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Hello! And welcome to Sun Sounds of Arizona’s guide to Studio
Recorder. In this this guide we will walk you through the basics of
loading, recording, and saving files with Studio Recorder. Let’s begin
with Step 1, and logging into your booth computer.
1. LOGGING IN & GETTING STARTED: In the event that your booth
computer is not logged into Windows, you will use the following
credentials to login in. These credentials are the same for every
booth. Please note, logins and passwords are case sensitive.
LOGIN:XXXXXX
PASS:XXXXXX
Once you are successfully logged in, you will see a welcome
screen load, and the eventually the desktop.
Figure 1 - Our beautiful desktop ready for recording!
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Click on the Studio Recorder Icon to get started. You can click on
either the desktop icon or the icon on the task bar at the
bottom.
Studio Recorder should open as seen below. The program is
comprised of different windows including the standard toolbar,
menu bar, transport toolbar, meters, and wave / time view.
TransportToolbar
Meters
Wave / Time View
Standard Toolbar
Menu Bar
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You can resize Studio Recorder as well as the windows for
meters and Wave / Time view to meet your needs.
Figure 2 - Be careful when resizing windows. If you find your windows to be all out of proportion, just restart
Studio Recorder and they will go back to default.
So now it is time to move onto recording!
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2. RECORDING: The first step to get your voice to tape is to learn
the recording process. Let’s move away from Studio Recorder for
the moment and focus on the gear you will use to record.
Recording level and technique are the two things that
most often determine a great sounding show from a
mediocre or a ‘not-so-great’ sounding show. You should
pay special attention to this. The operations staff would
be happy to help you achieve your optimum recording
level.
To begin, the toggle switch for the microphone switch
under the rack should be up for recording and down for
playback through speaker and / or headphones. When
this switch is up, it will trigger ‘on-air’ tally light outside
studio.
MICROPHONE SWITCH
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When setting up your microphone, note that the mic should be on the same level as your
mouth, at a 45 degree angle to help offset plosives (popping ‘p’ noises and the like) and
sibilance (high frequency ‘hissing’ sound.) The microphone should be anywhere from 3-5
inches away from your mouth. No more, no less. You can use the width of your hand as a
guide from mic to mouth. Headphones need to be worn so you can effectively monitor your
voice.
So do this.. Not this... Not this either…
You can do this.. But not this.. And not this either!
Place the microphone a couple of inches away from your mouth; don’t “swallow” it. If your
mouth is right on top of the mic, it will produce a distorted sound and pick up every hiss,
breath, pop and crackle. In addition to distortion and noise pickup, talking too closely into the
mic-head may produce loud screeches or feedback. Remember, your voice should flow over
the mic, not directly into it.
Now it is time to check out the Shure mixer on the equipment turret. It is advised to check it
before you begin recording.
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The Shure mixer # 1 knob on the far left adjusts the recording levels for your mic. Turn it
clockwise to turn mic levels up. The level should be around 7 or 8 but can be adjusted
depending on yourindividual range. Next check the Shure mixer master knob, it should be at
“0” position. At the far right the Shure phone/monitor knob controls the volume for the
headphones and speaker. When recording, push this in to engage headphones and cut
speaker. On playback, pull out to turn speaker back on. Adjust level to whatever is
comfortable.
For professional results, it is recommended to do a sound check and wear headphones.
Please see operations staff for tips and assistance in achieving an optimal recording level.
NOTE: A good way to remember how to switch back from recording to playback is to
remember “Up and In” and “Down and Out”. When recording, the mic switch will be up and
the knob on the right side of the mixer will be pushed in, this is “up and in”. For playback of
audio it is the opposite of this; “down and out”. The mic switch is down, the knob on the
mixer is pulled out.
When you are ready to record, simply hit the Record
Button (big red circle) on transport toolbar. You can also
hit F6 on the keyboard.
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Once you begin recording, you will notice that the Time View
window becomes active and tracks your recording time. Your
meters will also be lighting up to indicate your volume.
NOTE: Optimal sweet spot for recording levels should be
between 7 and 3 on the meters.
Figure 3 - Try to keep your meter levels in the Yellow for an optimal recording (hitting red slightly is ok).]
When you are finished with your recording or need to edit,
simply hit Stop Button (Black Square). You can also hit F6 or
spacebar on keyboard to stop recording.
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Now it is time to move onto editing with Studio Recorder!
3. EDITING: Editing is an important process. This helps you clean up
and fine tune your show.
Once you hit the Stop Button, Studio Recorder should switch
from Time View to Wave View as seen below.
You can zoom in and out of the waveform by going to View in
the menu bar and navigating to Zoom.
From there you have several options along with keyboard
shortcuts.
Figure 4 - You can also use the Mouse Wheel on your mouse to zoom in or out.
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When you are ready to edit, place the cursor on your wave form
by clicking the mouse.
Caution: If you double-click, you may get a window as seen
below. The blue and yellow arrow indicated will also be lit up.
This means all of your audio is selected. Do NOT attempt to
record .Just double-click again to go back to normal.
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NOTE ON RECORD INSERTS AND TINY SELECTIONS IN WAVE VIEW
When doing your edits, it is also possible to select a small amount of
audio by mistake and not know it until you try and record. In this case
your recording will seem locked when you go to record and the same
blue and yellow arrow will be lit up. What is happening is that a small
selection has been made on the wave view and the program will only
record over that selection no matter how small it may be.
To fix this, you essentially want to click four times on the area where
you placed your cursor.
Click twice and that will select all audio. The wave view will darken as
seen on previous page. Double click again to deselect and go back to
normal (so in essence you will have clicked 4x if you follow these
steps). You should also see that the blue and yellow arrow is no
longer lit up.
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Another option is to right-click the mouse where the selection is to
bring up the below menu. From there, navigate to selection and a
second menu will open. Choose ‘Clear Selection’.
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Once you place your cursor, hit Play to listen back to your audio.
(Don’t forget to adjust your instruments i.e. “Down & Out”)
Figure 5 - You can also hit 'spacebar' or 'F5' on keyboard to play audio.
You’ll see those meters bouncing as your audio is played back.
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When you find a place to edit, hit Stop and place your cursor
there. Pick the beginning of a sentence or paragraph to achieve
cleaner edits.
Then hit Record to begin recording from that point onward.
Studio Recorder will revert back to Time View while you record.
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Hit Stop once again to revert to Wave View. You can then
playback your audio to check your edit.
Figure 6 - CAUTION: It is highly recommended to do your editing as you record, and not to wait until you
are finished recording to go back and edit. This tends to add to the time it takes to produce your show.
There are many other things you can do with Studio Recorder.
You can do basic editing by using your mouse or arrow keys to
highlight and delete. To learn more, talk to Operations Staff.
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4. SAVING & EXITING: This is probably the most important step.
You want to make sure that all of your hard work is saved
properly and ready for air. Once you are completely finished
with your recording, it is time to export it as an mp3 file.
On the menu bar, go to File. From there select Export To MP3.
It is important to make sure that you choose this option only!
A window will pop up at this point and all you have to do is
enter your filename in for your finished show.
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Filename should be in this format:
Show Name + Air date (eg TimeMagazine01-05-15)
Note: Air date can be entered as either ‘01-05-15’ or ‘010514’
It is important that spaces or slashes (, /) not be used.
See example below:
Once you hit the Save button, the menu shown below will pop
up. Just hit OK button. DO NOT attempt to adjust settings!
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You may need to be patient when exporting your mp3,
especially if it is a larger files such as an hour-long program. The
process may be a fast or a slow one depending on network
speeds and traffic. A good way to make sure your show is saving
correctly is pay attention the ‘exporting’ prompt in the lower
right corner of your screen. As the file saves, the percentage
exported will update (that means it is saving).
Figure 7 - If you notice any issues with exporting your program or if the process seems to be taking an
unusually long time (more than 3 minutes) please see an operations staff member.
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If you need to work on an existing program, simply go to the
menu bar and select File. Then select Open. This is also a good
way to double check that your program has saved properly
Select your file from the list. If you have trouble finding your file
for any reason, please speak to an Operations staff member.
Figure 8 - Make sure your file is an MP3 file.
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When you are ready to exit, simply hit the “X” in the upper right
corner or select Exit from the file menu.
You will see a notice to “Save changes to document”. You do not
have to do this as you have already exported your MP3. So just
hit No.
Thank you for taking the time to review the Studio Recorder
Instruction guide. We at Sun Sounds hope that this enriches your
volunteer experience here. As always, if you have any questions
or concerns, don’t hesitate to speak with an Operations staff
member.
