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Kristin Staub
Another great session where Edwin and I got to talk about different mics and I had a chance to balance the sounds of my first demo track. We had a chance to talk about the evolution of the microphone and which ones are the best ones to use today. The answer for finding the best microphones depends on what kind of sound you want to achieve, the sound source that is being recorded and where the group or individuals are being recorded. One of the best microphones to use for vocals is a condensor microphone. The one Edwin has is probably one of the best high quality condensor mics I have ever seen. The diaphragm is made out of copper and it's suprisingly quite heavy! I'm used to working with dynamic mics because they're pretty durable and pick up loud frequencies, but not ideal for picking up low frequencies such as picking up the quality of a violin playing softly.
On the other hand, we had a chance to talk about John Williams and his phenomenal music. I had watched a tribute to John Williams the night before I went to the studio and had some questions about mic-ing for the end credits and during the performance. I guess I had to read chapter 6 if I wanted those questions answered. Nonetheless, we watched his 20th anniversary of E.T. where he had a live orchestra playing along with movie! It reminded me of a pit orchestra playing during an opera. Imagine it! John Williams not only composes the music, but he conducts it to make sure it fits exactly with every scene in the movie at exactly the right time which is absolutely remarkable in and of itself! What was also very impressive was the setup of the control room in the theater. It's absolutely astounding the amount of monitors, computers, compressors, speakers, patch bays, EQs, and mic wires there were in that room, but they made the performance possible. That's what I want to know how to do.
Then, I had a chance to blend the sounds of a track which actually ended up going pretty well. The only thing I needed to learn for next time was to bring the volume up so I could hear every instrument and their different intricacies in the song. It kind of reminded me of orchestration class where I had to learn about the blending of instruments and listening for critical parts in order to get the best sound for a particular song. Overall, it was a great session and I always look forward to going to the studio to learn more.
