Lesson 2 - Posted on 2013-03-30 by George Kounnas

Session Date: 3/27/2013 7:20pm-10:30pm Lesson #2

In this session Jae and I went over the studio design and monitors. When showing me the design of the studio he pointed out that there were no 90 degree angles in the room. The purpose of this is to eliminate standing waves, which are waves that reflect back and forth off parallel surfaces. I was then introduced to the sound block which is the set of doors that separate the control room from any other connecting room. This is to prevent any sound leakage from the outside rooms and vice versa. Jae next showed me the diffusers on the walls and talked about correct diffuser placement. The purpose of the diffuser is to reflect sound waves at various angles to break up their energy. This is to eliminate any slight echo occurance when listening to a playback for a more proper mix of a song.

Next, Jae spoke to me about the purpose of the monitors he used and proper monitor placement. When placing your monitors, you essentially want to make a perfect triangle with your ears and the two monitors with each monitor being the same distance apart as they are from your ears. When mixing, Jae uses two sets of monitors. When mixing the music he uses a set of Rokit KRKs and when mixing vocals, I believe he uses a set of Yamaha HS50Ms.

I also got to sit in on one of his session and experience just how Jae works. It was a very professional atmosphere and Jae seemed to have a very good relationship with his client. He did a great job at multitasking between working with the artist and working with me. Throughout the session he was showing me tips and tricks to help the session move as smooth and quick as possible. Jae has always stressed that the most important component of being an engineer is time management.

Jae told me that in the next couple weeks he will have me recording on my own so I am extremely excited about that!