Digital Music Production

Carlos J. Ochoa Fernández © 2015
Madrid
Sound and Signal Flow
Recording Acoustic Instruments
Parts 1 & 2

Recording Acoustic Instruments Part 1
• Introduction
The main objective of this task is to learn
about the music production process—for
home-recording acoustic instruments and
vocals— to create your own music on your
computer with all your soul and power.
“Hi I am Carlos Ochoa from Madrid in Spain.
This lesson is for week 1 of Introduction To
Music Production at Coursera.org. I will be
showing a recording of acoustic instruments
using 2 simple different configurations in my
home studio.” Lets go to Part 1.

Part 1
Beginners recording system
Carlos J. Ochoa

The Basis: Part 1 is based in a very simple and
economic Home-Studio configuration for
Recording Acoustic instruments. This could also be
very useful for demo recording. This is why I called
it “Beginners Basic Home Studio”.
The gear I used for Part 1 is:
1 CAD USB microphone, A/D converter
1 USB cable
1 ASUS A53S computer, 8Gb ram, 500Gb Hd, Altec
Lansing Monitors
Power Tracks Professional License
1 Sennheiser HD 202 headphones
A Gibson J 150 Acoustic Guitar
A Loar LM 500 Mandoline

CAD U37 Usb microphone
A/D converter
Sennheiser HD 202 headphones
ASUS A53S Laptop
Power Tracks Professional

CAD U37 Usb microphone
A/D Converter
ASUS A53S Laptop
Power Tracks Professional
Usb cable
The microphone converts the pressure
variations into voltage variations. Inside
the device (microphone), the analog
signal is converted into a digital signal, a
stream of ones and zeros.
Instrument / Voice
From CAD usb microphone, the binary signal goes to
my Lap Top DAW: Power Tracks
I need to configure the Mic Input in my Laptop to USB
input Microphone.
Then I open the Recording Program and adjust the
configuration to USB Mic Input and latency:0.
I select a new project and select a track to record the
digital input signal onto an audio track,
I monitor the project with my Sennheiser headphones
while I record the sounds (guitar, voice) to adjust the
input level. Then I proceed to record the first track
demo.
Once I finish the recording, I can convert
the project file onto an audio file and the I
can play the track back from Power Tracks
in any other audio software using external
monitors or headphones.

Part 2
Intermediate recording system
Carlos J. Ochoa

This is my favorite method for recording
acoustic guitar and vocals. It involves
two condenser mics (AKG for guitar and
Behringer for voice and instrument too),
located in the best place around the
singer. Notice how, the null of each mic is
facing exactly what we want to reject:
the null of the instrument/vocal mic is
facing the guitar, and the null of the
guitar mic is facing his mouth. The
downside - the acoustic guitar mic ends
up being fairly awkward to position, the
isolation between the mics is great.

Portable Digital Home- Studio
Condenser microphones & XLR cables

The Basis: Part 2 is based in a complex Home-
Digital Studio configuration for Recording Music
and Acoustic , Electric and Digital instruments. This
could also be very useful for high quality demo
recording and “Live Recording Sessions”
The gear I used for Part 2 is:
1 AKG C1000 S condenser microphone
1 Behringer B-1 condenser microphone
2 XLR (balanced) cables
1 Digital Mixer (A/D converter) Mackie Onyx 820i
1 firewire cable
1 Dell Inspiron computer, 4Gb ram, 500Gb Hd
Tracktion V5
Power Tracks Professional License
1 Sennheiser HD 280 pro-headphones
A Gibson J 150 Acoustic Guitar
A Loar LM 500 Mandoline

AKG C1000 S condenser microphone
Behringer B-1 condenser microphone
1 XLR (balanced) cable
A Sennheiser HD 280 pro-headphones

Sennheiser HD 280 pro-headphones

Traktion Digital Recording
Dell Laptop
Mackie Onyx 820i / Digital Mixer
A/D Converter
Firewire cable
In/Out
Stereo Out cable

A/D Converter
Firewire cable
In/Out to Mixer
Stereo Out cable
Firewire cable
In/Out to Laptop
Traktion Digital Recording
Dell Laptop

Instrument / Voice
A/D Converter
Dell Laptop
XLR (balanced) cable

Sound starts when I play guitar as
longitudinal pressure variations in the
air. The microphone converts the
pressure variations into voltage
variations. We used two condenser
microphones with different frequency
range. AKG for instrument and Behringer
for instrument and vocal.
Instrument / Voice
Voltage variations that travel along the
balanced XLR cable to the Mic (Phanton)
input of my Mackie audio interface.
Cable mic goes to the microphone
preamp, and I adjust the Trim
control to get a good signal without
distorsion. I tried several times until
I feel comfortable what I listen.
Condenser Mic needs to switch the
48V switch phantom power on.
Inside the Mackie interface, the
signal is converted into a digital
signal.
XLR (balanced) cableCondenser microphone
Mix Pre-amp and
Phanton Power
A/D Converter

Once I finish the recording, I can convert
the project file onto an audio file and the I
can play the track back from Traktion into
any other audio software using external
monitors or headphones.
The output of Mackie Onyx is Firewire 400 and the input of Dell Laptop
is Firewire 800, so I used a special cable for that connection. This is an
in/out connection and allows the system to use in real time all plugins
from my Laptop.
The digital signal goes into the DAW: Traktion, integrated with Mackie
A/D.
First I have to adjust the input signal in the mixing console with the
gain button, checking the levels once more setting the microphones
preamp carefully, preventing distorsion.
Second I have to configure and adjust the audio parameters and
recording options into Traktion.
Third I record the signal in the selected audio tracks (one per mic),
Along this process, I check the levels on the output, setting
microphones preamp carefully.

“Recording this lesson was an amazing experience.
The material wasn’t new to me but I needed to
write a script to make sure I used all the terms
correctly. Also I have had to check the complete
recording process for two different parts of the
activity. I used Windows Movie Maker, due the
feasibility and easy editing tools and facilities. The
most complex work, due the lack of time, was the
difficulty of getting a good audio recording mix for
the video.
In any case, I hope I covered all the main aspects
of the Lesson and I hope to improve my staff along
the course.

“Believe me when I tell You that I worked hard on
this and I would love to know if I got everything
right. I did the best I could though my main issue
was to be clear, focus, consistent and provide good
value to You. Is there anything I missed or could
have explained better? What do you think of the
acoustic audio recording? Thank you for watching,
critiquing, be patient and love music as I do.”

Digital Music Production

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