1. Home Recording Studio Signal Chain
From large commercial recording facilities where an outboard mixing console may cost more
than the house surrounding a budget conscious bedroom home recording studio, the signal
chain is STILL the channel, or pathway that an audio signal travels from its original sound
source into an electrical signal and reproduced through the monitoring system or speakers that
send the sound to your ears.
Signal chain, signal flow, signal path, recording chain… They are all terms for the process of
sound production. A signal chain takes audio from one place, state, format, into another, and
ends at a destination.
Different signal chains have different purposes, such as producing music for live sound and for
recording.
In this article you will learn about the pathway from source to playback in a Digital Audio
Workstation in regards to the home recording studio signal chain.
Since within your DAW music production software, there are SO MANY ways to route and
process virtual effects, we cannot, nor is there much point to writing a definitive guide to doing
that. The fun part of playing with audio “in the box,“ is that you can tweak to your hearts
content! Just make sure you are making non-destructive edits and regularly saving and backing
up your work.
The point of this article is to simplify the recording process from source, to hard drive, and then
playback to your ear.
The purpose is to break-down these essential basics that anyone interested in home recording
or aspiring to produce music really should know and understand.
Why do you need to understand this?
You should have a clear understanding of the signal chain if you are going to build your own
home recording studio, or plan to produce music or sound in any semi-serious manner. If you
are going to do this as a long-time hobby, have professional aspirations in music production, or
are assembling your own rig, you will want to understand this.
What you’ll learn?
After reading through this article you will understand how the audio signal chain breaks down in
the home recording studio.
You will understand the 3 types of signals using in a recording studio, and how they differ.
We will then take a quick walk through the each of the signal chains, so you get a clear idea of
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2. how each works.
There are 3 Types of Signal:
Acoustic Audio: The voice, acoustic guitar or any acoustic instrument, an amped electric guitar.
Electrical: DI Electrical Guitar, or Keyboard for example.
Midi: Midi keyboard controller, midi control surface,
But BEFORE you learn the pathway for each individual source, you must understand the
difference between the mixer and the mixer-less recording system.
You are determining what the center of your home studio is going to be. What you need to
understand about this is that whether you go with an old school analog mixer, a digital mixer, a
new school control surface, or a mixer-less system… You will in SOME capacity be using a
mixer, even if you are using the virtual mixer in your DAW music production software.
So you will need to understand the functions, terms, and features of a mixer, whether you go
analog or use multitrack recording software on your computer.
The route you should take is based on your needs, goals, and future vision for your home
studio, and will be addressed in another article in this guide.
The distinction, as relative to this article, is relevant because the configuration will effect the
signal chain from source to playback, as is the focus of this piece of content.
If you choose to go with a mixer based system then that will likely be your audio interface and all
of your microphones and instruments will be plugged directly into that.
If you go with a mixer-less system then the signal chain goes through your audio interface and
any other audio processors you may have.
Source -> to disk -> what you hear
Audio = Audible vibrations… i.e. voice – goes into microphone, turns into electrical signal, travels
down XLR cable through preamp (where it is amplified to a line level signal), goes through any
additional outboard effects, then goes through A/D converter, is recorded onto hard disk. where
it is stored and can be played back, edited, effected in almost infinite ways and then is played
back by your DAW multitrack recording software and sent back into an analog audio signal to
your ears through your monitors or headphones.
Midi = Midi (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a protocol for data to communicate program
information that tells “sound“ what to do.(i.e. how loud, which notes, how long, etc.) A midi
keyboard, control surface, or other midi device sends data by you striking a key, twisting a knob,
or pressing a button. It goes through a midi cable and to a midi interface, where it gets routed to
your computer and to your software. Some midi devices can connect directly through USB and
do not require a midi interface.
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3. Electrical = The other signal you need to understand is the electrical signal. So audio recorded
through a microphone is transformed into an electrical signal, but what we’re talking about is
basically transferring digital sound. Digital Keyboards and Electric Guitar Signals, for example,
are inherently digital signals.These signals are recorded by Direct input through a balanced or
unbalanced instrument/line input.
That is it. It gets much more complicated, but if you understand that, then you understand the
basic building blocks of the home recording studio. Each piece of the chain plays a role. Your
home studio’s signal is only as strong as the weakest link in your signal chain. I’ll be adding to
this page, including pictures, and diagrams, and if you have any comments, questions, or
suggestions that you want me to cover, let me know.
Happy Home Recording!
Jamie
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