When setting up your mixing room, keep in mind how your product is
intended to be
heard. Most people do not have operational surround systems. There
were quite a few
mid- to high-end systems installed from around 2000 to 2005, when the
market collapsed and
lots of entertainment center suppliers went out of business. Consumers
began to listen differently and quality
was not such an issue.
When 4-channel quad systems first appeared in the late 1960s, my late
music partner, Paul Beaver,
and I, produced the first quad mixed album (In a Wild Sanctuary on
Warner Brothers) using special tech
we had designed. Except for Japan, where homes are configured so that
4-channel systems are more easily
installed, no one beyond those of us who mixed the album at Sunset
Sound Studio in Hollywood, ever heard
it in that format. Same with our second album,Gandharva, a discrete 4-
channel product, recorded live in San
Francisco's Grace Cathedral. Except for the Grateful Dead, who set up
the four channel system on the album's
release and the press who attended the event, it was never heard in
quad, either.
Even though all of our current titles are mixed so that they are
encoded in surround (readable in all formats),
beyond our studio, I do not believe that more than two or three people
have ever heard these pieces in other
than stereo.
So, unless it's you, keep in mind the potential end-user, usually,
these days iPoders, and other MP3 users.
Bernie
On Mar 23, 2009, at 5:50 PM, jasonpudd wrote:
> Bernie,
>
> Thanks for the detailed advice on the speakers and room design. It
> is great to get all the excellent help from everyone. I am starting
> to track down some of the sources of these choices here and some
> acoustic tile too!
>
> Thanks again.
>
> Jason
>
> --- In Bernie Krause <>
> wrote:
> >
> > A couple of things about rooms and monitoring learned from music
> days:
> > The room, here, has no parallel surfaces. Built inexpensively with
> the
> > help of friends, the converted double garage space was designed so
> > that the ceiling is not parallel to the floor and the walls are
> offset
> > in relationship to each other and then partially covered with
> acoustic
> > tiling. The floor is carpeted and I've made some baffles that
> > additionally control sound dispersal in the room. Three types of
> > speaker monitors pairs, Meyer HD1s, B&W Matrix, and RCF 5S, in
> > descending order of quality/price are used interchangeably to get
> > different perspectives on each mix. The room was acoustivoiced so
> that
> > sound at the "sweet spot" of the mix is flat and measurably reliable
> > with no standing waves. Ultimately, though, if the product passes
> with
> > the RCF 5S system, the least expensive of all and the ones we favor
> > for our public space installations (museums, aquarium, zoos =96 both
> > outdoor and indoor spaces since they can be immersed in a bucket of
> > water and still work) it goes out the door. These small bookshelf
> > speakers, originally made in Italy, then taken over by Mackie (EAW),
> > cost around $120 - $180USD, are rated at 175W, and really quite
> > remarkable for their size, quality and cost.
> >
> > That said, every person ultimately arrives at their own favorite
> > system that provides the resonance they are seeking. This includes
> mic
> > systems, recorder, and mixing components. Find something you like
> and
> > that fits your budget and go for it. No one has a call on what the
> > "ultimate" is or should be.
> >
> > Bernie
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > On Mar 22, 2009, at 9:30 AM, Dan Dugan wrote:
> >
> > > Bravo, Rob, for going the whole way. Monitoring is your ears,
> you can
> > > only hear your work as well as your monitors will permit. For
> > > production, the money should go into mics and monitors--it's
> > > transduction that's the difficult part.
> > >
> > > If you make any filtering or equalization decisions about your
> > > recordings, monitoring is critical.
> > >
> > > I second the recommendation to put the speakers out in the room,
> away
> > > from the walls. And I always equalize a monitor system. A
> programmable
> > > DSP box is the way to go nowadays.
> > >
> > > -Dan Dugan
> > >
> > >
> >
> > Wild Sanctuary
> > POB 536
> > Glen Ellen, CA 95442
> > 707-996-6677
> > http://www.wildsanctuary.com
> >
> > Google Earth zooms: http://earth.wildsanctuary.com
> > SKYPE: biophony
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
>
>
Wild Sanctuary
POB 536
Glen Ellen, CA 95442
707-996-6677
http://www.wildsanctuary.com
Google Earth zooms: http://earth.wildsanctuary.com
SKYPE: biophony
|