people have heard of Pro Tools. It's an industry standard in the professional recording world. Then there's others like PreSonus' Studio One, Steinberg's Nuendo & Cubase  family of products, Sonar by Cakewalk, and Apple's Logic. Each one of these has it's own set of advantages and disadvantages.

So Which One Do I Choose?

It really depends on your end result, and your workflow. Personally I don't have a lot of hands-on time with the Steinberg family products, or Sonar. My two personal favorites are Pro Tools and Studio One. I typically use Pro Tools the most.  I'm just used to the workflow, the keyboard short cuts, and I like the routing matrix.  I would encourage anyone with a little time on their hands to download demo versions of any of  these software packages and try them out. See which one you like.

~Andy

Stop and Smell the Vinyl

Introductory Nomenclature

This is going to be my first "non-technical" post on the blog. I'm actually sitting in the chair pictured above listening to The Postal Service's 2003 album "Give Up," on 180 gram vinyl.  I don't know that I could tell you the audible difference between 180 gram or whatever but I enjoy listening to it. Perhaps I could after my record collection grows a bit.  For those that are interested it's a Technics SL-D2 Direct Drive Automatic Turntable with a Shure M97xE cartridge mounted to a blue Ortofon headshell. The blue really makes no difference, I just liked it. The turntable is connected to an ART USB Phono Plus, which is then connected to a pair of Sennheiser HD-380 headphones. I need to make some new cables so I can connect the phono pre to my M-Audio BX8a Studio Monitors.

So Why the Infatuation with Vintage Technology

Listening to a vinyl record commands your attention. It takes effort. Turntables are not portable. You can 't just stick a 12" record into a slot in the dash of your car. You also can't fit hundreds to thousands of songs on one record. You can't spin a 45 on a Sony Recordman while you hammer out a workout at the Y.  You pretty much have to stop what you're doing and actually listen to the album.  It becomes more than background music, or noise.

That's what I love about it. I'm so busy throughout the week. I actually work at a sound company. I'm around music, and noise all the time. It's great to just stop and listen. The music sounds so rich. Yes, there are some pops and clicks (ironically The Postal Service has simulated record pops on their album.)  But aside from that even the low frequency content is so thick. It might be possible to cave my head in if I turn my headphones up enough. I hear things in the stereo field that I don't hear listening in my car. Things that get masked by road noise. Things that the car's speakers just won't reproduce.  Finally the cymbals don't sound like crap. They ring out and sustain like they would if the drummer was in the same room with me.

The other thing is that it takes me back. Maybe I'm getting old and have some nostalgia for the past. But when I was a kid my parents used to play some amazing albums. Allman Brothers Band's Live at the Filmore, Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon. Christmas albums with Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra. Stuff by Carole King, James Taylor, Emmylou Harris, Gordon Lightfoot ( I absolutely loved "Sundown" when I was really little. It's probably a good thing I didn't undertand the lyrics.) Then there was Yes, Led Zeppelin, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, and Little Feat.  So much variety.

Finally who can forget the artwork? An album sleeve for a 12" record provided a great canvas. There were albums that creeped me out like Emerson Lake & Palmer's Brain Salad Surgery's artwork by H.R. Geiger to the Alan Parson's Project I Robot which looked like some sort of odd shopping mall/airport concourse. I've never really wanted to stare at my iPhone for the artistic appeal of it.

~Andy

Recording From Your Digital Console: Choosing A Computer

Cutting to the Chase Buy a Mac.

But Seriously

Buy a Mac. (Are we beginning to see a bias?) This article is a bit tongue-in-cheek.

My Case Against Windows

Have you ever been computer shopping? On the Windows side of things you have Dell, HP, Gateway, Acer and others. Then there's the specialized machines from companies like ADK, Alienware, or Music XPC.  That's seven different manufacturers that I've listed off the top of my head.  Some of those companies have as many 15 different product lines. Each one of these uses different chipsets, different USB and Firewire buses. If you want to see what's available feel free to go to a website like Tiger Direct (www.tigerdirect.com) or New Egg (www.newegg.com.)

My point is, the operating system, Windows, has to be compatible with all of these different machines. It also has to work with all of these different parts. That's a lot of programming code.  There's a great opportunity for something to just not work quite right. When things do go wrong, who do you call? Microsoft? Dell? The mother board manufacturer?

Finally, what version of Windows do you buy? Home, Professional, Ultimate? 7 or 8? Lots of choices. These choices can affect how your computer and audio hardware interface with each other. I will say this. If you are considering Windows 8 for a recording/production machine- wait. The various audio software/hardware manufacturers still need time to update software/hardware drivers. (I would actually say the same thing if Apple just released a new operating system.)

The Argument for Mac

There was a period in my life that I worked in the Keyboard & Recording department at a chain music store. Typically if a customer purchased any recording, or music creation software from me, I'd offer to help them get it installed if they had issues. Granted at this particular time there was a version of Windows called Media Center Edition. That particular version would absolutely not work with external sound cards. Period. Ever. Other than that, it would often take multiple install attempts to get a particular software working. I rarely had Mac users come in with trouble. Things boil down to this. How much time to you want to spend trouble shooting your gear, vs how much time you want to be using it.

If you happen to visit the Apple website, you'll notice there are only five series of computers.  That's considerably less than the plethora of  Windows options. Your choices are two laptop lines, and three desktop lines. Then you have to take into consideration that Apple builds it's own computers, and their operating system (OS X.) That has to guarantee a certain level of cooperation between the software and hardware.

My final argument is that OS X, Apple's operating systems supports Aggregate Audio Devices.

What Do Aggregate Devices Do for Me?

In simple terms they allow you to use multiple sound cards within OS X or within applications that support it. Why is this useful? Well, let's look at our scenario from the previous post in this series. In this case there was a digital audio console at front of house, pumping 32 channels of audio to a computer back stage via a Dante network.  The computer was using Dante's Virtual Soundcard. Unfortunately, because it was a Windows based machine the only audio device it could use was the virtual sound card.

This was extremely problematic for using local audio monitors. One work around would be to close the session, and then re-open it.  Then an Avid M-Box, PreSonus Audio box, or similar device could then be used to connect studio monitors. This would not offer real-time monitoring of input. A second option would be to add another Dante device to the network, in the broadcast room to connect a pair of studio monitors to.

By setting up an aggregate device inside Pro Tools, you can then use the Dante Virtual Soundcard (in this particular case) for input, and select an M-Box or other small interface to use as output for local monitoring.

~Andy

Recording From Your Digital Console: A New Series

Introducing a New Series

I've decided to take a short break from the lighting world to focus on two other parts of my field: live sound and recording. I may have mentioned before that I work at SE Systems in Greensboro, NC.  SE Systems is a pro audio, lighting and video sales and production company.  A month or so ago we had a customer that was setting up a recording system for a house of worship. He was having some issues getting things working together well so he gave us a call.  I ended up walking him through the setup over the phone. I have since decided to write about it so that others may benefit from what we learned figuring out this job.

The Set Up

All of the church's stage inputs were sent from the stage to the console via an analog snake. The console, a Yamaha LS9-32, had two Audinate MY-16-AUD Dante Network Cards installed. The console's direct outs were routed through the Dante cards. The Dante cards fed 32 channels of audio, via Cat 5 network cable,  to a custom built computer in a broadcast room backstage. The computer used Dante's Dante Virtual Sound Card to interface with Pro Tools 10.

The Problem

Dante Virtual Soundcard turns the computer's network card into an audio interface, allowing the computer to bring in audio from devices using the Dante format. The church had an Avid M-Box to connect to the computer for connecting a pair of studio monitors in the broadcast room.  Unfortunately with some computers and some recording software, you can only use one sound card or interface at a time. This meant that there was no local audio monitoring for the recording engineer to listen to, unless he saved the recording session, and re-opened it using a different audio interface on the computer. Another option would have been to get a Dante device for the broadcast room, but that would have been rather expensive.

The Solution

For now, this particular house of worship is simply just recording their services and saving the session. Then mixing the recording down later using the Avid M-Box for monitoring. It works but, I think it could be better. I'll unpack how to do this well over the next few post.  My plan right now is to break this down into a few sections:

1. Computer Selection- What to look for in a recording computer
2. Digital Audio Workstation Selection- This is the actual recording software. We'll reffer to it as the DAW or DAW softare just to save space from here on out.
3. I'm running into two digital audio formats pretty often at work. A lot of people use Yamaha consoles, and the Dante cards are widely available. DigiCo is also making huge in-roads into the industry. They use a digital audio format called MADI.  I'll take some time and break down how to set up each type.
4. Finally I'll go over some tips on how to set up your DAW, how to patch things, and some cool tricks we can use to solve monitoring problems.

I'm going to wrap this up by saying that these aren't the end-all/be-all solutions. They are tips to get started fast. I will also warn you that I am extremely opinionated. I've been helping people get recording systems set up for many years. I've run into all kinds of problems. There are some systems and some DAW's that I have run into problems with. There are other systems that I have run into fewer to no problems. I have a heavy bias toward the latter. I also prefer certain things just because they fit my particular workflow or I like the way they look or feel.

~Andy

Coming Up...

I just wanted to take a moment and throw out a quick teaser of what's coming up.

Before I continue with "Programming Inexpensive Controllers", I'm going to revisit the  "Illuminating DMX" series. I want to take some time to go over DMX protocol charts, which are found in the manuals of most lighting instruments. In short these charts explain what parameters of the instrument are controlled by what DMX channel. I feel like it's important to understand this, so that you can develop a strategy for addressing your instruments, as well as programming scenes.

I would also like to take a trip through audio world for a little while.  Some of this will probably sound like a foreign language to some of you, but that's ok.  I'll try to unpack this stuff in depth sometime.  I recently had a customer purchase two Dante-MY-16-AUD digital network cards. These cards allow the user to take 16 channels of audio, bi-directionally into and out of a console via Gigabit Ethernet. They were installed into a Yamaha LS9 digital audio console. The goal was to take 32 direct outs from the console at front of house, and feed a computer in a broadcast room in another part of the church, then record that using Pro Tools 10. I'll take some time to explain how we had to patch the direct outs in the console, set up the Dante Virtual Soundcard on the computer, and build an aggregate audio device in Pro Tools so we could have local monitoring in the broadcast room.

~Andy

Another post from my friend Myron, this time on over-taxing your digital audio console...

Here's my friend Myron's thoughts on the new Behringer X32 Digital audio console.