2. Overview from May – July 2015
• Construct audio cables (balanced vs unbalanced)
• Constructing dry wall and other technical activities
• Assess the natural room modes of the Jepson Theater and Booker Hall
• Connect inputs and outputs on sound board
• Stage set-up for recorded performance and feedback control
• Setting AUX SENDS for monitors and effects
• Setting gain and EQ's for inputs
• Recording and mixing performance
• Own recording and video with Logic and Ableton 9 Live
3. Unbalanced vs. Balanced Audio Cable
• I made balanced audio cables by soldering them
• Audio is an AC (alternating current) signal
• Balanced audio three conductors to carry signal
• positive, negative and grounding separate
• Unbalanced two conductors
• positive, negative & grounding together
• more likely of radio frequ. interferance
• On short cable runs, unbalanced has little
interference but it does on long cable runs
4. Constructing Dry Wall for Recording Studio
• I learned how to construct dry wall by:
• building wooden backbone
• placing dry wall on back
• tacking glass fiber insolation
• placing sound insolation on dry wall
• putting up dry wall front
• significant insolation of 40 dB
5. Rigging Stage Fly System
• 20 yr. old fly system was renewed
• Wires cut through & replaced
• I carried in materials (which very
incredibly heavy!!)
• Very dangerous works since nuts,
screws and other objects fall from
the ceiling
• I was not allowed to help since
only the professionals with
insurance & training were allowed
to work
6. Acoustics and Room Modes in
Booker Hall and Jepson Theater
• I assessed the room acoustics of these spaces which are
important to take into account during performances
• Standing waves (or Room Modes) are frequency
resonances between two parallel reflecting wall
surfaces they depend on the wavelength (λ) and the
distances between the surfaces
• An incoming wave interacts with a reflected wave and
the overall waves seems to be standing still
• These can occur in the x,y and z direction and each
space has its unique standing waves
• Both places seemed to have room resonances at low
frequencies, also, Booker Hall has intense reverberation
7. Sound Board
• I learned how:
• to plug in various instruments
into the channel inputs of the
sound board (with XLR and ¼ in)
• send certain channels into AUX
sends for effects or monitors
• send signal into output channels
for the stage speakers
• mix the inputs for the overall
sound quality of the performance
9. Gain, EQ’s and Feedback Control
• Feedback occurs when a microphone is directed
towards speaker, so the incoming signal is
picked up again over and over which creates
the screeching noise
• The easiest way to reduce feedback potential is
by dialing up the gain and then attenuating
frequencies on the specific microphone channel
with the EQ (Equalization)
• Another easy way to reduce feedback is by
placing the microphone further away from the
monitors and speakers and changing the pick-up
pattern
10. Recording with Ableton 9 Live
• I learned how recording studies record
music by using softwares such as Ableton
• First, you plug the desired instruments into
a mixer and then into an Interface which is
connected to a computer and a recording
software
• Then you arm the tracks for recording after
having set the desired levels
• After having recorded something already
you replay it so that the performer hears
the music over headphones and can then
sing or play on top and add to the recording
11. Link to Own Recording
• I ended my summer internship by recording a song
• I used Ableton 9 Live and the sound board in the
Music Technology Lab of the University of Richmond
• I also used video to complement the audio recording
• This is the YouTube link to the finished product:
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUjIzIoleDA
