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Nicolas Schilke
SOUND & HEARING
On my first lesson at The Lair Studio with my mentor, Larry Goetz, we mainly covered sound physics and hearing.
We started with waveforms and all the different parts of a waveform. On the physics part he explained to me what frequencies are (how they are measured, how long its cycles are depending on the Hz...), decibels (dB).
Next was the human ear:
- The frequencie range we can hear (anything between the 20 Hz - 20.000 Hz).
- The level at which ear damage starts to occur (anything above 95 dB for a certain amount of time).
- The Fletcher-Munson curve.
With all this in mind he explained to me why the mixing sweet spot is anywhere between 85 dB - 95 dB.
A little of topic now, we talked about his Yamaha NS-10 monitors. These monitors are a great translate to radio and if you get a nice mix on them, it'll sound great on everything.
*Yamaha NS-10 Studio Monitor
After talking about the NS-10 we went back to soundwaves. The longer a soundwave travels, the more its pitch changes, the more out of tune it becomes (thats why you sound better in the shower). For that reason, you have to prepare the room you'll be mixing at to get the best sound out of it, as if you were tunning and instrument.
There are two types of acoustic material:
- Material that conducts sound: these are harder materials and reflect sound (glass, concrete, metal, brick...).
- Material that insolates sound: these are softer materials and absorb sound (foam, courtins...).
*Wood is a neutral material. It absorbs and reflects. The more you have the better.
Sound can be reflected, absorbed or difused. Playing around with these 3 is how you get each room in tune.
* Wood difuser (soundwaves difuse left and right)
After explaining all of this, Larry took me to every different part of the studio so I could hear the different acoustics in each room.
My first lesson was absolutely great! We ended up talking about some of the interesting gear he has around the studio. Can't wait for the next one!
