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Stephanie Gilbertson
This week for my chapters I was learning about electricity, a subject that however dry it may be I felt it very important to understand at least the basics as someone who wants to make a career out of audio engineering. In the studio I learned quite a bit, mainly in the area of Pro Tools. I also met another artist, this time Ken Pinchin.
When I arrived at the studio Len (my mentor) and Ken were sitting around the computer going through the last phases of editing some of the songs that were being worked on at Bedside. I joined the two around the computer and watched as edits and decisions were being made. Within a couple hours 3 or so songs had been completed from the time I had got there (3pm). We took a small break when complete as Ken waited for his ride and afterwards I was given a book on microphones as Len went and grabbed some food.
Majority of the information in the chapter was majority basic electricity, stuff I had learned already in middle school/high school science classes. This includes information on electrons, protons and neutrons and how they affect the different charges in an atom. It also explains different types of measurements in electricity such as Voltage, Resistance and Current.
Different types of circuits such as an analog circuit or a digital circuit which has the ability to transmit information, in my opinion this is the type of circuit that would most likely be used in recording.
It also explained how there is 2 different categories in Analog circuits; series, which is best explained by using a string of Christmas lights, if one light goes out in the circuit there’s no longer any connectivity to bring the voltage any further. Then there is parallel, which unlike series all of the lights on the string are delivered equal voltage, allowing the rest of the lights to work if one may burn out.
After Len finished his lunch, we went back to going through some of Ken’s tracks that hadn’t been finished yet. I sat and watched as Len went through errors that had to be fixed by the other student that had been working on it. Somewhere in the previous process I was explained how the different buses are used and added to a track. After we had gone through a couple songs like that, Len copied a song that had already been finished and I went and attempted to learn different parts of Pro Tools for the first time. Some of the things I learned how to add were H Delay, Auto Tune and EQ.
This week I found I learned a great deal about electricity and Pro Tools. I am looking forward to getting further into the course so I can learn more about the software on my own time while not in the studio.
Thanks for Reading.
Stephanie Gilbertson
