Name:&___________________&&Biggest&strength&as&a&recording&engineer:&________________________________&

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Questions&that&require&thought,&not&recall.&&Process,&not&definitive&answers.&
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Questions&you&dont&know&the&answer&to.&
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Questions&about&Projects&1C5&and&InCClass&Project&
Questions&about&Signal&Flow&(see&separate&PDF)&
Questions&about&the&studio&
Questions&that&involve&planning&for&a&recording&(How%would%you%plan%to%record%X,%and%why?%%What%backup%
approaches%would%you%have?%%How%would%this%relate%to%a%final%product?)&
Questions&that&involve&unknown&equipment&(Someone%shows%you%a%weird%object%and%asks%you%to%record%him%
playing%it.%%How%would%you%go%about%the%process?)&
Questions&that&involve&troubleshooting&
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What&is&the&effect&of&preamp&gain&on&your&final&sound&in&the&mix?&How&does&gain&affect&leakage/bleed?&How&does&
the&need&for&additional&gain&affect&your&choice&of&mic&placement?&
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1)&What&do&we&mean&by&masking?&
Masking%is%a%phenomenon%in%which%a%sound%with%greater%amplitude%(the%mask)%causes%us%to%not%hear%another%sound%
with%similar'frequency%and%lower%amplitude.%Masking%occurs%for%a%period%of%time%(~30ms)%before%the%masking%signal%
is%present,%and%for%a%period%of%time%after%(~200ms).&
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2)&What&techniques&do&we&use&to&overcome&masking&issues?&
Many!%%Some%are:%Simple%manipulation'of'levels,%spectral'management%to%give%each%element%of%the%mix%its%own%
space%in%the%frequency%spectrum,%and%temporal'techniques%that%move%competing%signals%out%of%masking%range.%&
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3)&How&is&masking&different&from&combCfiltering?&How&is&it&the&same?&
a)%Masking%is%a%phenomenon%of%human'perception,%while%combKfiltering%is%a%phenomenon%of%physics%that%is,%we%
hear%combKfiltering,%and%analysis%tools%(frequency%analyzers,%etc.)%can%detect%it,%while%we%DONT%hear%masked%
frequencies,%even%though%analysis%tools%still%detect%the%frequencies%that%are%masked%in%our%perception.%
b)%Masking%involves%a%single'frequency'affecting'only'similar'frequencies.%%CombKfiltering%involves%a%frequency'and'
all'its'harmonics'across'the'spectrum.%
c)%CombKfiltering%and%masking%are%both%phenomena%that%involve%frequency6dependent'cancellation'of'sound'that'
occurs'when'two'signals'are'combined.&
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4)&Describe&how&to&set&up&an&MCS&decoding&matrix&in&ProTools.&List/draw&all&tracks&and&bussing,&etc.&Assume&input&is&
on&two&mono&tracks&labeled&M&and&S,&and&ultimate&output&should&be&a&stereo&pair&called&Out&1C2&(THIS&IS&THE&
MASTER&FADER&FROM&CLASS&TODAY).&&How&would&you&adjust&the&parameters&of&the&decoding&matrix&in&this&setup?&
&
In%1%>%Track%M%>%Bus%3K4%(panned%center)%
In%2%>%Track%S%>%Bus%1%
%
Bus%1%>%%Track%+S%>%Bus%3%
Bus%1%>%Track%KS%>%PHASE%INVERT%>%Bus%4%
%
Bus%3K4%>%%Track%STEREO%>%Out%1K2%
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To%adjust%the%stereo%width,%use%faders%on%tracks%M%and%S.%%More%S%=%more%stereo%width.&
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5)&If&you&were&to&add&spot&mics&to&this&MS&setup,&where&would&they&fit&into'the'mix'described'in'part'4?&&
They%should%be%sent%ultimately%to%Out%1K2.%%They%should%NOT%be%sent%to%Bus%1,%Bus%3,%or%Bus%4%K%that%is,%they%should%

only%mix%with%the%L/R%STEREO%output%of%the%MS%matrix,%not'with'anything'in'the'matrix'itself.%
%
7)&What&is&the&difference&between&additive&and&subtractive&EQ,&and&when&is&each&best&used?&
Additive%EQ%is%boosting,%or%increasing%the%amplitude%of%a%specific%frequency%range.%%Subtractive%EQ%is%cutting,%or%
reducing%amplitude%of%a%specific%frequency%range.%%Additive%EQ%is%generally%used%to%enhance'sound'and'make'
positive'changes'to'tonality,%while%subtractive%EQ%is%generally%used%to%remove'problems.%%Additive%EQ%often%covers%
a%wider%range%of%frequencies%(Q)%to%provide%a%naturalKsounding%change%of%tone;%Subtractive%EQ%is%often%surgical,%
narrow%and%deep%to%cut%out%exactly%whats%unwanted%without%affecting%overall%tone.&
&
8)&Whats&a&bus?&&&
Basically%a%wire;%a%signal'path'between'elements'of'a'mixer'or'DAW%in%which%signals%from%various'sources'can'be%
combined,%and%from%which%this%combined%signal%can%be%sent'to'multiple'destinations.&
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1)&Name,&draw,&and&label&5&stereo&miking&techniques.&
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3)&How&do&humans&perceive&stereo?&&How&do&various&mic&techniques&approximate&this?&
Temporal%and%intensity%cues.%%UNDERSTAND%WHAT%THESE%MEAN!%
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Describe&a&situation&where&one&stereo&technique&would&clearly&be&better&than&another.&Use&everything&you&know&
about&stereo&techniques&to&explain&why.&Why&is&what&matters.&
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1)&What&is&the&difference&between&a&pressure&microphone&and&a&pressureCgradient&microphone?&
2)&Imagine&a&new&cardioid&microphone,&the&{Your&Name}&245C.&&Draw&it's&pickup&pattern,&including&lines&at&100&Hz,&
1000&Hz,&and&5000&Hz.&
3)&What&are&the&differences&in&transient&response&between&a&condenser&and&dynamic&mic?&&How&would&this&affect&
your&recording&of&whale&song?&
4)&If&you&want&to&get&approximate&the&sound&of&an&omni&mic&with&a&cardioid&mic,&how&would&you&place&it&(in&terms&
relative&to&the&placement&of&the&omni&mic).&
5)&Oh&no!&&That&sound&is&way&too&bright!&&What&can&we&do&with&the&mic&to&help&this?&
6)&What&kind&of&mic&would&you&choose&to&record&a&woman&singing&to&a&flock&of&sheep,&and&the&sheep&singing&back?&
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1)&To&the&right&is&a&diagram&of&an&
analog&waveform.&&Illustrate&how&a&
digital&representation&would&be&
derived.&&Make&sure&your&illustration&
demonstrates&sample&rate&and&sample&
size.&

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2)&Illustrate&on&the&right&a&digital&
representation&that&does&not&
accurately&capture&the&frequency&of&
the&analog&waveform.&
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3)&Notice&that&this&diagram&has&two&
complete&cycles.&&Illustrate&two&
different&sample&sizes,&one&on&each&
cycle&(e.g.,&2Cbit&sampling&on&the&first&
cycle,&3Cbit&sampling&on&the&second).&

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4)&Illustrate&on&the&back&of&this&page&what&happens&when&the&analog&signal&has&an&amplitude&greater&than&that&
corresponding&to&Full&Scale.&
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1)&What&is&a&decibel?&
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2)&What&are&some&common&decibel&scales?&&
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3)&What&is&digital&audio?&How&is&it&represented?&(Assume&PCM)&
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4)&What&are&some&differences&between&digital&and&analog&audio?&
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5)&What&is&determined&by&sample&rate?&&&
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6)&What&is&determined&by&sample&size?&
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7)&What&do&we&mean&by&dBFS?&
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8)&What&is&the&loudest&sound&we&can&represent&in&digital&audio?&The&quietest?&
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9)&What&is&catastrophic&and&graceful&in&digital&and&analog&audio?&
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10)&How&do&we&relate&different&scales&in&the&studio?&
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1.&How&would&you&record&a&piano?&
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2.&How&would&you&record&a&string&quartet&on&the&beach?&What&unique&challenges&would&you&face?&
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3.&How&would&you&record&a&live&opera&performance?&What&unique&challenges&would&you&face?&
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4.&Oh&no!&&You're&recording&with&a&stereo&pair,&but&you&don't&hear&any&sound&on&right&side.&&Draw%a%decision&tree&to&
diagnose&the&problem.&&Maybe&on&the&back&of&this&page,&so&you&have&room.&
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5.&What's&the&most&important&piece&of&gear&in&your&recording&setup?&Why?&
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6.&Describe&the&main&parameters&of&the&following&effects,&and&give&example&for&each&of&how&you'd&set&them&for&a&
specific&situation&
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a.&Delay&
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b.&EQ&

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c.&Compression&

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d.&Reverb&

7.&What's&the&benefit&of&24Cbit&vs.&16Cbit&recording?&&&
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8.&What's&the&benefit&of&88.2K&vs&44.1K?&
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9.&If&you're&in&this&class,&you've&used&this&studio,&no?&Please&describe&the&setup&process&to&record,&including&cable&
connections,&mixer&routing,&session&setup,&etc.&&That&is&what&is,&fill&in&the&(long!)&blank&for:&you&walk&in&the&room,&
__________,&then&you&hit&record.&
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